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<br />Introduction ix <br /> <br />;:, ':.,:t It 1; . .. <br />, 0>1. .,._ , <br />111e Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 reqmred the Secretary of the Interior to <br />complete an environmental impact statement evaluating alternative operating criteria, <br />consistent with existing law, that would determine how Glen Canyon Dam would be <br />operated to both meet the purposes for which the dam was authorized and to meet the <br />goals for protection of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon <br />National Park [GCP As 1804(a); S. Rep. No. 102-267, at 136 (1992)]. The final <br />environmental impact statement (FElS) was completed in March 1995. The Preferred <br />Alternative (Modified Low Fluctuating Flow Alternative) was selected as the best means <br />to operate Glen Canyon Dam in a Record of Decision (ROD) issued on October 9, 1996. <br />Later in 1997, the Secretary adopted operating criteria for Glen Canyon Dam as required <br />by Section 1804(c) of the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992. <br /> <br />Passage of the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 also requires the Secretary of <br />the Interior to exercise: <br /> <br />. . .authorities under existing law in such a manner as to <br />pro[t]ect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve the values for <br />which Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National <br />Recreation Area were established, including, but not limited to <br />natural and cultural resources and visitor use [GCP A S <br />1802 (a)]. <br /> <br />Additionally, the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 requITes the Secretary of the <br />Interior to undertake research and monitoring to determine if revised dam operations <br />were actually achieving the resource protection objectives of the FEIS and ROD, I.e., <br />mitigating adverse impacts, protecting, and improving the natural, cultural, and <br />recreational values for which Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National <br />Recreation Area were established. These provisions of the Grand Canyon Protection Act <br />of 1992 were incorporated into the 1996 ROD and led to the establishment of the Glen <br />Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) under Reclamation and the <br />Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) under the U.S. Geological <br />Survey. <br /> <br />Monitoring and research conducted by these organizations since 1996 have shown <br />that some of the expected benefits of dam operations under the ROD have not occurred, <br />at least for the endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha) and conservation of fine <br />sediment. In proposing these experiments, the agencies and members of the GCDAMP <br />recognize that all operations including those proposed here, must be implemented in <br />compliance with other specific provisions of existing federal law applicable to the <br />operation of Glen Canyon Dam. These pre-1992 requirements are mandated in the <br />Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992: <br /> <br />The Secretary shall implement this section in a manner fully <br />consistent with and subject to the Colorado River Compact, the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, tile Water Treaty of 1944 <br />