Lake Powell's Rising Waters Leave Horses Trapped on Isolated Beach

A pair of horses were rescued after rising water levels at Lake Powell trapped them on an isolated beach.

Lake Powell, which is in Arizona and Utah, has recovered significantly after battling a years-long drought that severely depleted its reserves. Water levels began recovering in April and continued to rise for months from snowpack melting. Photos comparing the current water levels at Lake Powell to the low levels last year have gained traction on social media.

Although a hopeful sign for the future, the rising waters trapped a feral mare and her foal on a beach in late June. Their rescue was a collaborative effort by the National Park Service (NPS), the Navajo Nation, Kanab Veterinary Hospital and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

According to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary Horse Haven manager Jen Reid, the horses came from the Navajo Nation. The mare and her foal, which was only a month old at the time, were considered feral and had never had contact with humans.

Reid told Newsweek that Navajo Nation authorities worked with the NPS to find the horses' owner, but no one came forward and the horses were not branded. NPS then reached out to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary to coordinate a rescue, which took weeks to plan. The horses were slowly starving, so the NPS brought food to the beach while the agencies crafted a rescue plan.

In late June, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Kanab Veterinary Hospital worked with the NPS to corral the horses and bring them to the sanctuary in Utah, where they have been recovering ever since. The mare was emaciated and needed to gain weight before Best Friends staff could begin working with her.

The Navajo Nation decided it was not in the mare's best interest to be rereleased onto the land given the overpopulation of horses, so it agreed to allow Best Friends Animal Sanctuary to train the horses before putting them up for adoption.

On Wednesday, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary CEO Julie Castle shared photos of the horses and the rescue on Twitter.

"A mare and foal got stuck on an isolated beach in Lake Powell when the waters rose and blocked them in. That's when @NatlParkService called us at @bestfriends," Castle tweeted. "It took a lot of quick but thorough planning, but I'm happy to say the horses are now safe at the Sanctuary."

The photos showed the horses trapped on the beach as Best Friends staff corralled them. The horses were then loaded onto a trailer that was attached to a boat. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary named the mare Emma Dean for the wife of Major John Wesley Powell, who charted most of the area in two expeditions in 1869 and 1872. The foal was named Marina.

Meanwhile, Lake Powell's water levels are up more than 45 feet over the highest 2022 level, and about 65 feet higher than this year's low. Nearby, Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona has also risen throughout the spring and summer. Its water levels are slowly continuing to rise, whereas Lake Powell's levels have started to taper off as of early July.