GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA

It was during his expedition of 1869 on the Colorado River that Major John Wesley Powell gave the region the name of Glen Canyon (a glen is a glacial valley). Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) was established in 1972 by the US Congress. Its 5 076 km ² span the two states of Utah (more than three quarters) and Arizona, at an altitude of 1 127 metres. It is identified by Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park in the north, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument west, Grand Canyon National Park and Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in the southwest; and by the Navajo Indian Reservation to the southwest (including Antelope Canyon). Rainbow Bridge National Monument is located on the east coast of Lake Powell and can only be reached by boat or foot. The centerpiece of Glen Canyon NRA, Lake Powell represents only 13%. It was, however, the second largest artificial lake in North America created in 1963 thanks to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam (dam), it was completely completed only in 1980. It is 299 km long, has 3161 km of beach, over 90 side canyons, and a capacity of 32 million cubic metres. Its maximum depth is reached at the Glen Canyon dam with 171 m. A knowledge that the drought known by the region since late 2000 has lowered water levels by over 30 metres.