Glen Canyon Institute is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization founded in 1996 dedicated to the restoration of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

through

Glen Canyon Glen Canyon is a natural canyon carved by a length of the Colorado River, mostly in southeastern and south-central Utah, in the United States. Glen Canyon starts where Narrow Canyon ends, at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Dirty D ...

, which is currently covered by

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

, a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

created by

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...

. Their headquarters are in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

History

Shortly after its founding, GCI commissioned eight studies on the effects of current Glen Canyon Dam operations as well as issues associated with restoring the canyon, compiling the results in the Citizen's Environmental Assessment.Glen Canyon Institute
"Citizens' Environmental Assessment"
On this scientific basis, the institute dedicated itself to the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam. They met with little success, but established themselves as a credible organization calling for the end of Lake Powell, a cause which has grown in popularity in recent years. As the lake level has fallen drastically in the last five years because of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, the institute has shifted more to protecting the revealed landscape, distributing educational materials, and calling the attention of the national press.

Rationale

GCI maintains that the current protocols with regard to Lake Powell are environmentally damaging and wasteful. The group asserts that draining the reservoir would, among other things, save

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. ...

. According to GCI, Lake Powell currently loses up to {{convert, 860,000, acre.ft, km3 of water through evaporation and seepage each year which would otherwise be contained in Lake Mead, which currently has more than enough storage to contain the extra water. That water loss is equivalent to the entire annual consumption of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.Frequently Asked Questions
Glen Canyon Institute. Retrieved Aug. 7, 2013

References

External links

glencanyon.org
Glen Canyon Institute official site Non-profit organizations based in Utah Environmental organizations based in Utah Colorado River

History

Rationale

See also

References

External links