Downstream Adaptive Management of Glen Canyon Dam and the Colorado River Ecosystem (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The Center's Long-Term Strategic Plan
2 The Center's Long-Term Strategic Plan
Pages 32-50
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From page 32... ...
A strategic plan enables participants to envision common goals and agree on ways and means to achieve them. Where objectives compete with one another, it guides the collection of information on the likely consequences of alternative courses of action.
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From page 33... ...
Both documents included introductory chapters on institutions and the adaptive management paradigm (Table 2.11. They mentioned the Grand Canyon Protection Act, Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement, and the Record of Decision that mandate the Adaptive Management Program, as well as the "Law of the River" and other laws that constrain the Pro gram (cf.
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From page 34... ...
CH 2: Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (16 pp.) CH3: Management Objectives and Information Needs (7 pp.)
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From page 35... ...
The Transition Work Group (1995-1996) prepared plans separately from the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies.
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From page 36... ...
Previous National Research Council reviews of the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies included chapters on institutional issues that affect ecosystem monitoring and research, such as interagency relationships, policy changes, external reviews, and the roles of funding (Ingram et al., 1991; NRC, 1987, 1996a; cf.
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From page 37... ...
Mintzberg, 1998; WestIey, 19951. The 1997 Strategic Plan summarized the legacy of the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies, but did not analyze it or use it to justify the proposed Plan.
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From page 38... ...
That formal approach may still be appropriate for monitoring programs where one wants to know whether wise choices have been made about what to measure, whether those measurements are accurate, complete, and systematically recorded, and whether a systematic plan has been established and followed to implement the monitoring program. By the 19SOs, however, many formal strategic plans failed to materialize, or they constrained organizational changes necessary to improve perfor
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From page 39... ...
The mandated focus of the Adaptive Management Program is on the effects of the Secretary's actions at mien canyon Dam on downstream resources. The Strategic Plan describes the Program's scope as the Colorado River ecosystem within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
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From page 40... ...
| Inventory Biotic/ | Abiotic l Conceptual Model Test and Evaluate Model Development it Short and Long Term Monitoring of Ecosystem Dam Operations | Adaptive Management _ ~ ~ ~Loop | GCMRC Ecosystem | I Experiments l Management Objectives I FIGURE 2.2 The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center's approach to ecosystem and adaptive management. SOURCE: Center (1998)
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From page 41... ...
effects and include monitoring and research activities conducted downstream of Glen Canyon Dam. They are funded by the Adaptive Management Program budget, with the scope of work reviewed by the Adaptive Management Work Group and Technical Work Group.
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From page 42... ...
Issues related to the boundaries of the Adaptive Management Program will surely recur. These issues include interactions with the old high-water zone and upsIope areas, seeps, and springs; tributary inputs of water, sediment, organic matter, and biota; interactions between the Grand Canyon riverine and Lake Mead delta ecosystems; regional hydroclimatic linkages with dam operations and their joint resource effects; comparisons with other dam-operation experiments, species recovery programs, and analogous reaches in the Colorado River Basin; and interregional comparisons of adaptive management experiments.
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From page 43... ...
Individual stakeholder concerns extend in many geographic directions, but adaptive management may help identify common concerns associated with dam operations and downstream resources. Tribal reports commissioned by the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies, for example, raise important questions about linkages between the Grand Canyon river ecosystem and wider landscapes (Ferguson, 1998; Hart, 1995; Roberts et al., 1995; Stoffle et al., 19941.
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From page 44... ...
This should include the Upper Colorado River Basin Recovery Implementation Program, the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program, and the Multispecies Recovery Program in the Lower Colorado River, since all fishes of interest in the Grand Canyon are under management both up- and downstream from Lake Powell in the Green, San Juan, and Colorado rivers. It should also include a strategy for drawing lessons from adaptive management and dam operations in other regions, such as the Columbia River Basin, the Everglades, and the Upper Mississippi River Basin (Gunderson et al., 1995; Independent Scientific Group, 1996; Independent Scientific Group, 1996; Lee, 1993; NRC, 1996b; Sit and Taylor, 1998; Volkman, 1997; Walters, 1997; Walters et al., 1992~.
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From page 45... ...
The 1998 Plan lists time scales from hourly to interannual and "pre-dam versus post-dam time periods." Although this last time scale is longer than the strategic planning period, the Plan does not explicitly discuss decadal or multidecadal time scales, nor does it address the "perpetuity" for which Grand Canyon National Park was established. These medium and long time scales are relevant and essential for planning, ecosystem monitoring, and adaptive management.
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From page 46... ...
Section ~ 804 of the Act focuses on "the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam." Section 1802 refers more broadly to 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," and section lSO5b to the "effect of the Secretary's actions on the...resources of Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area." In the shortterm (inter-annual) , these might be regarded as competing principles, but a longer-term, decadal perspective would reveal how they are logically related to one another (see Figure 2.3, and see discussion in Chapter 3~.
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From page 48... ...
The committee concluded that: · The Strategic Plan should explicitly recognize and speak to public interests in Grand Canyon monitoring and research and should anticipate programs of public education, outreach, and involvement. Over the long term and therefore in its Strategic Plan, the Center should also strive to use monitoring and research to clarify common interests in downstream resources.
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From page 49... ...
. SUMMARY The question of whether the Strategic Plan will be effective in meeting the requirements specified in the Grand Canyon Protection Act, the Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement, and the Record of Decision can be addressed in a preliminary way from the evidence above.
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From page 50... ...
The strategic plans have been designed to fulfill those requirements, and the committee concluded that they have a good chance of success. How well they meet those requirements, however, depends upon how clearly the plans define the Center's most pressing challenges for the next five years.
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Key Terms
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