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National Parks Traveler Episode 167: Glen Canyon NRA's Thirst For Water

By Kurt Repanshek - April 24th, 2022
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Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is being challenged by a long-running drought.

Lake Powell long has been the shimmering heart of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona, but it’s not the only asset of the NRA that covers 1.25 million acres. 

This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. Last year I had the good fortune to visit Glen Canyon NRA twice –- once in May to kayak Lake Powell -- and then in July when I backpacked into the park’s backcountry to not just admire its beauty but watch efforts to reverse the spread of invasive vegetation in the park.

But not all is well with the NRA. A drought said to be the longest in 1,200 years has left Lake Powell at its lowest level since it began filling in 1963. Shrinking snowpack levels in the Colorado River drainage in recent years has failed to generate enough runoff into Lake Powell to more than offset the water running through the hydroelectric generating station in the Glen Canyon Dam and down into Grand Canyon National Park.

To discuss the state of Lake Powell, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area as a whole, we’ve invited Glen Canyon Superintendent Bill Shott to join us. 

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode Intro with Kurt Repanshek
1:17 Black Woods - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
1:27 Potrero Group
1:54 Yosemite Conservancy
2:14 The Everglades Foundation
2:25 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
2:50 Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Superintendent Bill Shott discusses the problems a lack of water has created for the park.
13:18 Big Country - Randy Petersen - The Sounds of Yellowstone
13:36 Great Smoky Mountains Association
13:56 Interior Federal Credit Union
14:18 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
14:49 Bill Shott's conversation with Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek continues.
23:55 Bass Harbor - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
24:04 Friends of Acadia
24:28 Wild Tribute
24:48 Washington’s National Park Fund
25:25 Our conversation with Glen Canyon NRA Superintendent Bill Shott continues.
36:21 Escalante - Tim Heintz - The Sound sof Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons
36:55 Episode Closing
37:49 Orange Tree Productions
38:22 Splitbeard Productions
38:33 National Parks Traveler footer

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