Lifeblood: Glen Canyon, Lake Powell and the Future of the Colorado River

Today, more dams are being removed in the U.S. than are being built. But what does that mean for Glen Canyon Dam? To answer that question, I spoke to conservation organizations, scientists, recreaters, and state and federal water managers. This episode dives into that story. Part 6 of a 6-part series. To keep up with the pod and see photos from Lake Powell , Antelope Point Marina, and my first sma...

When Lake Powell was full, many environmentalists believed Glen Canyon was lost forever, drowned beneath hundreds of feet of water. But today, with lake levels at historic lows, over 100,000 acres of Glen Canyon have re-emerged, challenging long-held narratives about environmental loss and recovery. This episode dives into that story. Part 5 of a 6-part series. To keep up with the pod and for phot...

What happens when the foundation of the system that built the West starts to crack? In the early 2000s, the Colorado River Basin entered what climate scientists refer to as a megadrought , the driest period in over 1,200 years. As temperatures rose and runoff declined, our demand for water quickly outpaced a shrinking supply. Reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead began to drop — fast — reveali...

Construction of Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963 . As Lake Powell rose behind the 710-foot concrete wall, archaeologists raced to document hundreds of cultural sites before they were inundated. But the loss extended far beyond cultural resources. The flooding of Glen Canyon transformed the Colorado River itself, cooling its waters, trapping sediment, and starving the Grand Canyon’s beaches an...

At Lee's Ferry, in Northern Arizona, on the western edge of the Navajo Nation, the Colorado River basin is divided into two regions. The Upper Basin includes the states upstream of Lee's Ferry - Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico - while the Lower Basin includes all of the downstream states - California, Nevada, and Arizona. That split is thanks to a document known as the Colorado River Compa...

The Colorado River has flowed from source to sea for 6 million years. It is old. Older than most things. And people have lived in relationship with the river for 1000's of years. Their descendants still call the river home. Yet today the river no longer reaches its historical terminus, the Sea of Cortez. This new reality coincides with the arrival of Anglo settlers and is a direct result of a seri...

With support from the Hulbert Center for Southwest Studies, Utah Rivers Council, and Colorado River and Trail Expeditions, Lifeblood is a 6-part audio documentary, produced and narrated by me, Evelyn Baher-Murphy. When I first learned about the Colorado River, its rapids, its reservoirs, the millions of people who depend on it, and its uncertain future, I wanted to know more. So I set out on the r...