BOARD00284

• Board Meeting Date: 1/12/1971
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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Interior. The suit is an action in mandamus
requesting a court order from the Federal
District Court of the District of Columbia
to compel the Secretary to either construct
protective works to prevent water from enter-
ing the boundaries of the RainbOW National
Bridge Monument or as an alternative to limit
the filling of Glen Canyon to about its present
elevation.

This suit is based upon two allegations.
One is that the Colorado River Storage Project
Act specifies that the Secretary of the In-
terior shall construct protective works to
prevent water from entering the boundaries of
the monument. The other grounds is that the
water backing into the canyon under the monu-
ment would mar the beauty of the area and
destroy vegetation. What vegetation I haven't
been able to discover. Vegetation is prac-
tically nonexistent in the canyon. However,
the fluctuating water would leave marks on
the canyon wall.

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The Secretary of the Interior in about
'59 or '60 requested funds from the Congress
to construct these protective works. This
would require a dam in the canyon itself on
Bridge Creek. A dam could be constructed at
the lower end of the canyon to keep the water
from backing up in the channel below the
bridge. The Congress turned down the request
of the Secretary of the Interior for funds.
Since 1960 or shortly thereafter, there has
been language to .the effect that no funds
appropriated shall be used to construct pro-
tective works for the Rainbow Bridge National
Monument. Congress has clearly indicated
that it thinks it is foolish to construct
such works.

We have some photographs here which portray
the area. The site of the proposed dam is
shown there near the bottom of the canyon. An
earthen dam could be constructed there with a