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12...11t.. SUMMARY OVERVIEW CONCERNING THE VALUE AND ROLE OF GLEN CANYON DAM Glen Canyon Dam provides the western United States with significant water, power, and recreation opportunities, Without the reservoir, consumptive uses in the Colorado River basin would be forced to be reduced and current and expected growth would be prohibited, Lake Powell not only allows Upper Basin consumptive uses to occur, but also provides drought insurance to the Lower Basin, Over 20 million people depend on these water supplies to sustain life, The annual average of over 5000 MWHR of hydroelectric power produced by Glen Canyon is nonpolluting, renewable and contributes to the strong economy of the West. It reduces both America's dependence on foreign energy and the need for coal and oil extraction from public and private lands, In Water Year 1996, Glen Canyon Dam generated 5,5 billion kilowatt hours, which was 75% of the 7.3 billion kilowatt hours generated by the Colorado River Storage Project, , Tourism and recreation on Lake Powell and downstream in the Grand Canyon enhances the lifestyle of millions of citizens each year, The National Park Service reported over 2,6 million , people visited the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in 1996, AIl these benefits would be lost if Lake Powell were drained, Reclamation has just completed the most comprehensive environmental impact statement in its history on the operation of Glen Canyon Dam, Completely reoperated to provide greater and more widespread benefits to the public, it has been a high water line event in cooperation and compromise between competing interests in the basin, The Record of Decision, signed by Secretary Babbitt on October 9, 1996, has truly underscored the commitment of the administration and the general public to keep the dam intact, modifYing the operational constraints to meet changing public values, Since any proposal to drain the reservoir ffas~e the "Law of the River," Reclamation has not conducted any studies concerning how th ass the reservoir would be made up elsewhere (26,215,000 afin storage at the end of Water Year 1996), Upstream units of the CRSP (Flaming Gorge, Aspinall Unit, and Navajo) would b~ara pressea to carry Glen Canyon's 10alPespecially meeting the 1922 Colorado River Compact requirement of delivering 75 marm any given 10-year period to the Lower Basin, and still meet their own emerging environmental obligations per such items as Biological Opinions on endangered species, sport fisheries, recreation, and other demands, to say nothing of their site-specific project obligations for storage and hydropower generation, Contact: Barry Wirth, (80 I) 524-3774 - Public Affairs Officer) Randy Peterson (801) 524-3715 - Hydrologist)