Review of the Draft Federal Long-Term Monitoring Plan for the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam (1994) / Chapter Skim
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2 SPECIFIC COMMENTS
2 SPECIFIC COMMENTS
Pages 7-18
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From page 7... ...
The minimum monitoring requirements for the Grand Canyon are legitimately determined by needs for basic information. The present wording of the plan might suggest that the plan subordinate long-term monitoring to the availability of money.
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From page 8... ...
Will operations stray outside the boundaries of the preferred alternative, or is adaptive management merely a way of making minor adjustments within the framework of the preferred alternative? The last paragraph of the section on purposes of monitoring explains the conceptual basis for defining the geographic scope of monitoring.
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From page 9... ...
The plan mentions complementary monitoring programs such as the Lake Powell studies and studies in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. While avoidance of duplication is laudable, the plan should set forth specific goals for long-term monitoring.
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From page 10... ...
It is unfortunate that the present GIS coverage does not extend over the entire reach between the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead. The long-term monitoring plan should recommend completion of GIS mapping for the Colorado River between Lake Powell and Lake Mead in support of long-term monitoring.
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From page 11... ...
appears to be misplaced. The purpose of the vertical profiles is to describe the vertical structure of the water column in terms of the water quality variables that are of interest in connection with the river downstream of the Dam.
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From page 12... ...
for chemical analysis. A major surface spill into the lower Colorado River occurred on July 16, 1989 at Church Rock, New Mexico when the containment dam of a uranium mill tailings pond collapsed, releasing about 100 million gallons of mned solids and liquids containing a variety of toxic materials, including the radionuclides thorium-230 and radium-222.
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From page 13... ...
In addition to the variables that are mentioned in this section, chlorophyll a and algal counts should be included because they wall indicate mass transport of algal biomass along the river and the species composition of the main taxa entering the river. The plan calls for seasonal measurements of water chemistry and temperature on the main stem of the Colorado River.
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From page 14... ...
The long-term monitoring program should be viewed simply as a commitment to collect information on critical environmental variables that may be affected by the operation of Glen Canyon Dam. Specific connections to the DElS are not necessary, especially in view of the language that is given in the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992.
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From page 15... ...
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has expressed some reservations about operations of Glen Canyon Dam that involve daily fluctuations in flow, given that other flow regimes might provide better protection of endangered fishes.
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From page 16... ...
Reference is also made in this section to a schedule of "activities" that wall be determined by "resource management agencies." As this report has repeatedly stated, the purpose of the plan is to specify monitoring requirements on the basis of an intensive review of future needs for information. The decisions that are referred to management agencies should have been made while the plan was being formulated and stated specifically in the document.
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From page 17... ...
While there is no need for replication of data collection efforts, the monitoring plan needs to make commitments to the collection of particular kinds of data on recreation. Then, if an agency happens to be collecting this kind of information, and if the managers of the long-term monitoring program independently judge this information to be of appropriate quality, a transfer of information can reduce monitoring costs.
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From page 18... ...
The Bureau of RecIamation's Power Resources Committee could easily provide suggestions for the specifics. The NRC committee previously has commented extensively on estimation of nonuse values connected with operations of Glen Canyon Dam (NRC 1992~.
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