 Federal officials have tried a number of experimental releases from Glen Canyon Dam in an attempt to replicate historic conditions and restore sandbars, beaches, and backwaters downstream.The first flood began on March 26, 1996, when Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt stood before a large gathering of media and opened the first of four outlet tubes to begin the imitation inundation.The 1996 flood released nearly per second, enough to fill the Empire State Building or Sears Tower in 20 minutes, drained from Lake Powell, and dropped the reservoir level by more than three feet.