Long-Term Experimental Plan for the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Other Associated Management Activities, 74556-74558 [E6-20756]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Reclamation Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74556-74558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20756]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Long-Term Experimental Plan for the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam 
and Other Associated Management Activities

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) and notice to solicit comments and hold additional public scoping 
meetings on the adoption of a Long-Term Experimental Plan for the 
operation of Glen Canyon Dam and other associated management activities 
under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary).

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SUMMARY: In a Federal Register notice published on November 6, 2006 (71 
FR 64982-64983), and pursuant to Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and 40 CFR 
1508.22, the Department of the Interior (Department), acting through 
the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), provided notice that the 
Department intends to prepare an EIS and conduct public scoping 
meetings for the adoption of a Long-Term Experimental Plan for the 
operation of Glen Canyon Dam and other associated management 
activities. This Federal Register notice, prepared pursuant to 40 CFR 
1508.22, provides information on additional public scoping meetings, 
the purpose and need for the proposed action, and additional

[[Page 74557]]

background on the Long-Term Experimental Plan.
    The purpose of the Long-Term Experimental Plan is to increase 
understanding of the ecosystem downstream from Glen Canyon Dam and to 
improve and protect important downstream resources. The NEPA process 
would evaluate the implications and impacts of each of the alternatives 
on all of the purposes and benefits of Glen Canyon Dam as well as on 
downstream resources. The proposed plan would implement a structured, 
long-term program of experimentation (including dam operations, 
modifications to Glen Canyon Dam intake structures, and other non-flow 
management actions, such as removal of non-native fish species) and 
monitoring in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.
    The proposed Long-Term Experimental Plan is intended to ensure a 
continued, structured application of adaptive management in such a 
manner as to protect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve the 
values for which Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National 
Recreation Area were established, including, but not limited to natural 
and cultural resources and visitor use, consistent with applicable 
Federal law.
    The Long-Term Experimental Plan will build on a decade of 
scientific experimentation and monitoring that has taken place as part 
of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, and will build on 
the knowledge gained by experiments, operations, and management actions 
taken under the program. Accordingly, Reclamation intends to tier from 
earlier NEPA compliance documents prepared as part of the Department's 
Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program efforts, see 40 CFR 1500.4(i), 
1502.20, and 1508.20(b), such as the 2002 Environmental Assessment 
prepared on adaptive management experimental actions at Glen Canyon Dam 
(Proposed Experimental Releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Removal of 
Non-Native Fish).
    Dates and Addresses: Two additional public scoping meetings will be 
held to solicit comments on the scope of the Long-Term Experimental 
Plan and the issues and alternatives that should be analyzed. The 
meetings will serve to expand upon the input received from the Glen 
Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program meetings and the recommendations 
of the Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG), a federal advisory 
committee. Oral and written comments will be accepted at the meetings 
to be held at the following locations:
     Thursday, January 4, 2007--6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Embassy 
Suites Phoenix Airport at 44th Street, 1515 North 44th Street, Cholla 
Room, Phoenix, Arizona.
     Friday, January 5, 2007--6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hilton Salt 
Lake City Center, 255 South West Temple, Salon 1, Salt Lake City, Utah.
    Written comments on the proposed development of the Long-Term 
Experimental Plan may be sent by close of business on Wednesday, 
February 28, 2007, to: Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper 
Colorado Region, Attention: UC-402, 125 South State Street, Salt Lake 
City, Utah 84318-1147, faxogram at (801) 524-3858, or e-mail at 
GCDExpPlan@uc.usbr.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Kubly, Bureau of Reclamation, 
telephone (801) 524-3715; faxogram (801) 524-3858; e-mail at 
GCDExpPlan@uc.usbr.gov. If special assistance is required regarding 
accommodations for attendance at either of the public meetings, please 
contact Jayne Kelleher at (801) 524-3680, faxogram at (801) 524-3858, 
or e-mail at jkelleher@uc.usbr.gov no less than 5 working days prior to 
the applicable meeting(s).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Glen Canyon Dam was authorized by the 
Colorado River Storage Project Act (CRSPA) of 1956 and completed by 
Reclamation in 1963. Below Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado River flows 
for 15 miles through the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area which is 
managed by the National Park Service. Fifteen miles below Glen Canyon 
Dam, Lees Ferry, Arizona, marks the beginning of Marble Canyon and the 
northern boundary of Grand Canyon National Park.
    The primary purpose and major function of Glen Canyon Dam is water 
conservation and storage. The dam is specifically managed to regulate 
releases of water from the Upper Colorado River Basin to the Lower 
Colorado River Basin to satisfy provisions of the 1922 Colorado River 
Compact and subsequent water delivery commitments, and thereby allow 
states within the Upper Basin to deplete water from the watershed 
upstream of Glen Canyon Dam and utilize their apportionments of 
Colorado River water.
    In addition to the primary purpose of water delivery, another 
function of Glen Canyon Dam is to generate hydroelectric power. Between 
the dam's completion in 1963 and 1990, the dam's daily operations were 
primarily undertaken to maximize generation of hydroelectric power in 
accordance with Section 7 of the CRSPA, which requires production of 
the greatest practicable amount of power.
    Over time, concerns arose with respect to the operation of Glen 
Canyon Dam, including effects of operations on species listed pursuant 
to the Endangered Species Act. In 1992, Congress passed and the 
President signed into law, the Grand Canyon Protection Act which 
addresses potential impacts of dam operations on downstream resources 
in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park.
    The Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 required the Secretary to 
complete an environmental impact statement evaluating alternative 
operating criteria, consistent with existing law, that would determine 
how Glen Canyon Dam would be operated to both meet the purposes for 
which the dam was authorized and meet the goals for protection of Glen 
Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park. The 
final environmental impact statement was completed in March 1995. The 
Preferred Alternative (Modified Low Fluctuating Flow Alternative) was 
selected as the best means to operate Glen Canyon Dam in a Record of 
Decision (ROD) issued on October 9, 1996. In 1997 the Secretary adopted 
operating criteria for Glen Canyon Dam (62 FR 9447-9448) as required by 
Section 1804(c) of the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992.
    Additionally, the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 requires the 
Secretary to undertake research and monitoring to determine if revised 
dam operations were achieving the resource protection objectives of the 
final EIS and ROD. These provisions of the Grand Canyon Protection Act 
of 1992 were incorporated into the 1996 ROD and led to the 
establishment of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, 
administered by Reclamation, and of the Grand Canyon Monitoring and 
Research Center within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
    The Adaptive Management Program includes a federal advisory 
committee known as the AMWG, a Technical Work Group, a monitoring and 
research center administered by the USGS, and independent review 
panels. The Technical Work Group is a subcommittee of the AMWG and 
provides technical advice and recommendations to the AMWG. The AMWG 
makes recommendations to the Secretary concerning Glen Canyon Dam 
operations and other management actions to protect resources downstream 
from Glen Canyon Dam consistent with

[[Page 74558]]

the Grand Canyon Protection Act and other applicable provisions of 
Federal law.
    To improve scientific understanding of the downstream ecosystem, 
periodic experimental releases from Glen Canyon Dam were conducted in 
water years 1996 through 2006. Non-flow actions were also conducted, 
including removal of non-native fish and translocation of the 
endangered Kanab ambersnail and humpback chub. Specific experimental 
actions included:
     1996 test of a Beach Habitat Building Flow (BHBF) at 
45,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and translocation of endangered 
Kanab ambersnail.
     2000 test of Low Steady Summer Flows at 8,000 cfs.
     2003--2005 block of experimental actions which included:
    [cir] Translocation of endangered humpback chub above Chute Falls.
    [cir] Winter fluctuating fish suppression releases (5,000 to 20,000 
cfs).
    [cir] Mechanical removal of non-native fish near the confluence of 
the Little Colorado River to benefit the humpback chub.
    [cir] Fall constrained releases to test the conservation of 
sediment (6,500 to 9,000 cfs).
    [cir] 2004 test of a BHBF at 42,000 cfs immediately following Paria 
River sediment inputs.
    In addition, drought-induced reductions in Lake Powell elevations 
caused an increase in dam release temperatures during 2003 to 2005. 
Considerable monitoring and research on endangered fish, sediment 
conservation, and other resources in the Grand Canyon were conducted in 
concert with these actions. Among other documents related to adaptive 
management experimentation, two Environmental Assessments and Findings 
of No Significant Impacts were prepared: Proposed Experimental Releases 
from Glen Canyon Dam and Removal of Non-Native Fish (2002) and Proposed 
Experimental Actions for Water Years 2005-2006--Colorado River, 
Arizona, in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon 
National Park (2004). These two documents can be found at the following 
Internet location: https://www.usbr.gov/uc/rm/gcdltep/.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to develop and adopt a Long-Term 
Experimental Plan that will implement a structured, long-term program 
of experimentation (including dam operations, modifications to Glen 
Canyon Dam intake structures, and other non-flow management actions, 
such as removal of non-native fish species) in the Colorado River below 
Glen Canyon Dam.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the proposed action is to increase scientific 
understanding of the ecosystem downstream from Glen Canyon Dam and to 
improve and protect important downstream resources. Specific hypotheses 
to be addressed include the effect of dam release temperatures; ramp 
rates; non-native control; and the timing, duration, and magnitude of 
BHBF releases. Adoption of a Long-Term Experimental Plan is needed to 
ensure a continued, structured application of adaptive management in 
such a manner as to protect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve 
the values for which Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon 
National Recreation Area were established, including, but not limited 
to natural and cultural resources and visitor use, consistent with 
applicable Federal law. Adoption of a Long-Term Experimental Plan will 
assist scientists, policy makers, and resource managers to better 
understand resource management options, tradeoffs and consequences, and 
assist in the long-term operations of Glen Canyon Dam.

Scoping

    The range of alternatives for the proposed action will be developed 
following recommendations provided by the AMWG and through information 
received from upcoming public scoping meetings. In addition, 
Reclamation will utilize information developed through prior meetings 
of the AMWG, Technical Work Group, and Science Planning Group as 
relevant information for the purposes of scoping the upcoming NEPA 
process and to develop the appropriate scope of analysis pursuant to 40 
CFR 1508.25.

Public Disclosure

    It is our practice to make comments, including names, home 
addresses, home telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents, 
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we 
withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to 
consider withholding this information you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a 
rationale for withholding this information. This rationale must 
demonstrate that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of privacy. Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. 
In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this 
information will be released. We will always make submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: November 17, 2006.
Rick L. Gold,
Regional Director--UC Region, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. E6-20756 Filed 12-11-06; 8:45 am]
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