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OJ "o.i' The Honorable Manuel Lujan August 22, 1989 Page Two operations addresses the impacts Oil all of these uses and the trade-offs among them. Documents produced during Phase I of the GCeS demonstrate that there is no valid basis, at thi!: time, for changes in r~servoir operations at Glen Canyon Dam, either on an interim or a permanent basis. First, in the report entitled "River and Dam Management--A Review of the Bureau of R~clamation's Glen Canyon Environmental Studies," the committee chosen by the National Academy of Sciences to review the GCES explains that "the commit- tee does not believe that the Bureau of Reclamation can make any long-term decisions concerning the management of Glen Canyon Dam based on the GCES" (p. S). Second, the "Executive Review Commit- tee Final Report" prepared by individuals representing the Department of the Interior, the Fish and wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Western Area Power Administration states: " " ~ , f: ?i ~ :':; ~ The bureaus/agency represented on the ERC concur that the GCES have shown that the operations of Glen Canyon Dam do affect the natural and recreational resources downstream from ~he darn, and that some ways of operating the dam have more negative impact than others. . There is not unani- mous agreement that the negative impacts are sufficient to justify a decision to adopt these changes at this time. There is agreement that further studies need to be undertak- en to assess the siqnificance of these impacts (p. 3, empha- sis added), c. t: r' r::i \ole agree with the Executive Review Committee that several areas of concern require further study and additional analysis before any action can be considered by the Depart- ment. . . ,The data required for ~hese studies will be acquired during normal (1. e. existinqJ operation of Glen Canyon Dam (emphasis added). " ~;~ f~ ~1' ,> }". ~:~ .~., :~ f, ,~, ~' .1:1. ~ ~ (: " f~ "- Finally, the June 16, 1988, joint memorandum from the Assistant Secretaries for Water and Science and Fish and Wildlife and Parks declares: h:'. ~;} (Also refer to Regional Director Clifford I. Barrett's June 29, 1988 m~morandum on GCES.) Establishment of an interim flow regime, other than existing operations, below Glen Canyon Dam at this time would be prema- ture, in contravention of the Council on Environmental Quality regulations, and would undermine, if not violate, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process you have already initi- ated. First, ,the scoping process has not been started, nor ha.s a range of alternatives been identified. Second, potential changes I