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Show iisssea ene LAKE POWELL: The ‘One Trick Pony? The latest stats on the ever-shrinking reservoir from the Glen Canyon Institute By Dr. Richard Ingebretsen The 2005 Winter is ending and it has been a relatively wet one in the Colorado River basin. Lovers of Lake Powell are counting with glee every foot that it will rise and "restore" their water skiing play ground. Ski boaters are fine tuning their engines so that they can roar through the side canyons pulling wave boarders-behind. But before we all get to ecstatic, we must first look at the big picture and the long term future of Lake Powell. Right now Lake Powell is nearly empty and hydrological data indicates that it will never refill again. When Lake Powell filled initially, all of the reservoirs surrounding it were full, now they are all nearly empty and must be filled also. In 1963, when the filling of Lake Powell began,-water use in the upper and lower basin was considerably less, now water delivery has exceeded flow. Thus, in short there is not enough water and too many reservoirs to fill that will preclude Lake Powell from ever refilling. So a more realistic future of the area is a natural restoration of Glen Canyon where much of this wondrous place, including nearly 40 miles of the Colorado River, 20 miles of the San Juan and 30 miles of the Escalante River, is free again and will be there for ours and future generations to enjoy. The biological heart of the Colorado Plateau just upstream from Grand Canyon National Park is gathering national attention and a free flowing Colorado River is breathing new life into the soaring redrock canyons of the legendary Glen. Powell Reservoir will be less than 50% full, the majority of the time during this coming century. ...if water development continues as expected, Lake Powell will be less than 20% full more than 70% of the time. Anyone traveling and exploring this area will find itincredible and unbelievable to think that because of the Bureau of Reclamation’s fiats of the 1960's, wondrous Glen Canyon has served as a water storage facility for the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada for four decades. The decisions to build and to store water in this uniquely beautiful place were made when the West was operating in an era of excess water. However, the Colorado River is now effectively over allocated, with no excess water to store. The shrunken Powell reservoir has a greatly-diminished value, now as well as in the future, as a water storage project, not to mention as a power generator, or as a flat-water motorized boat recreation LAKE POWELL: from the Hite Overlook in 1994 “chiinin 2004 Lake Powell as a water storage facility is over, a thing of the past... A ONE TRICK PONY should now be declared as a national park so that all emerging treasures and resources can be protected "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Right now the area that is restoring is under the auspices of the Glen Canyon National Recreational area. This branch of the Department of the Interior has no real charge to protect the land per se, but rather to encourage its use by motorized recreational vehicles including ORV's. This simply will not do for this priceless land. Glen Canyon is a national park already in its splendor. It is an unequaled national treasure boasting more than 200 miles of the Colorado River above Grand Canyon, 88 miles of the San Juan River, 65 miles of the spectacular Escalante, and more than 400 miles of unique and scenic side canyons. Glen Canyon is legendary for its beauty, with lush waterfalls, arches, soaring mesas, ancient ruins and rock art, twisting narrows, hoodoos, arches and natural bridges. Glen Canyon is at the heart of Utah's spectacular redrock country. This geological wonder contains such landscapes as Cathedral in the Desert, Rainbow > destination. In fact, if future precipitation in the Colorado River Basin is conservatively compared to the last 100 years on record, the water impoundment behind Glen Canyon Dam will be significantly less than can be used for reclamation. Demand for water in the Upper Basin is projected to continue growing with the entire basin's demand far exceeding average flow. Hydrology graphs show that Powell reservoir will be less than 50% full the majority of the time during this coming century. Moreover, if water development continues as expected, Lake Powell will be less than 20% full more than 70% of the time. Also, as the reservoir levels become less reliable, so does the minimal electricity generation Glen Canyon Dam produces. Additionally, most climate models predict less precipitation in the Colorado River Basin over the next century, with 1/3 less water for storage by 2050. The effects of climate change and warming on precipitation in the Southwest only serve to further compound the magnitude of the current and future era of water deficits. In other words Lake Powell was a "one-trick pony" and has no value or use in the future of water in the American Southwest. Glen Canyon is the future. Lake Powell as a water storage facility is over, a thing of the past. Here is a better idea. There is a natural restoration of Glen Canyon that is occurring. It should be allowed to continue. The restored areas of Glen Canyon that will never go back under water need to be protected. 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