uess we have to postpone our Glen Canyon float another year.
At Glen Canyon Institute, we've been chiseling away at the notion that Glen Canyon Dam is an indispensable, impenetrable, permanent monument to human dominance of the natural landscape that you and I can't do without. We've gotten a bunch more folks to ask, what if? What if we decommissioned the dam and drained the reservoir?
We've been busy trying to answer some questions as well. We completed nine technical studies as part of our Citizens' Environmental Assessment of the proposal to drain Lake Powell in 1999. Here are a few things that we learned:
• The reservoir lost an average of 882,000 acre feet of water per year due to evaporation and bank seepage between 1963 and 1997.
• At least 860,000 acre feet of sediment is trapped in Lake Powell.
• Lake Powell will fill with sediment in 200 to 800 years, depending on the rate of sediment inputs from tributaries.
• When the reservoir is drained, Glen Canyon will recover quickly from the sediment that buries the mainstem and side channels (from one to six years in different areas of the canyon).
• In 1998, 2,458,990 recreationists visited Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, generating $380,194,100 (this is 24% less than has been quoted by Congressman Cannon).
• Visitor numbers have been decreasing steadily at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area since 1993, except for 1996, with a total decrease of 32.1%.
(Data are from studies by Tom Myers, Center for Science in Public Participation, and swca, inc.)
We're going to keep conducting studies and learning more about what will happen if we drain Lake Powell, until we can convince the federal government to do an eis on the proposal. Hopefully that day is not far off.
You probably had lots of questions from your passengers about draining Lake Powell last season.
What were they asking you? Did you feel prepared to answer their questions or provide them with information about the Glen Canyon Dam debate? Let us know if there are questions out there that we are not addressing or if we can help you be better prepared for those discussions this season. We will also gladly provide you with extra copies of our newsletter, Hidden Passage, and our membership brochures to pass out on your trips. You can reach us at Glen Canyon Institute, Box 1925, Flagstaff, AZ 86002 or at info@glencanyon.org. Or check out our web site at www.glencanyon.org. If you would like to join Glen Canyon Institute, it's $10 for students, $25 for individuals (or just write us the biggest check you can!).
If you'd like to come on my Glen Canyon float when the reservoir is drained, I'm starting a list...

Pamela Hyde