In our last issue we gave the wrong address for Glen Canyon Institute. It's 476 East South Temple #154, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111,(801) 322-0064 info@.glencanyon.org.
Annual dues are $25 and are tax deductible.

n our last issue we introduced Glen Canyon Institute, calling for a lowering of Lake Powell. On the next page was a piece by David Brower, calling for draining it entirely. The two views have since melted into one. On March 11, Glen Canyon Institute formally incorporated with Richard Ingebretsen as president, Dave Wegner as a vice-president, and both David Brower and Martin Litton on the Board. The goal: the eventual draining of Lake Powell and the beginning of what is being called the Glen Canyon Restoration Project.
Since the Sierra Club Board of Directors formally endorsed the concept last fall, quite a bit of press has been generated on the issue—some in praise, some in scorn and much questioning the sincerity of the stand. A foolish quixotic assault? A ploy to get new younger members? Certainly they can't be serious.
Both Glen Canyon Institute and the Sierra Club are quite serious, in fact. What is the rationale?

First, the sooner it's begun the better—Glen Canyon will take a long time to restore itself. Although initially it would be a bleached muddy mess, in a generation or two the canyons, grottos and glens would return. And it will take time to plan a way to do it without destroying Grand Canyon.
Second, Glen Canyon Dam has a short life span regardless of whether it is drained on purpose or fails on its own—sedimentation will eventually fill it, but long before that, silt will begin to reduce effective flood control and clog the penstocks. More urgently, the spillways, engineered to withstand 30 hours of use, failed miserably in ‘83 and although they were rebuilt in 1984, it is doubtful they will withstand a thousand-year flood—which could come along any time.
Third, between Lake Powell's evaporation and the amount that soaks irretrievably away into the sandstone, around a million acre-feet of water are lost each year—around one seventh of the annual flow of the river. This at a time when water is becoming nearly as valuable as gold. Most states and Indian tribes in the Southwest are crying out for more, while Mexico receives a trickle of black brine and the Sea of Cortez dies a lingering death.
Who could argue with that? Well, the city of Page, for one. Joan Nevills Staveley, at the Page Chamber of Commerce, sent down the following ad to be placed:
FOR SALE: TOWNSITE Formerly inhabited by 8,200 people, stocked with businesses, schools, churches and homes. Reason for sale: NO WATER OR POWER. Please call 1-800- IT'S-A-SHAME.

Brad Dimock