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<br />OflZ120 <br /> <br />FISCAL YEAR 1997.1998 <br /> <br />REPORT TO CONGRESS: OPERATIONS OF GLEN <br /> <br />GLEN CANYON DAM PURSUANT TO THE <br /> <br />1992 GRAND CANYON PROTECTION ACT <br /> <br />REPORT TO CONGRESS <br /> <br />The Grand Canyon Protection Act (GCPA) requires the Secretary of the Interior <br />(Secretary)to submit to congress an annual report as follows: <br /> <br />Section 1804 (c) (2) "The Secretary shall transmit to the Congress and to the <br />Governors of the Colorado River Basin States a report separate from and in addition <br />to the report specified in section 602(b) of the Colorado River Basin Project Act of <br />1968 on the preceding year and the projected year operations undertaken pursuant to <br />this Act." <br /> <br />This report responds to the above noted reporting requirements. The report focuses <br />on activities pursuant to FY 1997, adoption of criteria, environmental impact statement (EIS), <br />operating criteria and the Adaptive Management Program (AMP) in FY 1997 and projected <br />activities planned for FY 1998. <br /> <br />Extensi ve administrative, technical, and science reports are the basis for information <br />presented in this report. In the final section we provide source contacts for any additional <br />reports needed for clarification of information presented. Reviewers of this report may <br />access any additional information through these contacts. <br /> <br />mSTORY <br /> <br />The Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Act of 1956 authorized the construction, <br />operation, and maintenance of Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) to regulate the flow of the Colorado <br />River for flood control, consumptive use, and the generation of hydroelectric power. Seven <br />years later, in 1963 the GCD was completed and made Lake Powell the key storage unit for <br />CRSP. In addition to water storage for flood control and consumptive uses, the dam was built <br />as a hydroelectric power peaking facility, permitting it to move from low electrical output <br />during low power demand to high output in peak demand periods. Thus, flow releases from <br />the dam were adjusted daily to respond to these variances in electrical demand. <br /> <br />At optimum operations, GCD's generators are capable of producing 1.38 million <br />kilowatts of power. Water releases from the GCD occur at 200-230 feet below the surface of <br />