Retracing the Rapids
In 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed to store water for human use for seven states. The dam, which backed up the Colorado River behind it to create Lake Powell, wiped out nearly half of Cataract Canyon’s 50 rapids and left cliffs like the Tapestry Wall crumbling. Now, rapids are beginning to come back on their own.
Sources: UGRC SGID, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Google, Terrametrics, Landsat/Copernicus
MAP BY Riley D. Champine
The Colorado River Basin covers 246,000 square miles, supplying water to nearly 40 million people and 5.5 million agricultural acres.
