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Colorado Rlller Studies Office Volume 9 February 1995 Final Edition Final EIS Completed On February 6, 1995, the Final En\;ronmenlal Impact Statement (EIS) on the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam was approved (or printing by the Department of the Interior's Office of En\;ronmenlal Policy. When printing L" completed, in mid-March. the EIS will be filed with the Em;ronmcntal Protection Agency and distributed. The Summary of the EIS is being distrihuted to CRSO ne~leUer recipients. This complex and highly ";siblc EIS proce~'i began in July 1989 when then Secretary of the Interior :-'fanuel Lujan directed Reclamation 10 prepare an EIS to assess the impacts of the operation of Glen Canyon Dam on downstream resources and 10 evaluate ahcrnative operations. Scoping (t.he process of soliciting input from group~ and individuals) was conducted in 1990 to identify issues, criteria, and abernatives for analysis. Nine alternati..-es were developed as a result of scoping. These alternatives were presenled in the draft EIS, with a recommended preferred alternative idcnti. fied. On January ~, 199~, the draft EIS was released for puhlic comment. By the close of the comment period on April 11, over 33,000 commenlS were received. 't\ith more than 2,30) .separate is.sue.s and concerns expressed. The EIS team and cooperating agencies attempted to balance benefits to all resources in identif}ing a preferred alternative. ThlL'i.. as a result of comments received on the draft EIS and discussions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser.ice, the preferred alternative described in the draft EIS is somewhat differen! for the linal EIS (see article on page 5). The casts and benefits will now be audited by the General Accounting Office as required by the Grand Canyon Protection Act (GCPA). Following the audit, tbe Secretary of the IDlerior .....ill complete lhe Record of Decision (ROD). It is expected that the audit could take up to 1 year, .....ith the ROD in 1996. The ROD will implement long-tenn monitoring and the Adaptive Management Program, as required by the GCPA. The cooperating agencies held their last meeting on January 11, 1995; and on January 12, interested organizations and individuals formed the "Transition Work Group. (TWG) (see article on page 3). This group 't\ill ensure that the process moves fof"t\'ard until the ROD is implemented. This is the fmal edition of the CRSO newsletter. If you ....ish to continue to receive periodic information on the progress of the T\VG and the Adaptive Management Program, plea"c re..ie..... the instruct tions on page 11 of this newsletter. On behalf of the cooperating agencies and the EIS learn, the Bureau of Reclamation .....i"hes to thank you for your participation is this process.