News Release Archive

Reclamation Rolls Out Campaign to Increase Awareness of Adaptive Management Efforts Being Implemented in Glen and Grand Canyons

Media Contact: Stacey Carroll, (801) 524-3813, scarroll@uc.usbr.gov

For Release: March 06, 2007

As part of the 2007 Utah Water User's Workshop in St. George, Utah, the Bureau of Reclamation today rolled out a new informational campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP). The intent of the new informational campaign is to provide the public with increased access to information about the adaptive management research and management options being implemented by Interior Department officials below Glen Canyon Dam.

"The new public information campaign will provide external audiences with increased access to up-to-date information about the adaptive management program being implemented below Glen Canyon Dam  in essence, what the program entails, why it was created and what it is intended to accomplish," said Mark Limbaugh, Assistant Secretary of Water and Science with the Department of the Interior. "Federal and state resource managers rely on the knowledge gained from this research effort to make difficult resource management decisions regarding the operation of Glen Canyon Dam."

The GCDAMP was created by the Interior Department in 1997 to improve the state of natural resources along the Colorado River in both the Glen and Grand Canyons areas of Arizona while continuing to fulfill the Colorado River Storage Project Act purposes.

The new educational campaign will be on display for viewing by attendees of the Utah Water Use's Workshop on both Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, at the Dixie Center in St. George, Utah. The campaign, developed by representatives of the GCDAMP, features a portable display; a publicly accessible website, fact sheets, resource overviews and related media kit materials. One of the core goals of the outreach effort is to encourage the general public to visit the campaign's public Web site at www.gcdamp.gov.

"One of the primary goals of the new information campaign is to provide a forum for the public to communicate their feedback and recommendations about the GCDAMP program and its activities," added Limbaugh.

A fundamental component of the GCDAMP is the Adaptive Management Work Group. The AMWG is a Federal Advisory Committee appointed by the Secretary of the Interior with representatives from federal agencies, Colorado River basin states, Native American tribal governments, environmental groups, recreation interests and contractors for federal power from Glen Canyon Dam. The AMWG makes it possible for the Secretary to receive recommendations from these varied stakeholder interests on how to best protect downstream resources and balance river operations.

The GCDAMP was formed to advise the Secretary of the Interior on actions to improve resources in Glen and Grand Canyons of the Colorado River in Arizona. The program provides a process through which the effects of dam operations on downstream resources are monitored and assessed and operational adjustments are recommended to the Secretary of the Interior based on those assessments. This approach allows for scientific experimentation that adds to the understanding of the effects of the operation of Glen Canyon Dam.

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