Grand Canyon Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act

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Information Release (Denver, Colorado) On June 23, 2006 the Colorado Attorney General's Office, at the direction of the Sate of Colorado Water Conservation Board, filed a Motion to Intervene in the lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Glen Canyon Trust, Sierra Club, Living Rivers, and Arizona Wildlife Federation against the Secretary of Interior and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over the operations of Glen Canyon Dam. The lawsuit alleges that Interior and Reclamation have violated the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act based on a report prepared by Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. On May 1, 2006 the U. S. filed a motion to dismiss all claims relating to violations of the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act because those claims failed to show any grounds for which relief could be granted. In addition, it should be noted that Interior and Reclamation have to balance water supply and power needs throughout the entire Desert Southwest region that is served by the Colorado River. The Secretary of Interior, pursuant to the Grand Canyon Protection Act and other applicable laws, has certain discretions within that body of the law in which to operate Colorado River dams and reservoirs. The 1992 Grand Protection Act is only one small piece of that body of law and is not by any means the sole document governing Colorado River operations; the requirements of that Act must be balanced with all the other governing laws. The Colorado Water Conservation Board concurs in the arguments advanced by Interior and the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation The operations of Colorado River dams and reservoirs supply water and power to over 20 million people living in the Colorado River Basin States of Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The out come of this matter is of significant concern to Colorado and the other Upper Colorado River Basin States of New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming as the operation of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam helps to assure that uses of Colorado River water in the Upper Basin states are not adversely impacted. Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell serve to capture and control much of the spring runoff originating in the Upper Basin states, for later delivery to Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada pursuant to the terms of the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The 1922 Colorado River Compact divides waters of the Colorado River between the Upper and Lower Basin States at Lee Feny, a point at the upper end of the Grand Canyon. Absent Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, uses in the Upper Basin states above Grand Canyon are at a much greater risk of being curtailed, which would affect all water users in Colorado, including those along Colorado's Front Range, which gets a significant portion of their water supplies from the Colorado River and its tributaries that lie west of the Continental Divide.