With Lake Powell 100 feet below “full pool” elevation of 3700 feet above sea level, the main short cut up lake from the south shore has been closed. Brown Brothers Construction has been busy excavating over 70,000 cubic yards of dirt from the Castle Rock Cut for the past six weeks and is close to being done. As the lake begins to rise with the spring runoff flows, the newly deepened Cut will once again allow boaters and tour operators easier access to the majority of Lake Powell.
My son, David, had the opportunity to go first hand look at the work being done on The Cut and shared this photo. (Click the photo twice for the full size image)
This photo was taken by my daughter, Ashley, a couple of weeks ago from a scenic flight she was on over the lake.
More Information on the Castle Rock Cut
2008 Opening of the Castle Rock Cut
2009 Dredging the Castle Rock Cut
WHAT IS THE NEW DEPTH OF THE CUT AND WATER LEVEL TODAY?
The new lowest possible elevation to get through The Cut is 3603. Water level today is 3599.59 – so a bit more than 3.5 feet below what is navigable.
Water levels which usually peak out right around July 4th, peaked out this year around June 17th – just not good news.