Zak Podmore

Report for America corps member

Zak is a Report for America corps member covering conflict and change in San Juan County for The Tribune. He has been writing from Bluff, Utah, since 2015 and is the author of Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political On Rivers of the New West from Torrey House Press.

(Ecoflight) An aerial view of Navajo Canyon on Lake Powell, Thursday, April 14, 2022.

‘The system is at a tipping point’: Feds say unprecedented cuts needed to balance Colorado River water budget, prop up Lake Powell

By Zak Podmore | June 18, 2022, 2:19 p.m.

(Ecoflight) An aerial view of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, Thursday, April 14, 2022. As Lake Powell has fallen to record low water levels in recent years, hydroelectricity generated at the dam has been reduced.

What will happen if the Glen Canyon Dam stops generating power?

By Zak Podmore | June 3, 2022, 10:48 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Glen Canyon Institute executive director Erik Balken compares the "Cathedral in the Desert" in Clear Creek Canyon with photos in a historical photo journal of Glen Canyon, on Monday, May 17, 2021.

Only 25 years ago, draining Lake Powell was dismissed as ‘looney’ — then the megadrought started

By Zak Podmore | May 18, 2022, 2:47 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Colorado River carves through sediment that was deposited in Lake Powell when the reservoir was higher, April 10, 2022.

Deltas of sediment are pushing into Glen Canyon as Lake Powell disappears

By Zak Podmore | May 11, 2022, 6:43 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Trees in Iceberg Canyon are exposed by dropping water levels in Lake Powell on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.

Utah, neighboring states agree to emergency plan that will send more water to Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge

By Zak Podmore | April 22, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Skiers at Solitude Mountain Resort, Thursday December 21, 2017.

Solitude settles with former ski patroller who says he was fired after bringing up safety, wage concerns

By Zak Podmore | April 22, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Crews with the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service net endangered fish below the Piute Farms Waterfall in southeast Utah on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

A waterfall could soon form on the Colorado River as Lake Powell drops

By Zak Podmore | April 5, 2022, 3:22 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Abandoned buoys that used to protect a cultural site from boaters sit at the bottom of the Escalante River in Glen Canyon, Monday, May 17, 2021.

Lake Powell continues to disappear as Colorado hits pause on plan to prop up levels

By Zak Podmore | March 28, 2022, 4:02 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Davina Smith is running as a Democrat in Utah House District 69, which is currently represented by Rep. Phil Lyman (R-Blanding). She is the first Diné (Navajo) woman to run for state office in Utah history.

Rep. Phil Lyman challenges the residency status of his Democratic opponent Davina Smith

By Zak Podmore | March 16, 2022, 3:28 p.m.

(Doug Bloch) AAA insurance sales agents organized with the Teamsters rallied outside a AAA meeting in Farmington, Utah, on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

Unionized insurance agents picket AAA meeting moved from California to Utah

By Zak Podmore | March 3, 2022, 8:34 p.m.