Its Time to Drain Lake Powell :: Glen Canyon Dams Environmental Essays

Its Time to Drain Lake Powell Many people know Lake Powell as a fact of life. Since its concept in 1963, the reservoir, known as Lake Powell, is just there. Few people that ar alive today have had the opportunity to see the true beauty of Glen canyon, which rivals the thousand Canyon. Glen Canyon, equivalent to one light speed eighty river miles with dozens of side canyons, was flooded for the purpose of power and water resources. Lake Powell also generates an enormous cash flow repayable to the tourism it receives. Although the lake has a few reasons to remain in existence, there are many more reasons to drain it.The positive aspects of Lake Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dams hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the carbon monoxi de gas Rivers annual flow (Living Rivers What rough the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in holidaymaker revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place.The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dams hydroelectric power supply is precisely three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dams power is not needed (Living Rivers What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the lake contains twenty seven mill ion acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the lake (Living Rivers What about the water supply?). The loss of that much water represents millions, even billions of dollars (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.