Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
This chapter provides a brief overview of how
adaptive management has been implemented in
the Colorado River corridor below Glen Canyon
Dam (Figure 26.1). It focuses on monitoring and
experimental research related to Grand Canyon
sand resources and an endangered species of
fish, the humpback chub ( Gila cypha ). Many
of the activities discussed in this chapter were
implemented to minimize the impacts of Glen
Canyon Dam operations on the humpback chub.
Adaptive management
In the early 1990s, adaptive management emerged
as an important strategy for resource management
in major US river systems. Generally described
as 'learning by doing,' many of the efforts in US
riparian ecosystems were based on the adaptive
environmental assessment and management
approach to natural resources management
(Walters, 1986; Williams et al. , 2007). This
approach assumes that managed natural resources
will always change, that scientific understanding
of ecosystems is constantly improving, and that
it is important for natural resource managers to
use the best currently available information to
make decisions. The approach brings together
the strengths of different scientific disciplines
to address the information needs of resource
managers and encourages scientists and managers
to work closely in sharing and using scientific
information to support decisions.
In this context, adaptive management was
selected by the Secretary of the Interior in a
1996 'Record of Decision' on the Operation of
Glen Canyon Dam Final Environmental Impact
Statement to meet the mandates of GCPA (US
Department of the Interior, 1996). The formal
establishment of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive
Management Program ('the Program') was delayed
until 1997 because The Secretary of the Interior
could not implement the Record of Decision,
which included the creation of the Program,
until the General Accounting Office completed a
cost-benefit analysis. However, a Transition Work
Figure 26.2 Organizational structure of the Glen
Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program.
Group and the Grand Canyon Monitoring and
Research Center began formulating a strategic plan
in 1995, and the first high-flow experiment was
conducted in 1996.
The intent of the Program was to 'initiate
a process of adaptive management whereby
the effects of dam operations on downstream
resources would be assessed and the results of
those resource assessments would form the basis
for future modifications of dam operations' (US
Department of the Interior, 1995, page 34). The
environmental impact statement specified the five
major Program components (Figure 26.2) described
below. More recently, the Secretary of the Interior
added a Policy Group, comprising senior officials
from departmental agencies, to ensure intra-
departmental communication and coordination at
the national level (Figure 26.2). This Policy Group
provides a mechanism for incorporating specific
agency mandates and policies into the decision-
making process.
1. Adaptive Management Work Group ('the Work
Group'); this is a 25-member stakeholder
committee that operates in accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (Table
26.1). The Work Group makes recommendations
to the Secretary of the Interior on how to best alter
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