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dam-l Restore the Colorado River & Glen Canyon! 21


          <<<Please distribute freely>>>


 SEND AN EMAIL TO HELP RESTORE THE COLORADO RIVER
              -DEADLINE IS APRIL 30-

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                ***ACTION ALERT***
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       HELP SAVE GRAND CANYON'S NATIVE FISH

The US Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec) in January published an 
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (EA) for a device to be constructed at GLEN 
CANYON DAM to withdraw warmer water near the surface of "Lake" Powell for 
release downstream into the Colorado River and Grand Canyon. Currently 
water is drawn from the colder depths of the reservoir. BuRec believes 
that warmer water will benefit both the endangered native fish and the 
non-native trout downstream. This plan will cost $15 million--yet no one 
knows whether it will work! 

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Scientists concur that warming the release waters from the dam may indeed 
benefit native endangered fish.  However, BuRec believes that this 
proposal warrants only minimal environmental review. 

Clearly there will be significant impacts.  Therefore Glen Canyon 
Institute (GCI) believes that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is 
required by law and should be prepared.  An EA is inadequate for a major 
federal action such as this.

GCI believes that an alternative of decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam 
should be studied in the EIS. Restoring a dynamic, free-flowing Colorado 
River through Glen and Grand Canyons is the only solution for the 
long-term health of the river's ecosystem.

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Email BuRec today! Please join GCI in asking for:

1) A full Environmental Impact Statement, with...

2) A Glen Canyon Dam decommissioning alternative.

[A sample letter is provided below for your use.]

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***ACT NOW!  Deadline for comments is APRIL 30!***
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MAIL OR EMAIL COMMENTS TO:

          David Trueman, Manager
          Glen Canyon Dam Temperature Control
          US Bureau of Reclamation
          125 S. State Street, Room 6107
          Salt Lake City, UT 84138-1102

email:    <dtrueman@uc.usbr.gov>

...OR SUBMIT COMMENTS ONLINE AT BUREC'S WEBSITE:

                www.uc.usbr.gov

(The EA document may be downloaded from this site)
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PLEASE MAIL OR EMAIL A COPY OF YOUR COMMENTS TO:

          Glen Canyon Institute
          PO Box 1925
          Flagstaff, AZ 86002

email:    <info@glencanyon.org>

phone:    (520) 556-9311

Thank you for helping restore the Colorado River!

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SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Mr. Trueman,

The Draft Plan & Environmental Assessment (EA) on Glen Canyon Dam 
Modifications to Control Downstream Impacts as presently written is 
*inadequate*. It lacks a credible scientific approach and is missing 
critical scientific information, including information related to 
ecosystem impacts.

Furthermore, complete evaluation of all the Fish & Wildlife Service's 
Endangered Species Act concerns is missing. The FWS has indicated that 
there are a number of factors that work in concert to define why native 
and endangered species are in trouble in the Grand Canyon.

Thermal issues are clearly one of those issues along with flows, 
non-native species, Little Colorado River management and a series of 
other issues. The EA addresses only one of the components and lacks the 
feedback loops to the others.

The EA glosses over how the efects of evaluating the success or failure 
of the thermal modifications are to occur. BuRec should articulate a 
well-defined study plan for evaluation as part of this package, at a 
minimum to include:

1) An articulated and integrated study plan (reviewed by outside experts),

2) Identification and commitment of financial support (outside of 
existing Grand Canyon Monitoring & Research Center funding) for 
evaluation of the results,

3) A complete risk assessment and decision framework on when evaluations 
will occur and what criteria will be used to support a shift back from 
operations of the thermal modifications.

Due to the significance of the endangered species concerns, the potential 
impact to important tribal cultural concerns, and the history of 
scientific review that has taken place on this issue, a full and complete 
Environmental Impact Statement is warranted and should be developed.  
This EIS should look at the full suite of concerns that the FWS has 
addressed in its previous comments on the Glen Canyon Dam operations EIS 
as well as a full complement of alternative ways to mitigate the effects 
on the endangered species downstream of the dam, including dam 
decommissioning.