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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon, aquatic system

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Abstract

The Glen Canyon Dam was completed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1963 as the main feature of the Colorado River Storage Project. The purposes of the dam were to regulate the flow of the Colorado River, store water for consumptive use, provide for the reclamation of arid and semi-arid land, control floods, and generate hydroelectric power (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1995). Since the dam was completed prior to enactment of the National Environmental Act, no environmental impact statement was filed regarding its construction and operation. Many environmentalist groups, most recently the Sierra Club, have lobbied for the removal of the Glen Canyon Dam; they claim that the dam is destroying downstream wildlife habitat (Sierra, 1997). In response, the federal government, with the help of several private sources, has done extensive research on the environmental effects of the Glen Canyon Dam, and has proposed several alternatives for modifying dam operations in order to improve the survivability of affected species while continuing to maintain the dam’s productivity.

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