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Glen Canyon Institute Dedicated to the restoration of Glen Canyon and a healthy, free-flowing Colorado River through Grand Canyon

Last week, we said goodbye to Ken Sleight, one of the original advocates for Glen Canyon. Ken will be remembered as a gi...
10/07/2026

Last week, we said goodbye to Ken Sleight, one of the original advocates for Glen Canyon. 

Ken will be remembered as a giant in the conservation movement. His courage and steadfast commitment will continue to guide us to see this thing through.

Ken was known to many as the inspiration for “Seldom Seen,” one of the characters in Ed Abbey’s classic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang. While Ken didn’t shy away from “Seldom Seen Sleight,” his role in the movement to restore Glen Canyon—and a myriad of other conservation causes in the southwest—was very real. 

Fiercely devoted to the canyons and mountains of Southern Utah, Ken was foundational to building a movement against the flooding of Glen Canyon, starting a rafting company to take groups down the soon-to-be lost river. He also fought to prevent a nuclear waste dump near Canyonlands National Park, protested against constructing the White Mesa uranium Mill, and advocated for the protection of Rainbow Natural Bridge.

Over GCI’s 30 year history, we held a number of events with Ken. His presence was always grounding; he was forever changed by the loss of Glen Canyon, but his resolve to protect the canyon country was unrelenting.

“Remembering what we lost with Glen Canyon is still relevant today,” Ken said. “I can’t forget it and I don’t want others to forget it.”

What the River Knows is heading to the PNW!! - 10.21 Bend, OR Volcanic Theatre Pub in partnership with Deschutes River A...
10/05/2026

What the River Knows is heading to the PNW!!

- 10.21 Bend, OR Volcanic Theatre Pub in partnership with Deschutes River Alliance and The Environmental Center
- 10.22 Seattle, WA SIFF
- 10.24 Portland, OR Portland Art Museum PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow in partnership with WaterWatch of Oregon and Deschutes River Alliance
- 10.26 Hood River, OR Columbia Center for the Arts in partnership with Friends of the White Salmon and Deschutes River Alliance

As we explore themes of river health and advocacy across watersheds, we are so grateful to collaborate with local organizations and will continue to include partners in the weeks to come.

Link in our bio under “WTRK: Upcoming Film Screenings” for more information and tickets to each of these exciting events.

Spread the word, and see you there! 💌

09/20/2026

Big rock fall over the Dominy sediment near Gypsum Canyon from a few days ago!

Only a few spots remain on GCI’s upcoming trip with Pronghorn Expeditions ‼️Together, we will explore areas of Glen Cany...
09/14/2026

Only a few spots remain on GCI’s upcoming trip with Pronghorn Expeditions ‼️

Together, we will explore areas of Glen Canyon that are recovering from reservoir inundation as well as sections of the Glen that were never under water. From petroglyph panels to native plants, there is much to observe, experience, and learn about in this landscape.

This summer, Lake Powell reservoir hit a new record low elevation and the Bureau of Reclamation announced new operational guidelines for the Colorado River system. On this trip, members of the GCI staff and board are excited to share insight about the state of Colorado River management and GCI’s science-based advocacy efforts to restore Glen Canyon.

Click on the Bookstore tab at the link in our bio and head to the “Trips” section to see more trip details and information. (Or you can head straight to glencanyon.org/product-category/trips/)

The Colorado River’s current guidelines expire this year. Last month, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a new 10-year ...
09/03/2026

The Colorado River’s current guidelines expire this year. Last month, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a new 10-year framework and 2-year operating guidelines that will go into effect on October 1st.

What does all of this mean for Glen Canyon?

The new rules highlight how propping up Lake Powell reservoir to protect the reliability and structural integrity of Glen Canyon Dam has become a central goal driving all operational decisions. This focus means we are losing other flexibility in the system, including environmental flows in Grand Canyon and overall hydropower generation—robbing Mead to pay Powell means we are actually cutting more capacity from Hoover Dam than we are maintaining at Glen Canyon Dam.

Modifying or bypassing Glen Canyon Dam needs to be a priority for the future of Colorado River management. On its own, this approach would not solve the fundamental supply and demand imbalance driving the Colorado River crisis and record low reservoir levels. But it would start to tackle this tangled, multifaceted problem, eliminating the operational bottleneck at Glen Canyon Dam while allowing for an expansive river restoration project to continue and grow upstream in Glen Canyon.

The Colorado River’s shrinking supply demands reassessing how its water is stored.This is the starting point for guest c...
08/28/2026

The Colorado River’s shrinking supply demands reassessing how its water is stored.

This is the starting point for guest commentator Ron Rudolph in his latest piece for The Denver Post . More specifically, Rudolph believes that “concentrating storage in Lake Mead rather than maintaining record-low levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead would provide greater value to the communities and economies that rely on the river.”

His highlights from such a plan include:
- Strengthening the reliability of domestic water supplies for about 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California;
- Sustaining more than a million acres of agriculture;
- And maintaining hydropower production at Hoover Dam, which has a greater capacity than Glen Canyon Dam.

For the sake of safely and reliably being able to move water downstream, Rudolph urges the Interior Department to complete the designs and procure the necessary contracts to modify Glen Canyon dam—an idea that the lower basin states have also repeatedly requested be seriously studied.

“The time for structural fixes is not someday,” he writes, pointing toward recent downward trends in the Colorado River’s annual flows. “It is today.”

Read the full piece at the link in our bio under “News”

September 3rd in Green River, UT — one week from today!Join Glen Canyon Institute and the John Wesley Powell History Mus...
08/28/2026

September 3rd in Green River, UT — one week from today!

Join Glen Canyon Institute and the John Wesley Powell History Museum for a final celebration of “Glen Canyon Exposed”before the closure of the exhibit.

The evening brings together photography, storytelling, and conversation to reflect on one of the Colorado Plateau’s most remarkable landscapes and the many ways people connect with it. More than a farewell, this closing celebration comes at a historic moment for the Colorado River and is an opportunity to gather in conversation about the history, culture, and art that continues to shape life across the Basin.

Keynote speaker Craig Childs is an award-winning author and storyteller. “The story of Glen Canyon keeps changing,” he writes, “from Tad Nichols’ documentation, to Dawn Kish’s, to how the canyon is doling and unfolding today… If you’re not there in person, the next best is coming up close to these photographs and feeling the grain of sandstone with your eyes.”

We will also be joined by Hopi educator Georgie Pongyesva, photographer Dawn Kish, and master printmaker Richard Jackson.

This event marks the launchpad for the traveling exhibit’s next chapter at the Gilbert Historic Museum in Arizona. Find out more about how you can support “Glen Canyon Exposed” at glencanyon.org under Latest - Events.

John Wesley Powell River History Museum Dawn Kish Craig Childs Georgie Pongyesva Richard Jackson HD South Gilbert

“What is the deal with hydropower and Glen Canyon Dam? And is it really that important to the Western power grid?” These...
08/20/2026

“What is the deal with hydropower and Glen Canyon Dam? And is it really that important to the Western power grid?”

These are the questions author Jonathan Thompson Jonathan Thompson is asking as the Bureau of Reclamation centralizes trying to keep Glen Canyon Dam viable. Hydropower dynamics are particularly important to understand given that “keeping the turbines turning is one of the main reasons the feds give for not even considering the proposal to reengineer the dam.”

Eight generators sit at the toe of the dam, fueled by water channeled from Lake Powell reservoir through the dam’s eight penstocks. Collectively, the dam has a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW. But, as Thompson explains, that full capacity is only true when the reservoir is at full pool. Back in the 1980s, when the reservoir was full, Glen Canyon Dam’s annual output was nearly 9 million megawatt-hours. But in 2025, it only produced 2.75 million megawatt-hours. This year’s output will be even lower, since both reservoir levels and dam releases have dropped significantly.

Thompson’s conclusion? “Glen Canyon Dam is less and less critical to the Southwestern power grid with each passing year, and its importance is likely to continue to decline as aridification continues to rob it of its ability to produce power, and as more battery storage comes online to take up its grid-balancing role.” And all of this makes one wonder: “Is it really worth it for the feds to expend so much energy and resources… to preserve a dam that just isn’t doing what it was intended to?”

Click on the News tab at the link in our bio to read the full article and others that help make sense of today’s historically low conditions on the Colorado River.

On Tuesday, April 28th at 7 PM PDT, join us for a webinar about Glen Canyon! GCI Program Director Zanna Stutz will provi...
04/28/2026

On Tuesday, April 28th at 7 PM PDT, join us for a webinar about Glen Canyon!

GCI Program Director Zanna Stutz will provide insight into the shifting hydrology and interstate politics now surrounding Lake Powell and the resulting rebirth of long submerged ecosystems in Glen Canyon.

This event is organized by Oregonians for Wild Utah, Washington Friends of Wild Utah, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Register at the link in our bio under “Glen Canyon in the News”

04/22/2026

This Earth Day, we’re grateful for the Glen 🧡

At Glen Canyon Institute, we facilitate research to better understand dynamic canyon processes, advocate for science-based public policy that protects environmental and cultural resources, and educate the public and decision makers about the need to restore Glen Canyon.

From natural bridges to tributary streams, sandstone amphitheaters to cottonwood galleries, Glen Canyon is one of Earth’s most unique, stunning, and inspiring places.

This landscape is already showing us the scope of restoration that is possible if we only give it a chance.

Address

3090 East 3300 South STE 400
Salt Lake City, UT
84109

Telephone

+18013634450

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