The Lake Powell

The Lake Powell is where Daddy and Mommy will take Rebecca and Gabby to camp this weekend. They will go with Allen's family. Allen has a little brother whose name was Benny. Benny was three months younger than Gabby. The following is some information about the Lake Powell.

The Lake Powell is located near the border of Utah and Arizona. It stretches from the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona up the Colorado River through Utah, past the San Juan confluence to Hite for a total of 186 miles. It has more than 2,000 miles of shoreline, more than the entire west coast of the United States. The sparkling blue waters of the Lake Powell are framed by towering rock formations and soaring red cliffs. Each year millions of visitors flock to the area to enjoy the breathtaking scenery and numerous water activities including boating, water skiing, scuba diving and fishing.

Can you imagine such a magnificent lake did not exist 50 years ago? The Lake Powell was created in 1963 when the Glen Canyon Dam held back the waters of the Colorado River. Remarkably, it took 17 years for the lake to fill the canyon to the high water mark (3700' above sea level). It was named after Major John Wesley Powell, a civil-war veteran and explorer who did the first exploration on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

Originated in Colorado, the Colorado River meanders through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and then enters Gulf of California. Several dams have been built along the Colorado River beginning with Glen Canyon Dam. Other dams include Hoover Dam, Parker Dam, Davis Dam, Palo Verde Diversion Dam, and Imperial Dam. The impoundment of Hoover Dam created the Lake Mead. Last summer when Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Rebecca and Gabby went to Las Vegas they passed Hoover Dam. Since the construction of the dams, the majority of the water is diverted away from the Colorado River. The last drops evaporate in the Sonoran Desert, miles before the river reaches the Gulf of California.

The dams have destroyed the natural habitats for wild lives. But why they were built? They were built for water supply and generation of hydroelectric power. Several cities such as Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego have aqueducts leading all the way back to the Colorado River. The Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal, which begins at Parker Dam and runs all the way to Phoenix and then Tucson to supplement those cities' water needs.