BOARD00944

• Board Meeting Date: 3/26/2001
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Basin Issues - Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program - Funding Report and Policy Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Agenda Item 25g .GCAMP
March 26-27, 2001 Board Meeting
Page 3 of4

RESOLUTION OF THE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD
CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE
GLEN CANYON ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
March, 2001

WHEREAS, Glen Canyon Dam was authorized by the Colorado River Storage Project
Act of April I I, 1956 (CRSPA) and construction was completed in 1964; and

WHEREAS, Glen Canyon Dam is operated in accord with the 1970 Criteria for
Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs; and

WHEREAS, CRSP A makes the generation of hydropower an incidental purpose, Section
7 ofCRSPA also directs that CRSPA reservoirs be operated "so as to produce the greatest
practicable amount of power and energy;" and

WHEREAS, during conduct of environmental studies in the 1980's it became apparent
that the operations of Glen Canyon Dam were affecting c6rtain resources in Grand
Canyon National Park; and

WHEREAS, the Grand Canyon Protection Act was passed in 1992 that required the
Secretary of Interior to modify operations of Glen Canyon Dam in a manner that protects,
mitigates adverse impacts to and improves the values for which Grand Canyon National
Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were established, but suoh modified
operations are to be fully consistent with the Colorado River Compact, the Upper
Colorado River Compact, the Water Treaty of 1944 with Mexico and all other documents
comprising the "Law of the River;" and

WHEREAS, the 1992 Act also required the Secretary of Interior to conduct an EIS on the
long-term operations of Glen Canyon Dam and to consult with the Colorado River Basin
States and the general public during the process; and

WHEREAS, the Final Record of Decision (ROD) for the Glen Canyon Dam ElS included
an environmental commitment to an adaptive management program and the
establishment of an Adaptive Management Workgroup (AMWG) chartered pursuant to
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (F ACA); and

WHEREAS, the preferred alternative (Modified Low Fluctuating Flow) in the ROD was
not selected to maximize benefits for the most resources, but rather to find an alternative
dam operating plan that would permit recovery and long-term sustainability of
downstream resources while limiting hydropower capability and flexibility only to the
extent necessary to achieve recovery and long-term sustainability; and

WHEREAS, funding for implementation and monitoring of the preferred alternative was
to be provided by CRSP A power revenues; and