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Book chronicles receding water of Lake Powell
Glen Canyon and its 200 or so side canyons were drowned when Lake Powell was created in 1963, buried under water and hidden, presumably, forever.
Only they weren’t, and thanks to a decade-long drought and increased water demands, the lake has shrunk to half its size.
As that water level inches downward, the reservoir is giving back what it took so many years ago — incredible hiking terrain that includes beautiful slot canyons, forgotten waterfalls and archeologically significant sites.
Annette McGivney, an environmental writer living in Flagstaff, Ariz., chronicles the canyon’s recovery — and writes about the bigger issues of water use and unchecked development — in her book, “Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West.”
The book is packed with stunning photos by James Kay: Land cracked and parched like an alligator’s hide, narrow gravel-scrubbed stone crevasses, the telling “bath tub ring” that marks the dramatic drop in the reservoir’s depth.
McGivney, a University of Texas graduate who spent a decade here writing about the environment, speaks at the Texas Book Festival this weekend. She shares the stage with Laurence Parent and David Baxter during an 11:30 a.m. Saturday session titled “Parched: Water in the West.” She’ll also make an appearance at 3 p.m. Saturday at Patagonia, 316 Congress Ave.
Although her book focuses on a reservoir hundreds of miles from Austin, it has relevance here in Texas, where we’re facing a drought and water supply issues of our own.
“What has happened with Glen Canyon and Lake Powell is such a wonderful example of the consequences of short-term thinking that basically has been driving the economic machine for the last 50 years in the west,” McGivney says.
For decades, most people assumed Lake Powell would stay full. Slowly, the water disappeared.
“In Texas, reservoirs go down and fill up again,” McGivney says. “It still shows the vulnerability of the water supply and it doesn’t take much to be near disaster levels.”
McGivney, the southwest editor for Backpacker Magazine and a journalism teacher, got interested in Glen Canyon after researching an article in 2002. She realized then the shrinking lake revealed more than new hiking terrain — it exposed serious sustainability issues.
Lake Powell will probably never be more than half full again, she says, but will stay between 30 and 50 percent full.
As the water recedes, revealing nature’s treasures, it also reveals a need for study.
“Federal funds need to be dedicated to doing an inventory of the biological and archeological resources there. Instead we’re using tax payer dollars to extend boat ramps.”
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By Tiffany Mapel
October 28, 2009 9:58 PM | Link to this
Enjoy Ms. McGivney’s presentation on Saturday, folks. But just so you all know, Lake Powell is currently 62.78% full right now. I’d say that’s well over the 50% she predicts. Also, the high water level has RISEN each year from the lowest level reached in 2005. The 2009 high water level was 3642 feet, with 3700 being “full-pool.” Lake Powell is the nation’s second largest man-made reservoir. When full, it can hold 24 million acre feet of water. By the way, there are plenty of ruins, beautiful canyons, and other sites of interest above the high water line. Lake Powell is never stationary—it fluctuates daily. The water level rises from April through July with spring runoff from the Rockies. In August the water level is fairly stationary, and then slowly recedes from September through March. It is a dynamic, changing body of water. The biggest issue facing Lake Powell at the moment is the introduction of a non-native species: Zebra or Quagga Mussels. Many lakes in the west are already afflicted, and Lake Powell is still mussel-free. By keeping them out of the lake, millions will be saved each year. Take a look at Lake Mead, downstream from Powell. Currently, they’re spending 2.7 million per year to help control their mussel infestation. Oh yeah, and their “bathtub ring” is bigger than Powell’s. Call me biased, but LONG LIVE LAKE POWELL!
By Gem Morris
October 29, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this
Ms. McGivney states “For decades, most people assumed Lake Powell would stay full. Slowly, the water disappeared.” The very nature of a reservoir means there is a MAXIMUM water level which will almost NEVER be achieved and so Lake Powell is very rarely full. She really goes out on a limb by prediciting that it will never be full - I am SO impressed by this astute observation. A reservoir is designed to fluctuate. It is not static like a lake. It’s meant to capture water in good years and store it for lean years. But it has a built-in-can’t-be-exceeded maximum limit that once achieved immediately decreases as water is released for downstream uses so her predicition is really meaningless.
Further, when she stated that “Lake Powell will probably never be more than half full again, she says, but will stay between 30 and 50 percent full.” it WAS more than 50% full. Hello? Wake and smell the coffee.
I hope her book publisher didn’t print more than 500 copies of this book and that they’re prepared to take a bath (may I suggest IN Lake Powell?). :)
By Rico Bussinger
October 29, 2009 1:38 PM | Link to this
“It’s not that liberals are ignorant, it’s that they know so much that isn’t so.” - Ronald Reagan
By Carolyn Harlan
October 29, 2009 3:35 PM | Link to this
In addition to the astute and educated comments above, I want to mention Lake Powell initially filled faster than predicted, fell to levels lower than it’s current level at least two other times since the dam was completed and each time came back; almost breaching the dam in one wet year (1983). In two major droughts, here in the SW, without Lake Powell AND Lake Mead major cities, such as Los Angeles and Phoenix, would have been in major trouble. The Colorado River system was well-designed and it works as it was designed to work, something environmentalists refuse to acknowledge; they would have the entire SW return to a giant desert.
By Powell User
October 29, 2009 4:43 PM | Link to this
Personally I love Hiking around Lake Powell both when it is low and at it’s peak. It gives an ever-changing landscape that I find fascinating.
It seems Pamela is advocating the draining of Lake Powell. This would be very “short-sighted”. The environmental impact caused by the disruption of a large amount of Human and animal populations would be enormous. Also Lake Powell acts as a powerful buffer against climate change. (i.e. drought)
Lets just live at peace with the rich beauty that Lake Powell gives us and marvel at what an engineering feat it took to create such a place.
If you check Lake Powell’s water level, it is above 60% and has been rising for the last three years.
By Lover of Lake Powell
October 29, 2009 6:04 PM | Link to this
This article is nothing but sheer propaganda and lies. Lake Powell has risen since it’s low point during the recent drought. And it continues to rise with average run-off since 2005. That is the truth and if McGivney took the time to research she would know too that there is no basis to her claim that Lake Powell is being siphoned off by porous sandstone (in any major way). Lake Powell serves a critical purpose in our Colorado River based water storage and supplies. Lake Powell is not going away anytime soon so she may as well dip her toes in its waters and enjoy it. -rich San Diego, CA
By Tim
October 30, 2009 6:50 AM | Link to this
I should be stunned by some of the comments here. Pamela wasn’t advocating anything other than asking us to consider how we use water. Yes, Lake Powell is a marvel of engineering. It is also a monument to our ever growing hubris in trying to control the hydrologic cycle and in our continuing arrogance when it comes to using water (my college hydrology professor is spinning in his grave). Lake Powell’s lessons have something for us in Central Texas as well.
By Steve Moore
October 31, 2009 4:30 PM | Link to this
I find it interesting that she seeks s federal funding for studies in Glen Canyon. Most of the archeological sites were probably discovered after Lake Powell was filled by boating enthusiasts
By RonnPJ
November 1, 2009 8:47 AM | Link to this
Control the hydrologic cycle? Arrogance when it comes to using water? I guess I have no idea what some people are thinking here.
We, as intelligent, thoughtful people, build a dam like Glen Canyon to provide water for people who need it to live in the desert southwest and beyond. That seems like a good thing. The side benefits are access to wonderful canyons one might never see otherwise and hydrodynamic power for those same people’s lives. It’s all good.
The planet will continue to work as it has for eons, with meteorlogical cycles beyond our control. But we have survived by learning to adapt.
I am forever grateful to the intelligent and resourceful people who created Lake Powell. We need to care for and protect it for future generations.
By Lake Powell Joe
November 1, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this
I’m sure Annette is a bright young woman, trying to gain notoriety for herself. She comes to the southwest and considers herself an expert in just a few years. Once an expert, she feels the obligation to teach the minions that she sees and knows of their ignorance.
The Grand Canyon and it’s upper reaches, Glen Canyon, have been evolving for billions of years. It has never been static and will continue to change forever. To “study” the area for a couple of years, and then consider yourself an expert displays a huge ego.
Her book has very little to do with Glen Canyons, and everything to do with money. It’s unfortunate that her predication of the lake never exceeding 50% capacity is 30% off the mark the day her book is published.
By Norm Cimon
March 29, 2010 12:19 AM | Link to this
Since expertise and knowledge are the order of the day, let’s have us some. Lake Powell is filing with sediment more quickly than anyone thought it would. It will be obsolete in relatively short order. While you could sell tickets to the giant waterfall that will result, a better idea is to plan now for the reservoir’s removal. That day is coming and all the wish-casting in the world won’t change it.
As for irrigation and beneficial use, the compact was created under the illusion that there was considerably more water available than there is. Further exacerbating the problem is the mis-allocation of a valuable resource to grow low-value crops and to allow unplanned development to sprawl across Southwestern deserts. Not only does that waste water, it insures that energy inefficiency will follow in close pursuit.
These are the hallmarks of an immature society. Giving over the planning function to real-estate developers who have no understanding of nor concern with the future of the place we call home is shear lunacy.
I’d ask you all to get hold of the special 1982 issue of Desert Plants, the journal published by the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Arizona. It’s a fabulous catalog of the exquisite ecosystems of the Southwest, including those that are just memories. In there are photos of the lower Colorado, and its gallery forests of giant cottonwoods, the home for all sorts of life including Jaguars. Look at those photos, then look at yourself in the mirror for a while.
By Mike Duford
September 16, 2010 6:47 PM | Link to this
I just returned from a Labor Day trip to Lake Powell Sept 4-6th 2010. The lake was almost at “full pool” 3,700 feet. Much higher than my trip in 2009. Where did this writer gets her facts?
As for filling with sediment……..”Although an estimated 65,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sediment are annually deposited in Lake Powell, measurements conducted in the mid-1970’s showed a sedimentation rate at the dam of less than 1 cm per year. Calculations based on lake-wide sonar measurements indicated that the lake could hold a 700-year supply of silt, assuming no mitigating activities were pursued. When the need arises in the distant future, the life of the lake can be extended significantly by allowing silt to pass through the jet tubes and/or or the spillways. Eventually, the character of Lake Powell will change but for thousands of years the lake will keep providing water for recreation and thousand of acres of riparian habitat.”
Long live the most beautiful lake in the United States!