A body of water in northern Colorado goes by the name of Lake Powell. It's said to be at the apex of Larimer, Boulder and Grand counties, although it's not identified on highway maps of the area.

But the Coalition to Rename Lake Powell (the better-known one, that is) says the Colorado lake is the "original" Lake Powell. They contend that Lake Powell, the very large man-made body of water shared by Utah and Arizona, isn't even a lake. The group concedes that Lake Powell (the Utah-Arizona version) is well established. But still, it's inaccurate and a duplication and the U.S. Board of Geographic Names should set the record straight.

If this controversy was just about first dibs on the name of a lake, that would be one thing. But many political observers believe the name change is, in reality, a back-door approach toward eventually draining Lake Powell. The federal Board of Geographic Names should reject the request out of hand.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, notes in a letter to the geographic names board that only 22,000 of the nearly 70,000 reservoirs across the United States are actually called reservoirs.

For that matter, many bodies of water across the nation have the same names. Paul Ostapuk, spokesman for Friends of Lake Powell in Page, Ariz., said: "While we're at it, the enviros better get busy renaming Lake Mary, Roosevelt Lake, Lake Mead, Lake Pleasant, Saguaro Lake, Lake Havasu, etc., since these and a thousand other lakes across the county provide water as reservoirs."

As for the duplicate Lake Powells, is there any legitimate confusion between the two? The Lake Powell in Utah's back yard is known the world over for its stunning scenery and recreational opportunities. By comparison, Colorado's Lake Powell is miniscule and inconspicuous.

Beyond the recreational aspects of the better-known Lake Powell, the water project is critical to life in the bone-dry southwest. Part of the Colorado River system, it has helped to ensure a stable water supply in recent years of drought.

It is hoped that the U.S. Board of Geographic Names will see through the politics of this request to rename Lake Powell to Glen Canyon Reservoir. This is more than a name change, it's part of a long-range plan that would drastically change the landscape of the Southwest and imperil populations that depend upon the water stored behind Glen Canyon Dam.