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MED IU ~ -:~ d I e:~~flll you 0 g; " :Bel ~~U if you don't Writer imagines river's future after destruction of Lake Powell BEFORE GLEN CANYON became a lake,Richard Ingebretsen floated the river and hiked the 20 mResto Rainbow Blidge, The next time he made it was in a power boat "tt was so sad,~ he said. "The whole thing was ruined. SUbmerged underneath this giant bathtub," ----~--~~.~-- . . JOHH ZEBROWSI(J The DailySerltinel GlEN CANYON DAM resulted from early 2Oth'Cllfltury waler wars among srates served by the Colorado River and its tribularies.Withathirsty Califomiaattheend, Colorado and other upper basins states feared they would lose their share. Resolved io1922, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming agreed to deJiver 7.5 million acre-feet a year of water to Arizona, 'Nevada and California. The device was nearly ready. Saul Kalin. ik completed the circuit by connecting the wires to an old alarm clock, while Waddy Temeseh looked on, sweating. Kalinik set the alarm to go off in five hours. Their work done, the two men quickly left the area, in a hurry to fmd a safe place before the 2l) megaton device went off. At 2:45 on the moming of Aug. 7, Glen Canyon Dam was no more. The weapon, ob- tained from a fonner KGB agent, ripped through the dam with a force equal to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, ridding the world of what may be the most controver- sial dam ever built in this country. Lake Powell was gone forever: no longer would sunbathers and water skiers be able to enjoy the 123-mile-long reservoir, now one of America's favorite tourist destina. tions. Instead, they would once again have Glen Canyon itself to explore: its numerous side canyons, legendary Music Temple, the gentle run of the river through a lush landscape some people have CDmparW to Eden. After decades offlghting the dam, the environmentalists had fl- nallywon. The story is fantasy, of course. Dreamed up by a fonner water litigator from Denver whose second career is to see Lake Powell drained. Steven Hannon spent three years researching and 'Writing "Glenn Canyon," a new edition from Kokopelli Books that fea- tures the double-n spelling ofGlen-n in a play on words. While even Hannon doesn't want to see a group of eco- terrorists detonate a nuclear weapon on American soil, he likes the idea because it emphasizes the problenis he sees with the res- ervoir. "The river is dying," he said, "and the punchline is that it's Glen Canyon Dam that's killing it. We have a short window of time before it's gone for good. Getting rid of the dam is the only way to save the Colorado." Two months ago, the proposal to drain Lake Powell was, for a GretnRIver :;:' Colo. ,Ari~. ROBERT GARciA/The Daily Sentinel brief moment, in the spotlight.Hearings were held in Washing- ton and proponents of the idea, most notably members of the Sier- ra Club, were able to testify before Congress why the lake should go. To say that their pleas fell on deaf ears is like claiming the blizzard that hit Denver last month was nothing but a few flur- ries. Politicians called the proposal loony and impractical Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell labeled it a "certifIable nutty idea," and Utah Congressman Chris Cannon released a Top 10 list of "en vi. mnmental ideas that might even be dumber." At the showdown, the Sierra Club was routed, laughed out of town. For.the time being, Lake Powell was safe. But the hearings in Washington were not the grand fmale for the drive to drain the lake. Instead, they were just one step in a long process. In 1995, twonien, one a Salt Lake City doctor, the other a See GlEN CANYON. page 2D ~ SEVEN YEARS AfTER construction began, Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, Its base is 300 feet thick and the dam has a heght of over 700 feet -':.