Hidden Passage the Journal of Glen Canyon Institute Issue XV, Winter 2008
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75166nwsltr.qxd 12/26/07 9:00 AM Page 1 Hidden Passage the journal of glen canyon institute Issue XV, Winter 2008 75166nwsltr.qxd 12/26/07 9:00 AM Page 2 You Don’t Know What You Got ‘til It’s Back Glen Canyon Institute by Richard Ingebretsen President S ongwriter Joni Mitchell wrote, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know Richard Ingebretsen what you got ‘til it’s gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” But, as far as Glen Canyon is concerned, we might want to rewrite that lyric to say, “You Board of Trustees don’t what you got ‘til it’s back.” With each passing day, each passing rain storm, Mikhail Davis and each passing wisp of the wind, the Glen’s wondrous canyons continue to be Ed Dobson restored. Wade Graham Powell reservoir is only 47% full right now and is lowering. The reason is that Margaret Hoffman Lake Mead, downstream from Lake Powell, operates at a 1.3 million acre-foot Nancy Jacques deficit each year. That means that more water goes out of Lake Mead then goes Rick Ridder into it each year. Because of the critical need to keep Lake Mead generating power Lea Rudee and providing water to users in the Lower Basin, an accord was reached in the Fall Dave Wegner of 2007 which allows for more water to pass through Glen Canyon Dam to keep Lake Mead full in "wet" years and hold onto water in "drier" years with the hope Development Director of keeping both Lake Mead and Powell at maximum levels. It also mandates that the Lower Basin share in these shortages by encouraging conservation measures. Amy Collins This is another in a series of “accords” designed to maintain a fragile peace among the Colorado River’s competing water users—but this one is different, because it Advisory Committee reverses the tortured logic that built Glen Canyon Dam in the first place. Dan Beard It all started in the decades before the dam was built, when the Upper Basin Steve Black states recognized that, in spite of the fact that most of the time the actual flow of Philmer Bluehouse Ryan Brown the Colorado would be sufficient for the Upper Basin to make its required deliv- Niklas Christensen ery of water each year, it nevertheless needed a storage reservoir—not to deliver Agustin Garza water to the Lower Basin, but to hold it back! The problem was that the Lower Michael Kellett Basin, eager to appropriate any “surplus” water that came down the river, refused Peter Lavigne to credit the Upper Basin for any water that flowed into Lake Mead in excess of the Katie Lee minimum annual requirement. Therefore, a huge reservoir was needed to try to Daniel McCool keep water upstream of Mead as long as possible. In effect, Lower Basin water Francis McDermott would be stored in the Upper Basin merely to counter Lower Basin greed. Bruce Mouro But this new accord acknowledges that the earlier policy was a mistake. The Tom Myers Page Stegner Lower Basin has agreed to credit the Upper Basin for future water delivery in order Flake Wells to keep Lake Mead full now. This flies in the face of the stated purpose of Lake Bill Wolverton Powell and accentuates the colossal mistake of arbitrarily dividing the Colorado River Basin into two halves at Lees Ferry. The new accord also begs the obvious question: now, what is the purpose of Lake Powell? 1520 Sunnydale Lane In the future, the demand on Lake Mead is going to increase, and the inflow to Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 Lake Powell is going to continue to decrease. Lake Powell is caught between seven tel (801) 363-4450 very thirsty states (and Mexico) and a dwindling water supply entering it. The lat- fax (801) 363-4451 est studies reveal that, because of global climate change, Lake Powell will empty to [email protected] “dead pool” (the level of the dam’s outlet tunnels, when the river will simply flow www.glencanyon.org through the dam) and stay there for at least 15% of its existence—some studies say up to 40% of its future. When it does reach that very low level, Lake Mead will Hidden Passage drop very rapidly and it will be difficult to keep it full. Obviously, there needs to Issue XV Winter 2008 be a significant change in Western water management, not a number of meaning- less “accords.” It simply does not make sense to try to maintain Lake Powell’s level Editor when there is not enough water to fill Lake Mead. Wade Graham Anyone traveling and exploring this area will find it unbelievable to think that, [email protected] because of the Bureau of Reclamation’s fiats of the 1950s, irreplaceable Glen Canyon has served as a water storage facility for the states of Arizona, California, printed on 100% recycled paper and Nevada for four decades. The decisions to build and to store water in this Cover: La Gorce Arch in Davis Gulch near the mouth of the Escalante River, at loca- page 2 tion once 90 feet under water. Photo by Jim Kay — jameskay.com 75166nwsltr.qxd 12/26/07 9:00 AM Page 3 uniquely beautiful place were made when the West was oper- Historical District, the famous Mormon Pioneer Hole-in-the ating in an era of excess water. The shrunken Powell reservoir Rock, the Glen Canyon region is our part of our Western past has a greatly-diminished value now as well as in the future as and heritage. It is well known for its cultural significance to a water storage project, not to mention as a power generator, many native Indians, filled with thousands of sacred ruins or as a flat-water motorized boat recreation destination. and rock art sites scattered throughout the maze of canyons. A realistic future of the area is a natural restoration of Glen The environmental impacts of Glen Canyon Dam are Canyon where much of this incredible place, including nearly undeniable, with the failing health of the fragile Grand 40 miles of the Colorado River, 20 miles of the San Juan and Canyon ecosystem near the top of the list. Endangered 30 miles of the Escalante River, is free again and will be there species populations in the Grand Canyon shrink while nutri- for our and future generations to enjoy. The natural restora- ent-rich sediment deposits grow rapidly in Glen Canyon at tion of Glen Canyon should be allowed to continue and the the rate of 30,000 truck loads daily. Other major impacts restored areas that will likely never go back under water need include diminished water quality and the flooding of histor- to be protected. Glen Canyon is truly America’s lost national ical, cultural, and scenic treasures. park. It is a national park already in its splendor—an In the long term, climate change and steadily increasing unequaled national treasure boasting more than 200 miles of water demand will render Lake Powell reservoir useless for the Colorado River above Grand Canyon, 88 miles of the San water storage. As such, Congress should direct the National Juan River, 65 miles of the spectacular Escalante River, and Park Service to redesignate the Glen Canyon Unit as a hundreds of miles of unique and scenic side canyons. Glen National Park instead of a National Recreation Area, and to Canyon is legendary for its beauty, with lush waterfalls, manage its re-emerging landscapes for a dry future and a arches, soaring mesas, ancient ruins and rock art, twisting more diversified, non-motorized recreational economy. The narrows, hoodoos, arches and natural bridges. improved health of the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon is at the heart of Utah’s spectacular redrock and Glen Canyon will all result from this protection. Future country. This geological wonder contains such landscapes as generations will be thankful for the protection of this won- Cathedral in the Desert, Rainbow Bridge, Music Temple and drous landscape and the restoration of a free-flowing the Goosenecks of the San Juan River.With deep historical Colorado River around Glen Canyon Dam. roots in places like Old Hite Historical District, Lee’s Ferry Restored section of Wetherill Canyon once 100 feet under water. Photo by Jim Kay — jameskay.com page 3 75166nwsltr.qxd 12/26/07 9:00 AM Page 4 Drought, Climate Change, and the Colorado River by Dave Wegner, Science Director F ires in Southern California. Record Drought in Los Angeles. basin, making for faster drying out of the soils and plants and Lake Powell and Lake Mead less than 50 percent full. Record a higher volume of water evaporated from the reservoir sur- CO2 emission levels. Thousands of acres of pine trees in faces. Colorado dead or dying. Taken individually, all of these events • Current volume of lakes Powell and Mead: currently both are concerns that need to be addressed. Taken collectively, they reservoirs are less than half full and are projected to continue represent a far larger event happening in the West and one that to decline. Without a high level of snowpack and resulting slow will have a direct impact on how we manage our water in the runoff we can expect the reservoirs to continue to decline in future. volume and elevation. Direct and indirect changes are hap- • Seven basin states allocations: the pening at a fast pace in the Colorado Colorado River Compact in 1922 split River Basin. Climate change and asso- the watershed into two parts, the Upper ciated societal impacts resulting from and Lower Basins.