Sharing the Falls
A large project always means bureaucracy at some level, and in the case of the 1969 draining of Niagara Falls, this was compounded by a complication of geography. Niagara Falls sits across the border between the United States and Canada. As we’ve mentioned, American Falls and Bridal Falls are on the American side, and Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side.
The engineer’s plan had meant that the diverted water from the dam was going to be rerouted down the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, and nobody really knew what effect this was going to have on the rock face or the basin. It must have been pretty nerve-wracking waiting to see if everything was safe.