PHOENIX -- The breeched dam that caused the recent flooding at the Havasupai Indian Reservation may have violated dam safety rules, according to an Arizona dam safety agency.

The broken dam is on Redlands Ranch, which is owned by Babbitt Ranches, and it appears to be a simple rebuild of the Cataract Dam, which failed in 1993, state investigators said.

Arizona's dam safety agency said the Redlands Ranch Dam was big enough that it should have been built according to strict regulations, but Babbitt Ranches appears to have ignored the rules.

Additionally, the dam was not inspected regularly by the state, officials said.

The state's dam safety inspector looked at the failed dam on Wednesday, and the agency said it should have its investigation ready in about 10 days.

Babbitt Ranches could face fines or the permanent removal of the dam.

As a result of the dam breech and subsequent flooding, the trails around Supai village will not reopen to visitors for at least six months, the Havasupai tribe's tourism office said.

The tribe initially had planned to allow visitors back to the area next month, but said Tuesday that more time is needed to repair the miles-long trail that leads visitors through Supai village and to campgrounds and towering blue-green waterfalls.

"The trail is pretty damaged, so they are going to close it down for the remainder of the year," said Taschina Watahomigie, an employee in the tribe's Tourism Office.

Watahomigie said the office has been busy making calls to hundreds of people who had plans to visit the reservation in a canyon west of Grand Canyon National Park headquarters.

The travertine pool below Havasu Falls that gives the water its blue-green color is dried out, and Watahomigie said the flood damaged other waterfalls that lure thousands of tourists to the area each year.

Most tourists who were in the canyon when flood waters swept through Aug. 16 made their way to Supai and were ferried by helicopter to the canyon rim. The village itself rests well above the Colorado River tributary of Havasu Creek and is accessible only by helicopter, mule or foot.

Residents who had evacuated the flood-prone canyon returned last week.

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