In recent years, droughts resulting from global climate change, as well as increased water usage, have meant that Lake Powell water levels are dwindling to lows not seen in decades — the reservoir is only 26 percent full, 180 feet below its high point.
And below the water line, an entire world has been revealed. “We’re seeing where Indigenous people lived and also where they died,” says Erik Stanfield, a Navajo Nation anthropologist.
Once sacred to Indigenous populations, the low levels of Lake Powell are now revealing burial sites, pottery and even a 900-year-old ancient structure.
