Amidst a decades-long drought in the Western United States, water resources are precious and contentious. Given its great extent, the Colorado River features prominently in conversations around water availability and allocations. Following a winter with record-high snowpack across the Western United States, Colorado River flow is expected to look different this year, and what implications a change in water flow has for water resources, water availability, and aquatic ecosystems across the West remains to be seen.
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What Does This Year’s Snowpack Mean For Lake Powell And Glen Canyon?
A heavy snowpack is expected to lead to more water flowing into Lake Powell. But will it actually make a difference for the drought-stricken reservoir?
Lake Powell History
In 1963, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation constructed a 710-foot tall dam across the Colorado River, where it straddles the Utah-Arizona border. Backing up water 190 miles upriver from the dam, the Glen Canyon dam submerged Glen Canyon and created Lake Powell. Erroneously called a “lake,” Lake Powell is actually the second largest reservoir in the United States, behind Lake Mead.
The Lake Powell Dam
The dam on Lake Powell is called the Glen Canyon Dam. It was built to impound the Colorado River for the purpose of water storage and hydropower generation. Lake Powell was designed to hold 26,215,000 acre-feet of water, most of which comes in the form of melted snowpack from the Upper Colorado River Basin states––Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico. The Upper Basin states can then, theoretically, use water stored in Lake Powell to weather drought years.
Beyond water storage and hydropower, Lake Powell has become a mecca for outdoor recreation, perhaps because it serves as a watery oasis in the middle of a desert region. Each year, millions of people flock to Lake Powell in pursuit of activities ranging from water skiing to fishing to hiking to house-boating. While many celebrate the opportunity for water-based activities in a historically arid environment, others mourn the loss of the canyon that lies beneath Lake Powell’s surface and question the utility of Lake Powell in the context of the region today.
As climate change amplifies aridification, the shape of Lake Powell is changing, and Glen Canyon is re-emerging. This shift is resurfacing questions about the origins of the dam and making the existence and purpose of Lake Powell increasingly tenuous. The issue is even more complicated this year as questions arise about what this winter’s record-high snowpacks will mean for Lake Powell water levels.
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A Legacy Of Environmental Controversy
Water rights in the Colorado River basin have been contentious for more than a century. In the early 1900s, population growth across the American West spurred competition in arid, desert regions. Signed in 1922, the Colorado River Compact divided access to the waters of the Colorado River between the seven states of the Colorado basin: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Though the Colorado River Compact stipulated water rights for different states, it did not actually guarantee water, and states began to advocate for dams to be built to divert water to strategic locations to support economic development.
"The Colorado River Compact divided access to the waters of the Colorado River between the seven states of the Colorado basin: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming."
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When Was The Glen Canyon Dam Built?
In response to ongoing concerns over access to water in the region, the construction of Glen Canyon dam was authorized in 1956 with passage of the Colorado River Storage Act (CRSA). Conservation leaders at the time, such as David Brower, a prominent environmentalist and first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, opposed many of the dams proposed under the CRSA but were unable to stop the construction of Glen Canyon Dam. The controversy over the Glen Canyon dam played a role in catalyzing the modern environmental movement and shaping the landscape of contemporary conservation ethics.
What Were The Results of Damming The Colorado River?
As decades from the dam’s construction tick by, the generations that knew Glen Canyon in its natural form are disappearing, and memories of Glen Canyon are becoming hazier. Despite the disappearance of living memories of Glen Canyon, we do have some insight into the awe-inspiring beauty of the canyon that now lies beneath Lake Powell. David Brower famously referred to the flooding of Glen Canyon’s Cathedral in the Desert monument as “America’s most regretted environmental mistake.” Edward Abbey, author, and environmental advocate, explored Glen Canyon prior to its flooding and was vehemently opposed to the dam’s construction. “Here was an Eden, a portion of the earth’s original paradise,” he wrote in Desert Solitaire. “To grasp the nature of the crime that was committed, imagine the Taj Mahal or Chartres Cathedral buried in mud until only the spires remain visible.” Records tell of mazes of side canyons, lush riparian habitats, and hundreds of archaeological sites, all of which now lie submerged beneath water and sediment trapped behind the Glen Canyon Dam.
Many of the Colorado Basin’s ongoing water issues can trace their origins back to the 1922 Colorado River Compact. Notably, the Compact did not invite Indigenous stakeholders to the negotiating table, and the final agreement neglected to acknowledge use by or give rights to the original inhabitants of the land. The ripples of this negligence are still present today as local tribes continue to fight for water allocation rights.
The 1922 negotiations were also based on the estimate that the annual Colorado River flow at Lees Ferry was 16.4 million acre-feet. This was later revised to be a more modest 13.5 million acre-feet. Furthermore, the Compact (understandably) failed to foresee the extent of impacts that climate change in the 21st century would have on the region. Relying on such precise numbers in an ecosystem as dynamic as the Colorado River did not prove to be the best strategy, and the issue has been further compounded by a decades-long drought.
Lake Powell Is At Critical Water Level
Lake Powell’s water level fluctuates seasonally in response to spring runoff, scheduled dam releases, precipitation, and evaporation. However, there has been a steady decline in water levels since 1999, and the past several years have seen record lows. Chalky, white calcium carbonate deposits dubbed “bathtub rings” line the exposed walls of Glen Canyon, providing visual evidence of past water levels. As of this writing, the water in Lake Powell sits 175 below the historic high mark (live tracking of water levels here).
Water levels are dropping due to a combination of factors. Given that the original Colorado River Compact did not account for population growth and climate change, the calculus of water usage balanced against water inflow is antiquated and more water is lost each year than that is gained. This trend is only expected to continue as climate change increases drought severity in the American Southwest.
As water levels in Lake Powell drop, Glen Canyon and this particular stretch of the Colorado River have once again taken center stage in the national environmental movement. The precipitous decline in reservoir water levels in recent years is making a future in which hydropower generation from Glen Canyon Dam becomes impossible. Declining water levels also have significant implications on Lake Powell’s recreational use. As channels narrow, boat congestion increases, and boat launches and ramps built decades ago are being moved and/or retired as the shoreline recedes.
As water levels drop, Glen Canyon is a landscape in transition, and the opportunity to restore the previously lost canyon and consider removing the dam is becoming more viable. Previously submerged side canyons are being revealed, historic features are resurfacing, and the water is falling away from notable geologic features such as Cathedral in the Desert. Organizations such as Glen Canyon Institute are helping facilitate scientific studies assessing ecological restoration in the canyon and as well as how water management could shift to support the restoration of Glen Canyon.
But in the wake of an unprecedented amount of snow in the Western United States this winter, questions abound about how much water levels will rise this spring and what that means for Glen Canyon.
Implications of 2023’s Historic Snowpack
Snowfall across the Western U.S. has reached unprecedented levels this winter. At the end of April 2023, Colorado state snowpack was greater than 140% of average, and Utah’s snowpack had already broken all previous state records. Across the Upper Colorado River basin, snowpack is greater than it has been at any point in the past decade. Some experts are estimating that water flows into the Colorado River from snowpack will be 177% of average, and Lake Powell could rise by as much as 25% to reach 50% capacity.
While all of the water locked up in this winter’s high snowpack bodes well for the river system, it’s not obvious how much of that snowmelt will actually make it to the reservoirs. The extent to which snowpack will impact Lake Powell levels depends on the trajectory of its melt and factors such as soil moisture levels, future precipitation, temperature, and evaporation rates. Dry soil has the capacity to take up more water, limiting the amount of water that ultimately reaches the river basin. If temperatures rise rapidly, there will also be greater evaporation rates which would limit how much of the moisture contained in the snowpack actually reaches the Colorado River Basin. The West has been in a drought period for decades, and it will take more than one year of high snowpack to reverse those effects in any meaningful way.
The Future Of Lake Powell
The existing regulations governing water management on the Colorado River will expire in 2026, clearing the path for a new round of negotiations addressing future management in the coming years. The impact of this winter’s snowpack on Lake Powell will be a closely-watched phenomena, given that states are vying for more water access and seeking more certainty about the future of the river system’s water resources.
It is doubtful that this year’s heavy winter snowpack will change Lake Powell water levels in any meaningful way, but it may provide a brief relief from intense drought conditions and has spurred more conversation around the tenuous nature of water resources in the Colorado River Basin.
Key Takeaways
- Lake Powell was created to store water for states in the Upper Colorado River basin. In the wake of a rapidly changing climate and growing population, the water management system that Lake Powell was created under has become antiquated and ineffective.
- In mid-April, the Bureau of Reclamation released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to revise the current operating practices of the Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. This draft will be open to public comments until May 30th, and those concerned about water rights in the West are encouraged to submit a public comment. You can submit comments to the Bureau via email at crinterimops@usbr.gov.
- Those interested in keeping up with Glen Canyon restoration efforts are invited to sign up for the Glen Canyon Institute newsletter here.
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