Somewhere below that still surface, down where the cloudy silt was settling out, the drowned cottonwoods must yet be standing, their dead branches thick with algae, their ancient knees laden with mud.  Somewhere under the heavy burden of water going nowhere, under the silence, the old rocks of the river channel waited for the promised resurrection.

-Edward Abbey from The Monkey Wrench Gang

Severe drought in the Colorado River Basin has meant that the water flows into Powell Reservoir (Lake Powell) over the last few years have been much lower than the long-term average.  Flows into the reservoir in 2000 and 2001 were 62 and 59 percent of average, respectively and only 25 percent of average in 2002.  At the beginning of October 2002, the reservoir was about 74 feet below full pool elevation, or only about 60 percent of the reservoir's water holding capacity.

Given current estimates, the reservoir will drop to 84 feet below full pool by January.  This would put the water level about equal to the lowest level ever reached since the reservoir was filled, which occurred in 1993.  Previous to 1993, the reservoir was that low only during the period when the reservoir was filling, and that level was surpassed way back in 1974.

The Colorado River usually meets the slackwater of the reservoir some 170 river miles above Glen Canyon Dam in Cataract Canyon.  The water slows, drops its sediment load, and becomes part of the stagnant reservoir.  This dying usually occurs in a remote and narrow canyon, where only rafters running Cataract Canyon or persistent hikers might see it.  The very low water levels this year mean that the death of the Colorado River occurs much farther downriver, close to the Hite Marina, and easily visible from Highway 95, which crosses the river/reservoir near Hite Marina.  The water is so low that even the Dirty Devil River and the Colorado River actually have a confluence again, their moving waters meeting and mingling as they have only done once since the early seventies.

Here are some pictures of the death of the Colorado River, as seen in October 2002.
 

The present head of Powell Reservoir with the confluence of the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers at the top of the frame.  The green, stagnant waters of Powell Reservoir can be seen in the lower right.  The Colorado River still has strong flow down past the bottom of the frame.  The silt deposited in the last 30 years means that the Colorado River as shown in this photo is flowing at a much higher elevation than in the pre-reservoir days.  The wide flat areas with green vegetative regrowth seen in the middle of the photo are the bottom of the lake when the water is higher.
 
 

A view of the mudflats and former lake bottom.
 
 

The confluence of the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers.
 

The mixing of the rich, living river with the dead green of the reservoir in a fractal boundary.
 
 

The heavy, silt laden waters of the Colorado slide under and boil up beneath the lake in a last gasp.
 
 

The flowing river exiting Narrow Canyon.  The Little Rockies and the Henry Mountains are in the background.
 
 

The very end of the living Colorado River, October 2002, just above Hite Marina.
 
 
 

Some other views of the upper end of Powell Reservoir

Click on the image to get a larger view.

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