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001502 1 ,I Environmental Impact Statement analyzed nine alternatives to allow the Secretary of the Interior to balance competing interests and to meet statutory responsibilities for,protecting downstream resources and producing hydropower, and to protect affected Native Arllerican interests. The preferred alternative was the Modified Low Fluctuating Flow Alternative. Record of Decision on the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam On October 9, 1996, the Secretary of the Interior signed the Record of Decision that presented the rationale for choosing the Modified Low Fluctuating Flow Alternative. As noted in the Record of Decision: The goal of selecting a preferred alternative was not to maximize benefits for the most resources, but rather to find an alternative dam operating plan that would permit recovery and long-term sustainability of downstream resources while limiting hydropower capability and flexibility only to the extent necessary to achieve recovery and long-term sustainability. [Reclamation 1996: 1 0] The Record of Decision (Appendix G) included seven environmental and monitoring commitments: · Adaptive Management · Monitoring and Protection of Cultural Resources . Flood Frequency Reduction Measures · Beach/Habitat-Building Flows · New Population of Humpback Chub · Further Study of Selective Withdrawal . Emergency Exception Criteria The commitments are eXplained in detail in the Record of Decision (Reclamation 1996; Appendix G) and in the Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement (Reclamation 1995:33..34); however, it should be noted that subsequent work of the Technical Work Group and Adaptive Management Work Group have altered some commitments (Technical Work Group 1998) with Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act compliance. Statutes, Policies, and Resolutions The Colorado River is managed and operated under numerous compacts, federal and state laws, court decisions and decrees (including Native American water claim settlements), contracts, treaties, and regulatory guidelines collectively known as the Law of the River. This collection of documents apportions the water among the seven Basin States and Mexico, and regulates and manages the river flows of the Colorado River. Some of the statutes included within the Law of the River that have a major impact on dam operations are the Colorado River Compact of 1922, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948, the Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956, the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968, and the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992. In addition to Colorado River specific legislation, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and court decrees including Arizona v. California affect the extent to which water developments 9