Turning Nature On and Off

The waters of the Colorado River do not just flow through the Grand Canyon. They are turned on and off several times each day, causing the river level to fluctuate in some places by as much as 13 feet. As of now, the spigot at Glen Canyon Dam upstream on the Colorado remains under the control of the water-and-power boys, who view their job as running the Colorado somewhat like driving a train, and to make money. The dam’s hydroelectric-power operators, in particular, insist that their demands for water releases should take precedence over other considerations like recreation or the natural environment of the river and its magnificent canyons.

But this situation is not going without challenge either from within the U.S. Department of Interior or from the outside, although the status quo currently has the support of the political bosses at the department. Congress now is being asked to direct the government to establish long-range criteria for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam so as to reduce the damage that the on-and-off river flow is having on recreation, fisheries, river beaches, riparian vegetation and other natural features of the Colorado. Rep. Wayne Owens (D-Utah) is sponsoring such a proposal.

The present dispute stems from a proposed increase in the power-generation capacity of Glen Canyon that would require even greater periodic releases of water from the dam. Colorado River flows now vary from a minimum of 1,000 cubic feet per second--about 500,000 gallons each minute--to 31,500 cubic feet per second. The idea is to produce the greatest amount of power during the portions of the day when there is the most demand.

Glen Canyon’s power operators, who work for the Department of Energy, contend that 1956 law gives power generation priority over other uses. But subsequent law clearly relegates power production to an equal footing with many other uses. This 1968 law also directed development of long-range criteria for operation of the river, which Secretary Walter Hickel adopted in 1970. He said that the dams and reservoirs should be operated with consideration for all uses, including “water-quality control, recreation, enhancement of fish and wildlife and other environmental factors.”

Still, the present Interior Department managers have proposed only vague further study of environmental damage. Their directive ignored Interior Department members of the study committee who wanted a temporary minimum flow of 5,000 second feet. The river now can fall to 1,000 second feet during the non-recreation season of Sept. 1-June 1 and to 3,000 feet through the summer. The order said that the additional studies were not to be allowed to affect normal power-generation operations.

It would seem to be unnecessary for Congress to have to direct the Department of the Interior to do something that both Congress and previous secretaries of the interior repeatedly have done over the years. But that clearly is the case, as the history of the environmental review demonstrates. Congress thus should enact the Owens amendment that would help restore some of the natural integrity of the river through the canyons that it has sculpted through the ages.