Recently scoured-out narrows along Cascade Canyon at a location once 30 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. The floor of the canyon at this location was buried under 25 feet of reservoirl sediment before the water level began to drop due to a regional drought which began in the year 2000. Once the reservoir had receded from this location, flash floods cleaned out the sediment and restored the pre-reservoir conditions found here. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: 4/29/05. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,560 feet on this date.
Newly-emerged double waterfall along Davis Gulch at a location once 75 feet below the surface of Lake Powell in October 2007. One year prior to the date this image was captured, this waterfall was still buried beneath a thick layer of reservoir sediment. Lake Powell’s 75-foot tall “bathtub ring” climbs to the very top of the wall at left, revealing the water depth here when the reservoir was last full in 1999. New cottonwood trees grow on top of all that remains of the sediment layer which once filled the canyon. This layer of mud and sand was laid down during the period in time from the late 60s until 1999 when the reservoir flooded this canyon. The top of this sediment layer was last inundated by Lake Powell water 5.5 years prior to the date this image was captured, thus all of this growth occurred within this short time frame. As the reservoir level dropped due to the regional drought which began in the year 2000, vast quantities of accumulated sediment were washed out of this canyon by flash floods, eventually scouring all the way down to the level of the pre-reservoir streambed to reveal these double waterfalls. Additional reservoir sediment fills the floor of the canyon below the falls. Record-breaking floods occurred here in October of 2006 and flushed staggering quantities of accumulated sediment away to restore many of the canyons which flow into Lake Powell. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: 10/8/07. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,602 feet above sea level.
A profusion of native Willow reclaims the floor of Davis Gulch in the Escalante Canyons at a location once 80 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. The reservoir’s fading “bathtub ring” stains the wall in the background 3/4 of the way up and reveals the depth of the reservoir when it was last full in 1999. During the time when the water flooded this canyon from the late 60s until 1999, sediment carried in Davis Creek settled to the floor of the canyon here, eventually reaching a depth of 35 feet. Since the reservoir began to recede in the year 2000, flash floods have cut down as much as 25 feet into this layer as the stream searches for its pre-reservoir bed. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: October 8, 2007. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,602 feet above sea level.
30′-tall Lake Powell sediment banks cling to the wall at right above the streambed of Davis Gulch in the Escalante Canyons of Utah. When the reservoir first topped off in 1983, the surface of the water was 90 feet above the level of the streambed seen here. The reservoir’s white “bathtub ring” can be seen climbing halfway up the wall at the top center of the image revealing how far underwater this location was when the reservoir was last full in 1999. As flash floods poured down into the stagnant waters of the reservoir at this location during the time period when this canyon was flooded by the reservoir from the late 60s until 1999, the sediments in the flood waters settled onto the floor of the reservoir here, eventually accumulating to a depth of approximately 30 feet. As the reservoir’s level dropped due to the drought which began in the year 2000, more recent flash floods roared down this canyon and flushed huge quantities of these sediments further down the canyon into the still waters of Lake Powell. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: 10/8/07. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,602 feet above sea level.
Fiftymile Creek, Escalante Canyons. When Lake Powell was last full in 1999, its waters rose 50 feet up the orange wall at right center as evidenced by the remnants of the reservoir’s white “bathtub ring”. During the time the reservoir flooded this canyon from the late 60s until 1999, flash floods poured down from the headwaters of this canyon and dropped their burden of sediment into the reservoir here and eventually filled these narrows with mud and other debris to the height of the green bush. When the level of the reservoir began to drop in the year 2000 due to a regional drought, it eventually receded downstream far enough from these narrows that flash floods could begin to scour away this 30-foot deep layer of reservoir sediment. By the time this image was captured in October of 2007, all of this accumulated sediment had been cleaned out of these narrows to restore the pre-reservoir conditions found here. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: 10/10/07. A brightly-sunlit canyon wall reflects in water flowing down a small restored waterfall along Fiftymile Creek at a location once 30 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. This waterfall has only recently emerged into the light of day after being buried beneath a 30-foot deep layer of Lake Powell sediment. When the waters of Lake Powell invaded Fiftymile Creek canyon after the floodgates were closed on Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, silt-laded flash floodwaters poured down this canyon and deposited their load of sediment into the stagnant waters of the reservoir and settled to the floor of the canyon. As the waters of Lake Powell invaded Fiftymile after the floodgates were closed on Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, silt-laded floodwaters poured down this canyon and dropped their load of sediment into the stagnant waters of the reservoir here. These sediments settled onto and eventually buried this small waterfall under a layer of mud. As the water level of the reservoir dropped due to the drought which began
Downstream view at sunrise of the free-flowing Colorado River viewed from just below its confluence with the Dirty Devil River. When Lake Powell was last full in 1999, its surface was 95 feet above the present level of the Colorado River here and it extended 35 miles upriver from this location. The reservoir’s fading “bathtub” ring can be seen at the base of the cliffs. The pre-reservoir river channel here is now filled with 130 feet of accumulated sediment from the Colorado River as it emptied into Lake Powell during the last 30 years. Due to this sediment layer, the river now flows at an elevation 130 feet above its pre-reservoir bed. Salt Cedar (tamarisk), an invasive plant from the Middle East, has taken over the top of the sediment layer at the bottom of the frame. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: October 26, 2007. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,600 feet above sea level.
Morning light illuminates cliffs across from the foot of Lake Powell’s abandoned Hite Marina boat ramp. The reservoir’s white “bathtub ring” is clearly evident on the base of the cliff at upper right. When the reservoir was last full in 1999, a person standing at this location would have been 95 feet below the surface of the reservoir. This small pool of water is simply a stagnant cut-off pool trapped in the mud flats of the reservoir as it receded downstream due to the drought which began in 1999. The Colorado River now flows right to left below the bathtub ring on the cliffs. At the time this image was made, the river flowed into the waters of Lake Powell approximately 1 mile downstream from here. When the reservoir is full, it extends 35 miles upriver from this location. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: October 26, 2007. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,600 feet above sea level.
Willow Gulch in the Escalante Canyons. When last at full-pool elevation in 1999, the waters of Lake Powell invaded this small side canyon of Willow and flooded this pothole to a depth of 10 feet. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: October 12, 2007
Kayaking on the drastically-lowered waters of Lake Powell in the “Cathedral in the Desert” with the reservoir’s water level 145 feet below its “normal” full-pool elevation due to a Western drought which began in the year 2000. At this level, the reservoir has lost nearly 70% of its total water volume. Before the flooding of Glen Canyon, Cathedral in the Desert was considered by many to be the most beautiful canyon in all of Glen Canyon. In April 2005, it was possible to stand on a sand dune on the floor of this chamber for the first time since it was flooded by the rising waters of Lake Powell in 1969. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: Photo Date: 4/25/05. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,560 feet above sea level on this date.
Kayaking (lower left) in Reflection Canyon beneath the towering 140-foot tall “bathtub ring” of Lake Powell. At this level, the reservoir has lost nearly 70% of its total water volume. The height of the ring reveals just how much was has been lost since the reservoir was last full in 1999. Beginning in 2000, five successive years of Western drought had drastically reduced the inflow to the reservoir and the water volume by the time this image was captured in April 2005. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: April 30, 2005. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,560 feet above sea level on this date.
Frank Colver with his hand-made flute in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Face Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Fifty feet directly below the water here is a particularly beautiful section of narrows shown in image #67-UT-LPD-FA-10 captured in April 2006 when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
When Lake Powell was last full in 1999, these sensuously-sculpted narrows in Face Canyon were 100 feet below the surface of the reservoir and entombed in a deep layer of reservoir-deposited mud which filled them to the brim. As flash floods poured down from the headwaters of this canyon during the time period between the late 60s and 1999 when the reservoir flooded this canyon, they dropped their load of sediment into the stagnant waters of the reservoir here and eventually buried these narrows under a deep layer of mud, sand and other debris. As the waters of Lake Powell receded downstream from here due to the drought which began in the year 2000, this accumulated sediment was washed out of the canyon by flash floods, all the way down to the pre-reservoir streambed, thus restoring the pre-reservoir conditions found here. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona. Photo Date: April 28, 2007. Lake Powell pool elevation: 3,590 feet above sea level.
2014
Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
The waterfall in Cathedral in the Desert emerges; once again, from the waters of Lake Powell in the Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of the reservoir. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
The waterfall in Cathedral in the Desert emerges; once again, from the waters of Lake Powell in the Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of the reservoir. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Frank Colver below La Gorce Arch in Davis Gulch at a location once 100 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
Frank Colver holding a copy of Resurrection Glen Canyon with a photograph of the same location in Davis Gulch photographed 7 years earlier at a location once 90 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
The waterfall in Cathedral in the Desert emerges; once again, from the waters of Lake Powell in the Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of the reservoir. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Dr. Richard Ingebretsen below La Gorce Arch in Davis Gulch comparing on image captured in 2005 with the current situation at a location once 100 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
Frank Colver plays his hand-made flute in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Double Falls along Davis Gulch with remnants of cottonwood trees killed by a rise in the reservior level in 2011 at a location once 75 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
Dr. Richard Ingebretsen and Frank Colver in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Dr. Richard Ingebretsen in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Annette McGivney in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Frank Colver in Davis Gulch at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
Frank Colver in Cathedral in the Desert, Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Dr. Richard Ingebretsen discussing sedimentation in Davis Gulch at a location once 115 feet below the surface of Lake Powell. March 22, 2014
2011
The waterfall in Cathedral in the Desert emerges; once again, from the waters of Lake Powell in the Escalante Canyons at a location once 125 feet below the surface of the reservoir. March 23, 2014. Reservoir level at 3,575 feet.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Davis Gulch in the Escalante Canyons with the water level 47′ below full pool. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Date: 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #67-UT-LPD-DA-81 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Davis Gulch in the Escalante Canyons with water level of Lake Powell 47′ below full pool. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Date: 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #67-UT-LPD-DA-75 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates West Canyon with the water level 47′ below full pool. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Date: 9/27/11. Image taken from same location as image #UT-LPD-WE-6 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Willow Gulch in the Escalante Canyons of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #DX-UT-LPD-WI-8 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Submerged top of Gregory Natural Bridge (center) in Fifty Mile Gulch in the Escalante Canyons of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level of Lake Powell 47′ below full pool. Date: 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #UT-LPD-FI-15 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Llewellyn Gulch with the water level 47′ below full pool. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Date: 9/27/11. Image taken from same location as image #UT-LPD-LW-19 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Reflection Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Frank Colver holds up a photograph (Image #UT-LPD-RF-9 from the book Resurrection Glen Canyon) showing this same scene in 2005 when the water level was 100 feet lower.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Labyrinth Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Image taken from same location as image #UT-LPD-LB-2 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Annette McGivney holds up a photograph from her book “Resurrection Glen Canyon” of her standing at this same location 6 years earlier when the canyon was dry. Now; 60 feet of Lake Powell reservoir water inundates the canyon at this location with the water level 47 feet below full pool. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Date: 9/29/11. Image taken from same location as image #UT-LPD-TW-35 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Twilight Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Image taken from the same location as image #UT-LPD-TW-35 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Reflection Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Image captured from same location as image #UT-LPD-RF-9.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Willow Gulch in the Escalante Canyons of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #DX-UT-LPD-WI-16 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Willow Gulch in the Escalante Canyons. When last at full-pool elevation in 1999, the waters of Lake Powell invaded this small side canyon of Willow and flooded this pothole to a depth of 10 feet. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Photo Date: October 12, 2007
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Face Canyon in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool on 9/29/11. Fifty feet directly below the water here is a particularly beautiful section of narrows shown in image #67-UT-LPD-FA-10 captured in April 2006 when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
Lake Powell reservoir water inundates Fifty Mile Gulch in the Escalante Canyons of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah with the water level 47′ below full pool. Date: 9/28/11. Image taken from same location as image #DX-UT-LPD-FI-2+3 which captured this same scene years earlier when reservoir water did not fill the canyon due to drought.
