As Lake Powell shrinks, the Colorado River is coming back to life
When Lake Powell is filled or near capacity, as was the case through much of the 1980s and 1990s, the river current stopped just downstream of the drops, its muddy waters becoming a limpid blue reservoir as hundreds of millions of tons of sediment settled to the river bottom. … As the Colorado carves a channel through the reservoir sediment, long-buried rapids have started to reemerge, side canyons are being scoured of mud, beaches are forming again, native plants are reestablishing themselves and habitat for threatened fish species may be expanding.
Related articles:
- jfleck at inkstain: Blog - Scaling back, even more, in the Lower Colorado River Basin
- Environmental Defense Fund: Blog - The Grand Canyon Protection Act would advance water security and environmental justice at critical time