Travel/POI: Lake Powell (鮑威爾湖), Arizona

Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River, located in both Utah and Arizona. It was created by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1964. Lake Powell acts as a holding tank for outflow from the Colorado River Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. It is the second-largest artificial reservoir by maximum water capacity in the United States, behind Lake Mead.

However, during the 21st century, Lake Mead has fallen below Lake Powell in size several times in terms of water volume, depth, and surface area. The reservoir is named after John Wesley Powell, a Civil War veteran who explored the river in 1869 using three wooden boats.

Lake Powell offers some of the finest water recreation opportunities in the world. Visitors can enjoy boating, fishing, hiking, camping, scenic drives, and more.

Since 2001, declining water levels due to climate change and two decades of drought have reshaped Lake Powell’s shoreline. Low lake levels have affected boat ramp access points, on-lake facilities, and the surrounding landscape.

The construction of the Glen Canyon Dam was controversial from its inception, as Lake Powell flooded a natural canyon that some believed deserved national park status. Since then, there have been proposals to drain Lake Powell. The reasons behind these proposals are discussed in several articles, including Water Education Foundation's LAKE POWELL AND GLEN CANYON DAM.

Supporters of the reservoir also present their arguments, and the debate continues. However, we are glad that, as of July 2023, an unprecedented snowpack in the Colorado Rockies has resulted in above-average inflows to Lake Powell, allowing us to continue enjoying its beautiful scenery.

鮑威爾湖是科羅拉多河上的人工水庫，位於猶他州和亞利桑那州境內。它是因 1964 年格倫峽谷大壩的建造而形成。鮑威爾湖作為科羅拉多河上游各州（科羅拉多州、新墨西哥州、猶他州和懷俄明州）流出的蓄水池。按最大蓄水量計算，它是美國第二大人工水庫，僅次於米德湖(Lake Mead)。

然而自在21世紀以來，米德湖的水量、深度和水面面積都比鮑威爾湖小了幾倍。水庫以南北戰爭老兵約翰·鮑威爾 (John Wesley Powell) 的名字命名，他於 1869 年用三艘木船探索了這條河。

鮑威爾湖提供世界上最好的水上娛樂活動。遊客可以享受划船、釣魚、健行、露營、風景優美的自駕遊等等。

自 2001 年以來，氣候變遷導致的水位下降以及長達二十年的乾旱重塑了鮑威爾湖的湖岸線。低水位影響了船坡入口、湖上設施以及週邊景觀。

格倫峽谷大壩的建設從一開始就備受爭議，因為鮑威爾湖淹沒了一個天然峽谷，有些人認為這個峽谷應該被列為國家公園。此後，有人提議排乾鮑威爾湖的水。這些提議背後的原因已在多篇文章中探討，其中包括水教育基金會的《鮑威爾湖和格倫峽谷大壩》。

水庫的支持者也列出了他們的理由，爭議不斷。不過，我們很高興地看到，自 2023 年 7 月起，科羅拉多落基山脈史無前例的積雪，已使鮑威爾湖的入水量高於平均量，讓我們得以欣賞其美麗的景色。

Photo Date: 2023.09.17

Flashback 回顧

1997

I found some photos from our visit in July 1997. We hadn’t planned to come here at the time—we were just driving by and were drawn in by the blue lake from afar. We visited again in 2017 and 2019.

我找到我們在 1997 年 7 月來玩的照片，當時我們未預計來此，只因開車經過，老遠就被它蔚藍的湖水吸引住了。然後我們在 2017 年和 2019 年又到此一遊。

Photo Date: 1997.07