Lake Powell is a reservoir on the
Colorado River, straddling the border between
Utah and
Arizona (most of it, along with
Rainbow Bridge, is in
Utah). It is a major vacation spot that around 2 million people visit every year. It is the second largest man-made reservoir by maximum water capacity in the United States behind
Lake Mead, storing of water when full. However, due to high water withdrawals for human and agricultural consumption, and because of subsequent droughts in the area, Lake Powell is currently larger than Mead in terms of volume of water currently held, depth and surface area. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of
Glen Canyon by the
Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the creation of
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a popular summer destination. The reservoir is named for explorer
John Wesley Powell, a one-armed
American Civil War veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869.