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<br />January 23-24, 2007 Board Meeting <br />Agenda Item 19 <br />Page 2 of4 <br /> <br />(including dam operations, modification to the Glen Canyon Dam intake <br />structures to regulate water temperatures, and other potential management actions, such <br />as the removal of non-native fish species) in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon <br />Dam, the impacts of which potentially extend downstream to Lake Mead. The range of <br />alternatives for the proposed action will be developed in part following recommendations <br />provided by Glen Canyon Adaptive M~agement Program - Adaptive Management <br />Workgroup (AMWG). Opportunities for public comment EIS will also be provided <br />through the NEPA scoping process with comments accepted through February 28,2007. <br /> <br />Discussion <br /> <br />The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) held a two- <br />day meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 5-6, 2006. At this meeting, the AMWG <br />considered a number. of issues and made recommendations to the Secretary of Interior <br />regarding: (1) the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center's (GCMRC) Long- <br />Term Experimental Plan; (2) a Beach-Habitat Building Flow (BHBF) during water year <br />2007; (3) the development of a Lower Colorado River recovery implementation plan for <br />the humpback chub; and (4) the development ofa humpback chub refugia. Reclamation <br />will carry these issues forward in the Long-Term Experimental Plan EIS. <br /> <br />Regarding the GCMRC's Long-Term Experimental Plan, Assistant Secretary <br />Limbaugh indicated that the NEP A/EIS process associated with the Long-Term <br />Experimental Plan for the Grand Canyon had been initiated and that two public meetin~s <br />would be held, one on January 41h in Phoenix, Arizona, and the other one on January 51 <br />in Salt Lake City, Utah. Comments on the scope of the experimental plan will be <br />received through February 2007. This effort will be completed over a two year period at <br />an estimated cost of$1.0 million. One of the questions we have is whether or not this <br />experimental plan is a scientific plan to develop a management plan or an actual <br />management plan. <br /> <br />The schedule for completing the .NEP NEIS process for the long-term <br />experimental plan is as follows: <br /> <br />. Public scoping meetings in January 2007 <br />. Comment on the scope of the EIS through February 2007 <br />. Scoping report released in May 2007 <br />. Release ofthe DE IS in April 2008 <br />. Receive public comment on the DEIS from May 2008 to June 2008 <br />. Release of the FEIS in October 2008 <br />. Issue the Record of Decision in December 2008 <br /> <br />During the AMWG meeting, the AMWG group voted to recommend to the <br />Secretary of the Interior that the scope of the alternatives for the Long-Term <br />Experimental Plan should maintain a balance of all the resources while focusing on the <br /> <br />'- <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br />