We flew to Las Vegas and
arrived around noon. Then, we drove four hours to Lake Powell.
Lake Powell is upstream on the
Colorado River from the Grand Canyon and is located near the
Utah-Arizona boarder. We arrived in the late afternoon and
stayed that night at a hotel next to the boat rental marina
The next day we toured Glen
Canyon Dam. Constructed in the early 1960's, the dam backs up
the waters of the Colorado River forming Lake Powell. Down
stream from the dam is the Grand Canyon that then leads into
Lake Mead and Hover Dam that is located near Las Vegas.
Lake Powell provides fresh
water storage, along with Lake Meade, this is used for
agriculture and domestics drinking use in the states of Arizona,
Nevada, and California.
The water level in BOTH Lake
Powell and Lake Mead is down from full capacity. While Lake
Powell is up 50 feet higher than last year, it all points to a
water shortage in the western states.
The Dam as seen
from the visitor's center. The lake is not at full capacity and
the white area on the distant shore line marks how far down the
lake is from "full fill".
Pictured above
is the bridge near the dam for vehicle traffic across the river.
Normally, there is no traffic over the dam, with one exception.
Extremely heavy trucks are allowed to cross over the river via
the roadway on top of the dam so that they will not damage the
bridge.
Looking over the
edge of the dam down at the power house where the hydroelectric
plant is located. Between the powerhouse and the dam, the green
area is grass. To the right of the powerhouse is the outflow
from the dam. Also visible are the high tension power lines.
The top of the
dam