
Niagara Falls without water in 1969 - howrude
http://www.niagarafrontier.com/dewater.html
======
clashmoore
Along the Niagara river are massive inlet towers that hold the gates that
manage the flow of water over the falls. Agreements with Canada mandate that
at least 50% of the water goes over the falls during touristy times then at
night they can divert more through the underground tunnels to generate power.

[http://clui.org/ludb/site/niagara-power-station-
intake](http://clui.org/ludb/site/niagara-power-station-intake)

~~~
pwg
If you stay at one of the Canadian hotels near the horseshoe falls, you can
tell the moment at night when they divert more water through to the power
stations. The roar of the falls drops off quite dramatically.

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erickhill
Side note: I always wonder what a site like this - something that may have
been carefully hand-crafted/designed in something like MS FrontPage in 1999 -
thinks about their sudden traffic spike from HN after years of solitude save
for the occasional history buff or research student.

Fascinating story.

~~~
atestu
You're assuming they actually look at their traffic stats after all this time!

~~~
animal531
It's even better when it has one of those really old-school 3 or 4 digit only
counters.

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qrush
Niagara Falls/Buffalo native here. They're planning to do this in the next few
years, and it should be exciting.

My dad remembers when this happened, and they let people climb all over the
rocks once the water was off. People would bring back buckets and buckets of
change that was stuck inside of the rocks.

Update: US isn't planning to do this until 2019 at the earliest.
[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/niagara-falls-
wa...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/niagara-falls-water-
flow-2019-1.3423305)

------
niftich
11 000 years ago, the falls were almost 11 river-kilometers downstream from
where they are now, as the falls began where the gorge now ends: at the
Niagara Escarpment.

However, in the last 200 years as the falls became both a societal tourist
attraction and a site of hydroelectric power generation, humans have elected
to try to make the falls frozen in time as much as it's feasible for them to
do so. Due to the diversion of water and various anti-erosion projects, the
rate of erosion is now less than a third of what it was before 1905.

~~~
votepaunchy
Actually closer to 1%.

[http://www.niagarafrontier.com/faq.html](http://www.niagarafrontier.com/faq.html)

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howrude
There are pictures at [http://themindcircle.com/niagara-falls-runs-
dry/](http://themindcircle.com/niagara-falls-runs-dry/) but this is the better
article.

~~~
giarc
From your article "However, it may not be the last time we ever see Niagara
Falls dewatered – two bridges present above the falls require replacement sin
the near future, in which case it might be time to drain the water once more."

That would be very neat to see in person.

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13of40
I've always liked this story...

[http://www.niagarafrontier.com/fallsstopped.html](http://www.niagarafrontier.com/fallsstopped.html)

"A number of people made their way into the gorge to the riverbed. Here they
saw articles that had been laying on the river's bottom and had been hidden
for hundreds of years. Souvenirs picked up included bayonets, guns barrels,
muskets, tomahawks and other artifacts of the War of 1812."

(Even though 36 years isn't hundreds of years.)

~~~
jasonkester
Are you thinking of the War of 1912 instead? If not, then hundreds is kinda
correct.

~~~
Harvey-Specter
No, the link in the post you replied to is about March 29th 1848 when a
naturally occurring ice dam blocked the flow from Lake Erie into the Niagara
River, which caused the falls to go dry.

So in that case it had only been 38 years since the war of 1812.

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danesparza
There is a color photo from this period on Wikipedia as well:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls#/media/File:Dryn...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls#/media/File:Dryniagara.jpg)

~~~
frik
The 1969 photos are from the smaller American Falls.

What the world knows as the Niagara Falls, is the Horseshoe Falls. Horseshoe
Falls, also known as Canadian Falls, is the largest of the three waterfalls
which collectively form Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada-US
Border. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for
hydropower generation, flows over Horseshoe Falls. The remaining 10% flows
over American Falls and Bridal Veil falls. It is located between Terrapin
Point on Goat Island in the US state of New York, and Table Rock in the
Canadian province of Ontario. [source Wikipedia page]

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cableshaft
It never occurred to me that this could even be possible for such a giant
waterfall until I saw this article awhile back. It's really neat to see. And a
little scary we can have that much control over nature sometimes.

~~~
criddell
Do we still engage in these big projects? For example, around 1900 the flow of
the Chicago River was reversed. I can't imagine a project like that happening
today.

~~~
boomboomsubban
Yes, for example the Chunnel was likely opened in your lifetime.

~~~
s0rce
Also, the three gorges dam hydroelectric project.

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jcastro
I learned something cool on my last trip there, something like at least 50% of
the water is diverted for power usage before it reaches the falls, so you're
not even seeing them at full power. Though iirc this changes depending on the
time of day and season.

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JoshGlazebrook
It's worth noting that this is not Horseshoe Falls that most people think of
when someone says Niagara Falls. The one that ran dry is American Falls.

~~~
Harvey-Specter
Interesting note though, the Horseshoe falls did run dry naturally during the
winter of 1848 [1]. High winds on Lake Erie pushed ice into the mouth of the
Niagara River, eventually resulting in an ice jam that blocked the flow of
water into the river and stopped both falls.

[1]
[http://www.niagarafrontier.com/fallsstopped.html](http://www.niagarafrontier.com/fallsstopped.html)

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robert-brown
For a complete history of the falls, including many more obscure stories and
details of the de-watering and reconstruction, see Ginger Strand's book:

[http://gingerstrand.com/niagara_book.htm](http://gingerstrand.com/niagara_book.htm)

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losteverything
As a kid i recall seeing dump trucks on the American side.

I have to see if i have any 35mm slides.

Now everyone has a camera to document every little change. How times change.

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dluan
Off-topic, but: is there a name for sites/finds like these?

I'm not quite sure what to call them, but these kinds of web 1.0 pages with
primary or secondary sources tend to do really well on HN. Obviously because
they have interesting information, but maybe because they give the impression
of being a hidden gem? Like a weird-smelling laminated book in the corner of
your library, or listening to your grandpa talk about something that happened
before you.

The internet used to be a cool way to discover these kinds of pages, sorts of
relics of history of all types of neato media.

~~~
whitepoplar
"Web 1.0" is now synonymous with earnestness. Earnestness is the one thing
that people are craving right now, and it's nearly impossible to find anymore,
from friendships to politics to writing to business.

~~~
thaumaturgy
David Foster Wallace would be relieved:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sincerity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sincerity)

Also this good video essay on DFW, irony, and postmodernism:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4)

