Lake Powell
Sign in to saveAlso known as Escalante Lake, Glen Canyon Reservoir
reservoir Utah and Arizona in the United States
Key facts
- Location
- Utah and Arizona , United States
- Type
- Reservoir
- Primary inflows
- Colorado River Escalante River San Juan River Green River (Colorado River tributary)
- Primary outflows
- Colorado River
- Catchment area
- 280,586 km (108,335 sq mi)
- Basin countries
- United States
- Managing agency
- National Park Service
- Built
- September 13, 1963 ( 1963-09-13 )
- Max length
- 186 mi (299 km)
- Max width
- 25 mi (40 km) (maximum)
- Surface area
- 161,390 acres (65,310 ha)
- Average depth
- 132 ft (40 m)
- Max depth
- 583 ft (178 m)
- Water volume
- Full :, 24,322,000 acre⋅ft (30.001 km ) Current (June 3, 2026):, 5,716,800 acre⋅ft (7.0516 km )
- Residence time
- 7.2 years
- Shore length
- 3,057 km (1,900 mi)
- Surface elevation
- Full :, 3,700 ft (1,128 m) Current (June 3, 2026):, 3,527.96 ft (1,075 m)
- Website
- www .nps .gov /glca /index .htm
via Wikipedia infobox
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds 24,322,000 acre-feet (3.0001×10 m) of water when full, second in the United States to only the downstream reservoir of Lake Mead – though Lake Mead has fallen below Lake Powell in size several times during the 21st century in terms of volume of water, depth and surface area.
Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the 1972 creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a popular summer destination of public land managed by the National Park Service. The reservoir is named for John Wesley Powell, a Civil War veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869. It lies primarily in southern Utah, with a small portion in northern Arizona.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lake Powell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.