Killing the Colorado
A Wonder in Decline
The disappearing Lake Powell in pictures
A collaboration with Medium![Friberg extras 14 750f10d0ee7dfe2246077ddadf7614ea8f6a3b2aadfd2e0d118e779f620c828b](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-14-750f10d0ee7dfe2246077ddadf7614ea8f6a3b2aadfd2e0d118e779f620c828b.jpg)
Drained by overuse and drought, Lake Powell is at once a beautiful and frightening reflection of the West’s water crisis.
![Friberg extras 16 e110a6aa163e3ccae820f1f91d5c2ec0a37f96cbb4066780d25ac92e8b2c1973](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-16-e110a6aa163e3ccae820f1f91d5c2ec0a37f96cbb4066780d25ac92e8b2c1973.jpg)
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Lake Powell sits behind the 700-foot-tall Glen Canyon Dam and is the nation’s second-largest water reserve. Its water levels have recently fluctuated between 39 and 51 percent full.
![Friberg extras 10 3a2481082857fe0f4b010914c03162f2af951b5c3c3bd9208bf2bdcb3a25361d](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-10-3a2481082857fe0f4b010914c03162f2af951b5c3c3bd9208bf2bdcb3a25361d.jpg)
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As a result, Lake Powell risks falling to what experts call “dead pool,” meaning there is no longer enough water for it to flow through the dam’s gates or generate the hydropower that the West’s electricity grid depends on.
![Friberg extras 04 c88a54da1a469a26001d76697a87695114e9398eccbea9c0df5fff7a893f5906](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-04-c88a54da1a469a26001d76697a87695114e9398eccbea9c0df5fff7a893f5906.jpg)
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There’s also this: Lake Powell leaks like a sieve. As much as 123 billion gallons of water — 2.6 percent of the entire flow of the Colorado River — seeps into fissures in the porous sandstone underlying the lake and disappears each year.
![Friberg extras 13 d3b8762bd0ddcf04f472d264e4f323075e02e9ac7852c7a5d075c83ee57702ae](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-13-d3b8762bd0ddcf04f472d264e4f323075e02e9ac7852c7a5d075c83ee57702ae.jpg)
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Another 168 billion gallons evaporates off the surface annually, as the sprawling lake bakes in the arid desert climate.
A facility whose central purpose is to save water instead loses a mind-boggling amount of it. Were Lake Powell to go away, the American Southwest would have approximately 6 percent more water overnight.
![Friberg extras 17 50a608ab6bcd5ca65dc48158a1c514452b940e312b01d175aa0f50febc67ddcb](https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/killing-the-colorado/photos/friberg-extras-17-50a608ab6bcd5ca65dc48158a1c514452b940e312b01d175aa0f50febc67ddcb.jpg)
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