Laserfiche WebLink
The only <br />solution <br />to balance <br />competing <br />societal and <br />environmental <br />There is a story behind every light swit ch and power button. In the West, <br />needs lies in <br />that story is intertwined with the story of settlement, reclamation, recreation and the <br />environment. It is easy to take electricity for granted. But demands are skyrocketing and <br />carefully <br />electrical generation is not keeping pace. Household and commercial electronics, air <br />conditioners, population growth, and even the Internet, are fueling these rising demands. <br />managing <br /> 2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the Colo rado River Storage Project Act (CRSP). <br />This landmark federal law authorized the construction of water storage and hydroelectric plants <br />reservoir <br />in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Today, CRSP hydropower is one of the most important <br />sources of electricity in the West. But production from even these renewable resources is <br />operations <br />being restrained in a way that could stre ss the system to the breaking point. <br /> Two federal agencies operate CRSP reserv oirs: the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation <br />in appropriate <br />(Bureau) and the Western Area Power Administrati on (Western). Today, they must grapple <br />with societal needs for water <br />hydrologic <br />and power along with <br />recreational demands and the <br />conditions. <br />most powerful and restrictive <br />environmental laws in the <br />world. <br /> The only solution <br />to balance these competing <br />environmental and societal <br />needs lies in carefully- <br />managing reservoir <br />operations in appropriate <br />hydrologic conditions. <br /> 2 Glen Canyon Dam power plant generators - by T. Ross Reeve, courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation <br />