7901

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7901
• Author: Upper Colorado River Commission.
• Title: Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the Upper Colorado River Commission.
• USFW Year: 1995.
• USFW - Doc Type: Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Copyright Material: NO

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sediment and hydrology, water quality and limnology, geomorphic/geologic
studies, biological resources, native and endangered species, recreation,
archeology, economics and long-term monitoring. Final reports were
scheduled for completion in 1995, and an integrated report is scheduled for
completion thereafter. The GCES serve as the basis and foundation of
evaluation of the alternatives for the Glen Canyon Dam EIS.

On July 27, 1989, the Secretary of the Interior directed that an EIS be
prepared on the operation of Glen Canyon Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation) was directed to be the lead agency, with other agencies having
jurisdictional responsibilities or special expertise in the area as cooperating
agencies. The number of cooperating agencies has grown to 12. These
include; the Arizona Game and Fish Department; Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA); Reclamation (lead agency); National Park Service (NPS); Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service); Hopi, Hualapai, and San Juan Southern Paiute
Tribes; the Navajo Nation; Pueblo of Zuni; Southern Paiute Consortium; and
Western Area Power Administration (Western).

The primary objective of the EIS, as stated in the December 1990
Management Plan, is to evaluate the impacts of current and alternative dam
operations on the downstream environment and ecological resources of the
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park.

Nine alternatives covering a full range of possible operations of Glen
Canyon Dam were developed for evaluation in the Draft EIS. Two of the
alternatives, including no action and maximum powerplant capacity, would
allow unrestricted hourly and daily fluctuations of flow; four would provide
various levels of restricted fluctuations; and three would provide steady flows
on a daily, seasonal, or annual basis. Additional measures are combined with
the alternative operations, where appropriate, to provide additional resource
protection and enhancement. These common elements include adaptive
management, monitoring and protecting cultural resources, flood frequency
reduction measures, beach/habitat-building flows, a new population of
humpback chub, further study of selective withdrawal and emergency
exception criteria.

Over 33,000 comments were received on the Draft EIS. As a result of
comments on both the Draft EIS and Draft Biological Opinion and discussions
with the Service, and with the broad support of the cooperating agencies, the
preferred alternative was modified for the Final EIS. This modification
includes the two changes in operating limits previously proposed as
deviations to interim flows: increasing the maximum flow from 20,000 to
25,000 cubic feet per second (cts) and increasing the upramp rate from
2,500 to 4,000 cfs per hour. The Final EIS was filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) on March 21, 1995.

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