Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program Administrative History

This book is on the various methods of environmental impact assessment as a guide to design of new environmental development and management projects. This approach surveys the features of the environment likely to be affected by the developments under consideration, analyses the information collected, tries to predict the impact of these developments and lays down guidelines or rules for their management.

This book is concerned with practical problems, e.g. development in Canada, the management of fisheries, pest control, etc. It is devoted to a general understanding of environmental systems through methods that have worked in the real world with its many uncertainties. It does not reject the concept of environmental impact analysis but rather stresses the need for fundamental understanding of the structure and dynamics of ecosystems.

The Grand Canyon Protection Act (Act) of October 30, 1992, embodied in Public Law 102-575, directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), among others to operate Glen Canyon Dam in accordance with the additional criteria and operating plans specified in section 1804 of the Act and to exercise other authorities under existing law in such a manner as to protect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve the values for which Grand Canyon National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were established, including but not limited to the natural and cultural resources and visitor use. The Secretary shall implement this section in a manner fully consistent with and subject to section 1802 of the Act. Section 1805 of the Act calls for implementation of long-term monitoring programs and activities that will ensure that Glen Canyon Dam is operated in a manner consistent with that of section 1802. As part of long-term monitoring, the Secretary's Record of Decision (ROD) mandates development and initiation of an Adaptive Management Program (AMP). The AMP provides for monitoring the results of the operating criteria and plans adopted by the Secretary and changes to those operating criteria and plans. The AMP includes an Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG). The AMWG will facilitate the AMP, recommend suitable monitoring and research programs, and make recommendations to the Secretary as required to meet the requirements of the Act. The AMWG may recommend research and monitoring proposals outside the Act which complement the AMP process, but such proposals will be funded separately, and do not deter from the focus of the Act.