7424

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7424
• Author: National Research Council
• Title: Editor
• USFW Year: Series
• USFW - Doc Type: 1987
• Copyright Material: YES

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(1987) the Department of Interior would like to use
the GCES results to help make decisions about (1)
long-term operational criteria for the dam, (2)
opportunities for managing the Colorado River, and,
finally, (3) legal requirements for environmental
protection.
In 1986, the Department of Interior requested the
Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) of the
National Research Council to review the Glen Canyon
Environmental Studies (GCES) for the Bureau of
Reclamation. The WSTB agreed to provide advice to
the bureau as it sought to evaluate the effects of
the operation of Glen Canyon Dam on downstream
resources.
This review of the GCES is focused on the July
1987 Glen Canyon Environmental Studies Draft Report
prepared by Bureau of Reclamation scientists and
the planning and work leading to it. The NRC's
committee was involved with the GCES scientists
throughout the period when the July GCES Draft
Report was being prepared. The committee had the
opportunity to discuss various issues with them and
to review the individual research reports that
underpin their integrated draft (see Appendix D).
Although the, committee does not believe that the
Bureau of Reclamation can make long-term decisions
concerning the management of Glen Canyon Dam based
on the GCES, the studies have yielded some
excellent information in the areas of
geomorphology, aquatic and terrestrial biology, and
recreation.
Many of the individual studies in the GCES
resulted in publishable scientific products useful
to the bureau. The shortfalls of the GCES program
can be placed in four general categories:
• Insufficient attention to early planning and
careful articulation of objectives. This lack of
planning has led to an appearance that the bureau
is not fully open to changes that might be
suggested as a result of the research done by the