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n <br />1 <br />1 Canyon Dam to prevent damage to downstream resources, principally the dam's power <br />2 operations. "). <br />3 To facilitate achieving the Grand Canyon Protection Act's mandate, Reclamation <br />4 was required to prepare a NEPA environmental impact statement on Dam operations, <br />5 wherein the agency would assess impacts from current Dam operations as well as <br />6 alternative operations that protect Grand Canyon resources. GCPA § 1804(a). Reclamation <br />7 completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Dam operations in 1995 (1995 <br />8 FEIS). Exh. 4 (1995 FEIS). In its subsequent 1996 Record of Decision (1996 ROD), <br />9 Reclamation responded to the Grand Canyon Protection Act by modifying its streamflow <br />10 regulation at Glen Canyon Dam to "Modified Low Fluctuating Flows" (MLFF). Exh. 5 <br />11 (1996 ROD) at G -3; id. at G -11 (Reclamation stating its goal was to "permit recovery and <br />12 long -term sustainability of downstream resources "). MLFF operations, however, still <br />13 involve dam releases that fluctuate up to 8,000 cfs per day. Exh. 11 (2005 SCORE) at 7; <br />14 Exh 5 (1996 ROD) at G -3. MLFF also involves seasonal flows that are the opposite of <br />15 natural Colorado River flows -- lower flows in the spring and higher in late summer. <br />16 Finally, Reclamation's 1996 ROD included "beach habitat building flows" or BHBF, which <br />17 are specially- scheduled high water releases of short duration designed to rebuild beaches <br />18 and restore shoreline habitat. Exh. 5 (1996 ROD) at G -3.7 <br />19 In addition to mandating a NEPA process to address long -term operations, the <br />20 Grand Canyon Protection Act requires Reclamation to prepare annual operating plans <br />21 (AOPs) that establish how the Dam will be operated during the upcoming year. GCPA § <br />22 <br />Beach habitat building flows release up to 45,000 cfs from Glen Canyon Dam <br />23 compared to flows between 5,000 and 25,000 cfs under Modified Low Fluctuating Flows. <br />24 These releases do not contribute to the generation of hydropower as they occur away from <br />the Dam's turbines. Perhaps for this reason, Reclamation has only undertaken beach <br />25 habitat building flows twice since the 1996 ROD -- in Spring 1996 and Fall 2004. <br />Recently, immediateI after Plaintiff filed this lawsuit, Reclamation announced its intent to <br />26 conduct another beach habitat building flow in March 2008. Exh. 15 (2007 Biological <br />Assessment). The benefits of beach habitat building flows are limited by operating Glen <br />27 Canyon Dam with daily fluctuating and high summer flows. Id. at 63 ( "newly created <br />habitats [by building flows in 1996] disappeared within two weeks "); Exh. 18 (2008 EA) at <br />28 5 ( "sandbars and backwaters reverted to their previous [degraded] state "); Exh. 11 (2005 <br />SCORE) at 19. <br />Memorandum in Support of Ms.' 9 <br />Motion for Summary Judgment <br />