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Home/Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology/The Future of Lake Powell

The Future of Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam | Photo by Gary Ladd
Glen Canyon Dam | Photo by Gary Ladd

Like all lakes, both natural and man-made, Lake Powell will eventually fall victim to sedimentation. The detritus, brought into the lake by the Colorado River and its tributaries, will gradually push the lake out of each of the lake’s side canyons until the silt beds coalesce into a continuous sandy sheet on the main channel reaching downstream all the way to the dam.

Of course, the Colorado River is an exceptionally muddy river so, even though Lake Powell possesses a full volume of eight cubic miles of water, even which huge capacity will choke with silt in an estimated 700 years.

If Glen Canyon Dam survives for 700 years (which is likely if the dam is properly maintained for those seven centuries), the former lake location will continue receiving silt that will accumulate above where the lake surface once lay.

Because of this, the volume of the eventual dirt “lake” will occupy up about 50% more volume than the water lake because 50% of the volume will accumulate above the old lake surface, a thin wedge at the dam but thickening continuously upstream well beyond the former head of Lake Powell. Thus the long-term outlook for Lake Powell is not pretty. On the other hand, such is the fate of all lakes. All are doomed.

This look into the future of Lake Powell is reasonable. But it isn’t necessarily completely inevitable. Unforeseen events could easily derail any reasonable forecast. Complicating factors could include climate change, volcanic activity upstream of the lake, failure to maintain the dam, excessive human water diversion projects and…almost anything that could change the rate of river flow and river turbidity.

A lot can happen in 700 years. How accurate would prognostications by the Ancestral Puebloan Indians have been if they had tried to imagine what the future would hold for their small water diversion projects 700 years into the future, into our time?

No one then could have possibly come close to imagining today’s canyon country population, technology, and potential for both great human progress and monstrous miscalculations.

Glen Canyon (along with Lake Powell) and Grand Canyon are both incredibly beautiful and dynamic. The uplift that both regions have experienced in the last 70 million years has initiated a mode of fast sculpting of the old rock layers, sculpting that creates canyons, cliffs, mesas, balanced rocks and many of the unusual landforms that inhabit the landscape.

What we see at Grand Canyon or Glen Canyon during the vast majority of our visits are geologic “Rest Days” when the canyons are silent and unchanging. But don’t let these rest days fool you.

“Work Days” also sometimes occur when rocks come crashing down, slot canyons are gouged deeper and the landscape begins to migrate towards the sea and low lying regions particle by particle and stone by stone.

“Work Days” are often made manifest on bad weather (heavy rains, freezing temperatures, high winds) when it is best for we fragile and short-lived humans to watch out, get out of the way, and stay at home planning the next trip.

Take care out there amid the rocks and canyons!

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Gary Ladd’s Publications

Photographing Grand Canyon: Where, When, and How to Capture the Best Photos
Photographing Grand Canyon: Where, When, and How to Capture the Best Photos
  • Gary Ladd (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 64 Pages - 03/30/2016 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Conservancy (Publisher)
$18.75
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Grand Canyon: Views beyond the Beauty
Grand Canyon: Views beyond the Beauty
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Ladd, Gary (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 82 Pages - 09/01/2008 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Association (Publisher)
$1.59
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Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Companion Press...
Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Companion Press...
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Markward, Anne (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 96 Pages - 08/01/2009 (Publication Date) - Mountain Press Publishing Company (Publisher)
$1.59
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Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World
Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Nichols, Tad (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 176 Pages - 02/06/2023 (Publication Date) - Museum of New Mexico Press (Publisher)
$520.57
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Gary Ladd's Canyon Light: Grand Canyon & Lake Powell (Cerca Book)
Gary Ladd's Canyon Light: Grand Canyon & Lake Powell (Cerca Book)
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Ladd, Gary (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 160 Pages - 01/01/2010 (Publication Date) - Stephens Press LLC (Publisher)
$7.03
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Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim
Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Childs, Craig Leland (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 192 Pages - 02/05/1999 (Publication Date) - Arizona Highways (Publisher)
$19.28
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping

Last update on 2023-02-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Published on: October 9, 2012

Categories: Lake Powell and Glen Canyon GeologyTags: climate change, future of reservoir, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, sedimentation, varying factors

About Gary Ladd

Gary Ladd is a renowned Southwest photographer and author of numerous books including “Page, Arizona: Hub of the Visual Universe”, "Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World", "Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim", and "Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area."

A resident of Arizona for over thirty years, Gary has spent the last twenty-five years seriously hiking, exploring, and photographing the astonishing beauty of the Colorado Plateau, particularly Glen and Grand Canyons.

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Lake Powell & Glen Canyon Geology

Storm over Lake Powell | Photo by Gary Ladd

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology

An extraordinarily beautiful river canyon lay where today’s Lake Powell shimmers. There was nothing …

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Glen Canyon Maze formed by damming of Colorado River | Photo by Gary Ladd

The Back Story

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Moon rise over Glen Canyon | Photo by Gary Ladd

Glen Canyon Rock Layers

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Aerial View of Glen Canyon showing angles of rock layers | Photo by Gary Ladd

Monoclines

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Flaming Sunset on Sandstone Cliffs | Photo by Gary Ladd

Glen Canyon’s Prominent Rock Units: The Aeolian Sandstones Plus One

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Rainbow Bridge with Navajo Mountain in the background | Photo by Gary Ladd

Glen Canyon’s Striking Landscape Features

Glen Canyon hosts a wonderful array of interesting landforms. They include the following: Alcoves …

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Navajo Mountain | Photo by Gary Ladd

Laccoliths—Underachieving Volcanoes

The mountains that stand near Glen Canyon are quite unusual. They are known as laccolithic mountains …

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Glen Canyon Dam | Photo by Gary Ladd

The Future of Lake Powell

Like all lakes, both natural and man-made, Lake Powell will eventually fall victim to sedimentation. …

Continue Reading about The Future of Lake Powell

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