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<br />
<br />
<br />Is draining Lake Powell an idea that's all wet?
<br />
<br />Despite an uproar by both Congress and the public.
<br />the directors of the Sierra Club don't think so
<br />
<br />By H. JOSEF HEIIERT
<br />As~ Pre..
<br />"WASHINGTON - N environ.-
<br />mental kIeu 10. It .. one of the
<br />b~est and boldest: 0nID Lab
<br />PoWeD, . 252~ DUUl-
<br />made lake on the Colonldo River
<br />that attradlS U aillIiontouristB a
<br />year,u....,toprotec:ttbe
<br />Grand Canyon'. eeo8)'Stem.
<br />While the bninatorm or the
<br />SierTa Club received . eongres-
<br />siOri'a1~unlll~l..wmak.
<br />mwere but
<br />"."........~ o:::r-::::::..
<br />mentally dumb" utd prvmlsed
<br />one' after another that it would
<br />get nowhere if they bad anytbin&
<br />....,.,
<br />And the CHnton MlmInlfItration
<br />said it has no pIanI: ewn to con-
<br />sider paying for an environmental
<br />Impact review. The coat of drain.
<br />Ing the lab, 0" 01 the moat p0p-
<br />ular recreation Iitee ill the feder-
<br />al part system, coukI be In the
<br />hundreds of millions or dollars, al-
<br />though adminlItration omdaIs
<br />decUned even to ipeCUlate.
<br />..It would be expensive." u1d
<br />Eluid Martinez, bead of the Inte-
<br />rior I>epartnM!Int'. BUl'Nu of Rec-
<br />lamation, after the hearing,
<br />where be had caDed the proposal
<br />"unrealistic."
<br />Last November, "the board of
<br />directors of the IOO,OGO-member
<br />Sierra Club caupt IrYeIl other en-
<br />vironmental BfOUp8 off guard
<br />when it unanimously called for
<br />draining Lake Powell, the eoun-
<br />try's second larpst manmade
<br />lake created 20 yun 810 by the
<br />constnlction 01 the Glen Canyon
<br />Dam. It took years to Illl the lake
<br />and no one would speculate bow
<br />long it mifht tab to drain iL
<br />. "Sometimes ideas are bard to
<br />look at ... bard to rnIlow," saki
<br />Adam Werbach, the SieIT8 Club's
<br />24-year-old prestclent. calling the
<br />proposal to drain the lake "an
<br />amazing restoration project" that
<br />be believes the public would sup-
<br />.....'
<br />The dam upriYer from the
<br />Grand Canyon ..... built in the
<br />~.~~.~ ~Ip ~ the un~re-
<br />
<br />1.5 mWlon visitors annually, in-
<br />cluding nearly Z mWion that
<br />camp overnight, second only to
<br />yosemjte National Park. Vlattont
<br />pump $500 mUUon a year into the
<br />....._,
<br />
<br />But conservationist David
<br />Brower, a Sierra Club board
<br />member and at 84 one of the or-
<br />pnizatioD's icons, arguu the
<br />
<br />, Last November,
<br />the board of
<br />directors of the
<br />600,OOO-member
<br />Sierra Club caught
<br />even other
<br />environmental
<br />groups off guard
<br />when it
<br />unanimously
<br />called for draining
<br />Lake Powell, the
<br />country's second
<br />largest man made
<br />lake created 20
<br />years ago by the
<br />construction of the
<br />Glen Canyon Dam.
<br />
<br />lab serves only to hide one of na-
<br />ture's Ir'eUUres - the scenle
<br />redrock cliffs and canyons 01 the
<br />Glen Canyon ItseH.
<br />Brower, now head of the Earth
<br />Island Irurtltute in San Francisco,
<br />was the Sierra Club'. executive
<br />director when the Glen Canyon
<br />dam was built in the 195Ol1 and
<br />has said he regrets not opposlnC
<br />It more visorously.
<br />What's at stake. Werbach told
<br />
<br />In addition, Werbach arped
<br />the Glen C8II)'UIl dam ill a contin-
<br />uinS threat to the ~ of
<br />the Grand Can;yon downstream
<br />IlDII threatens the extincdoD 01
<br />several encIanpred l!Iab that are
<br />not accustomed to the cold water
<br />........!rom... lab,
<br />Critics of the p1aD maintained
<br />Tuesday that d:ralnIng the lab
<br />would jeopardize water nppIiea
<br />in .b: Soutbwestem states -..-
<br />pedaDy Arizoaa aDd Utah - and
<br />raiN ,mer ~ .. far ...., ..
<br />'LoIADd~"~~_;~~'"
<br />fer u well, they argued.
<br />SedImeot at the bottom of the
<br />Jake - some tozic - could be
<br />swept up by wiads or C8Ul1C1 ..
<br />vere air poDution, and the can)'OII
<br />itself would be left with a ring of
<br />aaIt, much lUre a bathtub ring.
<br />that would be tbenI for eentwiea.
<br />And while some endangered IIpII-
<br />des would be helped, otben
<br />miptbe put in sreaterjeopardy.
<br />.C_...... Oft encIanpred
<br />spedes dult would becom8 mot'8
<br />eftdangered II the Jake were
<br />drained," said DenIs GaMn, dep-
<br />uty dlrec:tor of the Nalional Park
<br />......... .......... -.. ....
<br />aome apedea of CUlT'eDtly endan.
<br />p:red Bsb might beaeIlt.
<br />Tbe waters of Lab Powell and
<br />the surrounding .... in aoutbem
<br />Utah have attrw:ted more than
<br />275 bird species and the .... hall
<br />become home to a IP'O"'inB nUlD-
<br />ber of bald ealdea. wbicb an
<br />threatened. The fue- also ill home
<br />to the Iarpst popuJatioa in the
<br />lower 41 states 01 encIanpred
<br />--
<br />Lony Tup, .......... 01
<br />FrieDdlI 01 Late Powell, . If'OUP
<br />formed recently in Pap, Ariz..
<br />near the lake. to counter the Sier-
<br />ra Club effort, said draining the
<br />lake wouJd result in both environ-
<br />mental and ec:onondc devaalaUon
<br />in the area. People living there
<br />'"Will oppose until their deaths"
<br />any attempts to destroy the lake,
<br />he_
<br />"Any discuasion of thia m1M
<br />brings dLsbener." said Rep.
<br />
<br />
<br />--
<br />
<br />The S10fTll Oub _ . ccngrassional hearing on TUMday for an Idaa ttiaI c:aught many pe0-
<br />ple off guard: tha organ-. Is _ng to drain lBka Powell, tha second-Iargest manmade lake
<br />In tha counlJy and tha deellnatIon of 2.5 rnlUlon _ anooaJIy.
<br />
<br />Lafayette panel OKs North Park
<br />
<br />(From Page 38)
<br />and ofIiee space.
<br />.. ........ ..... /adII<y,
<br />wbicb would break ground. lint,
<br />received the 8P8dal UlICI zoning
<br />necessary for an Institution. Ar-
<br />chitectural and site plans fur
<br />
<br />K1nIocb Dunlap. a nsldent of
<br />nel8f1boriD8 Arapahoe Men..
<br />OWl and one leader oIa peUtion
<br />drive opposing North Park, said
<br />mmmilIsionens who supported
<br />the devek:Jpment were motivat-
<br />ed by the proml.se or increased
<br />
<br />He and others Celt that the
<br />c:ommiuion didn't Usten to
<br />their objectklns. "I tboupt that
<br />we made a sood argument last
<br />night against tbla, but it didn't
<br />do any good," said Dunlap. He
<br />said those oooosed will contin-
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