The Day They Shut Off The Falls [VIDEO]

In June 1969 the American Falls were dewatered, in other words, they turned it off.

This action cut back the normal flow of 60,000 gallons a second to almost nothing. Most of the water was diverted to the Horseshoe Falls or drawn off upriver at the Robert Moses generating plant's water intakes. The action enabled Canadian and US power companies and the US Army Corps of Engineers to do on-the-spot inspections and aerial photographs of the river bed's rock formation all part of a plan to reduce erosion and preserve the natural beauty of the Falls.