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<br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />would be more protective of resources and, therefore, more consistent <br />with the intent of the Grand Canyon Protection Act. <br /> <br />Other interested parties, although supporting the preferred alternative, <br />believed that several areas of concern still remain. For example, one <br />organization stated that the final impact statement assumes that the dam's <br />operations are the only cause of the impacts on downstream resources <br />and, therefore, that changing the dam's operations is the only technique <br />available for managing and enhancing those resources. The organization <br />noted other causes of downstream impacts, including the introduction of <br />nonnative fish and human usage, Still other organizations believed that <br />there is a potential for negative impacts that will be difficult to measure <br />because, between the draft and the fmal impact statement, Reclamation <br />revised the preferred alternative to simultaneously increase two of the <br />dam's operating parameters: the maximum daily peak releases and the <br />upramp rate (the hourly rate of increase), Others stated that they were <br />concerned about flood protection measures. Also, concerns were <br />expressed about the future implementation of Reclamation's Adaptive <br />Management Program, including its continued monitoring and research <br />efforts. <br /> <br />Recommendations <br /> <br />GAO is making no recommendations in this report, <br /> <br />Agency Comments <br /> <br />GAO provided copies of a draft of this report to the Department of the <br />Interior for its review and comment. Interior generally agreed with the <br />infonnation presented in the report and stated that they were impressed <br />with the quality of the product developed by the audit team, Interior also <br />provided several technical clarifications to the draft, which have been <br />incorporated into the report as appropriate, Interior's comments and GAO'S <br />responses are included in appendix XII. <br /> <br />Page 9 <br /> <br />GAOIRC.ED-97-12 Glen Canyon Dam's Environmental Impact Statement <br />