A massive rockfall crashed down on Lake Powell. Record-low water levels from drought could be to blame

Memorial Day boaters captured the scene on video as a massive rockfall crashed into the waters of Lake Powell.

 

The dramatic rockslide happened on the Utah side of the lake — the second largest reservoir in the country — where water levels have continued to plunge due to the unrelenting drought conditions gripping much of the West.

 

Mila Carter, who shot the video, told CNN she was heading to Antelope Point Marina with her husband, Steve Carter, when they noticed rocks and sand falling off the cliff near the entrance of Warm Creek. They stopped the boat and started taking pictures and a video that captured the event unfolding.

Once the rock fell into the lake, Mila Carter said, a big wave formed. “I feel like the video didn’t capture the wave at the end … it was very impressive,” she said.

No one was injured in their boat, she said, adding that “Luckily, no one was around.”

The rockslide comes as Lake Powell continues to drop to previously unthinkable lows amid the West’s climate change-driven megadrought.

Last month, the federal government announced it’s taking unprecedented emergency steps to help boost water levels at the reservoir by releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River, while holding back water in Lake Powell itself, instead of it being sent to states downstream.

At around 26% full, Lake Powell is at its lowest level since 1963, when the lake’s Glen Canyon Dam was built and the reservoir — near the Utah-Arizona border — was filled.

Lake Powell currently sits 29 feet lower than it did on Memorial Day weekend last year, and nearly 75 feet lower than the same weekend in 2020.Once the rock fell into the lake, Mila Carter said, a big wave formed. “I feel like the video didn’t capture the wave at the end … it was very impressive,” she said.

No one was injured in their boat, she said, adding that “Luckily, no one was around.”

The rockslide comes as Lake Powell continues to drop to previously unthinkable lows amid the West’s climate change-driven megadrought.

Last month, the federal government announced it’s taking unprecedented, emergency steps to help boost water levels at the reservoir by releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River, while holding back water in Lake Powell itself, instead of it being sent to states downstream.

At around 26% full, Lake Powell is at its lowest level since 1963, when the lake’s Glen Canyon Dam was built and the reservoir — near the Utah-Arizona border — was filled.

Lake Powell currently sits 29 feet lower than it did on Memorial Day weekend last year, and nearly 75 feet lower than the same weekend in 2020.

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