This&That
KAYAKING GLEN CANYON WITH LAKE POWELL 145 FEET BELOW CAPACITY.
After the
Flood Kayaking a GRANDER
Canyon by Ian Merringer
An inland kayaking wonderland is surfacing in the dry southwestern U.S. as the grand aspi- rations of hydro engineers go down the pen- stocks. With the waters of Lake Powell slowly dropping, more and more of the formerly inundated slot canyons, caves, towers, water- falls and arches of Glen Canyon are seeing the light of day for the first time in 30 years. In 1965 engineers blocked the Colorado River and flooded Utah’s Glen Canyon, cre- ating the 300-kilometre-long Lake Powell. On April 8th of this year the lake was at only 33 per cent of its capacity. At 145 feet below the high-water mark, it was the lowest level the lake has been since before the flood. Water from Lake Powell flows through Glen Canyon Dam, then through the Grand Canyon and into Lake Mead, the reservoir which supplies water to thirsty lawns in Los Angeles and fills the foun- tains of Las Vegas. Glen Canyon is a holding tank to store surplus water for Lake Mead, but nature’s replenishment isn’t keeping up with the demand for water. Though the lake’s level fluctu- ates through the year, Glen Canyon has slowly been gaining ground
over the lake. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is developing a strategy to manage increasingly low water levels in the future, but Richard Ingebretsen, founder of the Glen Canyon Institute, a group lobbying for the rehabilitation of the canyon, doesn’t think Glen Canyon will ever be drowned again. “It’s out forever. There’s just too much water demand in the Southwest,” says Ingebretsen. “Glen Canyon stored surplus water. There’s none of that left.” As a National Recreation Area the shores of Lake Powell are well serviced with launches, campgrounds and an increasing number of outfitters. Sea kayaks make it easy to explore the intimate and winding side channels of a canyon that Ingebretsen thinks is even longer on grandeur than the more famous canyon just downstream. “The Grand Canyon doesn’t hold a candle to Glen Canyon,” says Ingebretsen. Glen Canyon has hundreds of slot canyons [nar- row canyons leading off the main water- way]. They were all underwater when Lake Powell was full. And now they’re back.”
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 11
Photo JAMES W. KAY
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