Lake Powell was created in 1963 with the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. It is a beautiful lake, but has been controversial from its inception. As it filled, it inundated several places that were historical both to Native Americans, but also to U.S. history. If you are interested, here are a couple of articles on the history of the area before the lake was formed.
- https://grcahistory.org/sites/beyond-park-boundaries/lake-powell/
- https://dustandtribe.com/2020/02/08/hot-dam-a-history-of-lake-powell/
It took until 1980 for the lake to completely fill, and I remember taking my kids there around that time period. We rented a speed boat and were able to go almost anywhere on this huge lake. Now, the lake looks sad to me because it is just a remnant of what the lake looked like then. It provides water to Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as a lot of other areas. And it is required to dump water into Lake Mead, which is also much, much lower than what they call "full pool." It is more obvious on Lake Mead, but you can see the "bathtub ring" indicating where the water level once was.
In fact, since both lakes are so low, some people have suggested destroying Glen Canyon Dam and allowing all the Lake Powell water to go to Lake Mead. That would make an awful lot of people unhappy because this lake is extremely popular with thousands of boaters. It would also make the town of Page, AZ, unhappy because the town really only exists because of the recreation taking place on the lake.
I have been to Lake Powell several times, but I ended up here this trip because they closed the North Rim of Grand Canyon and cancelled my campground reservations! The problem is that both rims of the Grand Canyon get their water from Roaring Springs, about halfway up the Canyon on the North Rim. Except, the pipes broke on the North Rim side this past July, and they are still working to repair them. Actually the pipes to both rims break fairly often, but this time it was much more serious. Here is an article and photo of the break: https://www.williamsnews.com/news/2020/jul/22/north-rim-implements-water-conservation-measures-a/
Anyway, here are some photos I took of the approach to the lake and the campground. You can just see some tiny glimpses of the lake in the first photos.
Can you see the original lake level in the bathtub rings on the mesas on the left? The lake is now almost 100' below the "full pool" level. And when we were here in around 1978, most of the flat area you see in the distance was navigable lake.
Sad to see the lake so low.
Wahweap campground is very nice, with paved roads, paved RV spots, and full hookups, but it is a bit over my usual budget.
Again, you can see the lighter colored "bathtub ring" showing the original lake level. The white building is the restroom facility for the day use area.
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