Glen Canyon | Documentary Short (30 mins)

What The River Knows

A lost eden drowned under Lake Powell re-emerges, revealing the follies of the past and a new way forward for the Colorado River.

“In the 1960’s engineers flooded Glen Canyon to store water from the Colorado River. Now less than a quarter full it’s a harrowing visual reminder that we built a system for watering the west and that system is on the ropes.” - NPR May 2023

While doom and gloom pervade the conversation around climate change and the Colorado River, here we find a powerful story about nature's resilience in the face of our past mistakes: Glen Canyon has come roaring back to life.

What The River Knows - Trailer

What The River Knows is an advocacy short-doc that explores this unique inflection point in a centuries-long history: at the same time that we are met with the need to redesign our systems of water management in the west, we are presented with the opportunity to restore one of the most stunning landscapes on the planet.

We’ve spent the last 18 months meeting with scientists, water managers, indigenous stakeholders, and river guides to find out more about the state of the Colorado River and the magic occurring in Glen Canyon. We're finally ready to put in the finishing touches and get it out in front of the world. But first, we need your help to get it over the finish line.

By supporting our film, you can join the movement to bring Glen Canyon back to life and preserve it into the future.

$36,000

Goal: $36,000 for finishing costs

100%

~~We’re looking to raise $36,000 for finishing costs – including sound design, animation, and archival licensing.~~

$5,000

Goal: $36,000 for marketing & impact

14%

*UPDATE MARCH 2025* - We're overwhelmed by the outpouring of support—thanks to you, we've hit our goal for finishing costs! The film is now completed and will begin its festival and events run starting in May.

Our focus has shifted to maximizing this film's impact and reaching the widest possible audience. We're aiming to raise an additional $36,000 for a strategic impact campaign to increase public support and apply pressure on Colorado River decision makers. Your tax-deductible donation through Glen Canyon Institute's portal will directly support our screening events through 2026. For a detailed deck on our impact campaign reach out to team@paving.works.

Bringing cinema cameras down the Escalante arm of Glen Canyon.

Return to Glen Canyon

“Glen Canyon was a symbol of paradise lost, and to actually see that paradise coming back is incredible.”

— Zak Podmore, Author

A section of returned rapids, formerly drowned under Lake Powell.

In 1963, the diversion tunnels of Glen Canyon Dam were screwed shut, causing the waters of the Colorado River to back up 186 miles through Glen Canyon to form the reservoir Lake Powell. Built for political purposes, the dam was originally meant to provide a sustainable water supply to the arid Southwest, but has since undermined that very objective and has caused massive collateral damage across the Colorado River Basin.

Before the dam, Glen Canyon was a wonderland of gorges, spires, cliffs, and grottoes; the biological heart of the Colorado River, with more than 79 species of plants, 189 species of birds, and 34 species of mammals; and a cultural treasure, the ancestral home for dozens of tribes and in it more than 3,000 cultural sites.

The Glen Canyon Dam shortly after completion in 1963.
Capturing returning side canyons not seen for decades.

Through its creation, Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam effectively destroyed the unique ecosystem of Glen and Grand Canyon, with negative consequences reaching all the way to the Colorado Delta downstream. Designers of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which determines allocation of the river’s water, seriously overestimated actual future river flow, underestimated future water demand, and did not foresee the impacts of climate change. These forces have resulted in a water deficit of almost 1 million acre-feet a year in the Colorado River system. Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs together have been hovering at about 50 percent of capacity and scientists predict that they will probably never fill again.

Glen Canyon’s ecosystems and wildlife habitats are returning with stunning resilience.

“We don’t have to drown some of the most stunning landscape on the entire planet in order to service water in the west.”

— Meg Flynn, River Guide

Our generation has been given a miraculous second chance to witness Glen Canyon and take part in the restoration of one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures.

The towering red rock walls of Cathedral in the Desert.

About GCI

What The River Knows is supported by Glen Canyon Institute.

Founded in 1996, GCI has embarked upon a multi-decade campaign to protect and restore Glen Canyon, and reverse the decline of Grand Canyon’s fragile ecosystem. Their Fill Mead First Approach would help to maintain a reliable water supply for millions of people who depend on the Colorado, allow water to flow more naturally through Glen Canyon Dam, and permanently lower Lake Powell, exposing the reservoir affected areas of Glen Canyon and facilitating their recovery.

GCI’s work has been featured by NPR, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The Guardian, among many other major publications.

Read more below.

Additional Information + Reading:
NPR / “Damage at Glen Canyon Dam has Colorado River users concerned”
The New Yorker / THE CONTROL OF NATURE / The Lost Canyon Under Lake Powell
The Smithsonian / “Hear What’s Happening to the Colorado River From a Photojournalist Who Has Spent His Entire Life Alongside It”
THE GUARDIAN / “’What are we willing to sacrifice?’ A journey down America’s most endangered river”
CNN / “Colorado River Basin has lost 10 trillion gallons due to warming temps, enough water to fill Lake Mead, study shows”