The HFE Page

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High-Flow Experimental (HFE) Releases Construction and operation of dams results in numerous physical and ecological changes to river systems. Among them is the sediment carrying capacity of the river downstream of the dam. With the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, seasonal flooding that once moved sand from the riverbed to the shoreline, no longer occurs. Because more than 90 percent of the sediment that historically moved through the Grand Canyon is trapped behind the dam, the primary sources of new sand to the river system are two downstream tributaries: the Paria and Little Colorado rivers. The Operation of Glen Canyon Dam Final Environmental Impact Statement, completed in March 1995, hypothesized that controlled high-volume releases of water could be important for restoring ecological integrity downstream from the dam. Testing that hypothesis would help determine whether experimental high flows could be used to benefit important physical and biological resources in Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Such flows would also be consistent with the objectives of the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act (Public Law 102-575). Because controlled experimental high-flow releases to some extent mimic natural flooding, conducting such releases would provide the opportunity to evaluate the potential benefit to sediment-dependent resources including sandbars and camping beaches, marsh and riverside vegetation, and backwaters, which are near-shore areas of low-velocity flow which may be used as rearing habitat by native fish. In May 2012, the Department of the Interior implemented a new protocol for conducting multiple high-flow experimental releases through 2020, built on the 16 years of knowledge gained from prior HFEs and associated scientific research and experimentation conducted under the Adaptive management Program. The protocol provides a flexible framework to conduct HFE releases when favorable sediment conditions exist so the optimal timing, duration, frequency, and other conditions that will maximize ecological and riparian benefits downstream in Grand Canyon can be determined. The protocol identifies the conditions under which an HFE release will likely yield the greatest conservation and beneficial use of sediment deposited by inflows from Colorado River tributaries as a result of rainstorms, monsoons, and snowmelt. The ultimate goal of understanding the complexities of the interrelated ecosystem downstream of Glen Canyon Dam is a long-term challenge. The adaptive management model which emphasizes an ongoing cycle of learning through experimentation, refinement, and improvement over time, provides the appropriate framework to achieve this understanding. Through the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, continued implementation of HFEs as a key operational strategy will yield invaluable knowledge about the response of, and benefit to downstream resources. [1]

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Updates

Additional Links The Sediment Page USBR HFE Page Sediment Mass Balance for HFE considerations- Model explanation 2011 HFE Protocol EA Glen Canyon Dam Flow Experiments The 1965 Reservoir Equalization and Channel Cleaning Floods The 1983-86 Floods The 1990-91 Experimental Flows The 1996 Spring HFE The 1997 Experimental Flows The 2000 Low Steady Summer Flow Experiment (LSSF) The 2004 Fall HFE The 2008 Spring HFE The 2009-11 Fall Steady Flow Experiment The 2012 Fall HFE The 2013 Fall HFE The 2014 Fall HFE The 2015 Fall HFE was canceled due to the discovery of green sunfish in Glen Canyon 2015 HFE Synthesis Workshop GCDAMP High Flow Experiment Work Shop Introduction Hydrology and Sediment Transport Status and Trends of Sand in Glen, Marble, and Grand Canyons Operations and Hydropower HFE Impacts on Hualapai Lands Sand Resources and Monitoring at Archaeological Sites in Glen and Grand Canyon Big Flood, Small Flood, Spring Flood, Fall Flood: HFE Timing affects foodbase response in Lees Ferry Native and Nonnative Fishes in Glen, Marble and Grand Canyons Presentations and Papers 2016 AIF: Science Behind High Flow Experiment Planning: From Chasing Storms in the Paria River to Serving Data on the Web Sand Trigger for High-flow Experimental Protocol Introduction of a Motion to TWG Regarding Clarification of the High Flows Protocol for Springtime HFEs: Draft for SCAHG Consideration and Review 2015 Updates on 2014 HFE, Paria sediment inputs, and sediment mass balance 2014 Modeling Long Term Effects of HFEs on Trout and HBC Minute 319/Pulse Flow 2011 Effects of Three High-Flow Experiments on the Colorado River Ecosystem Downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona 1996 Controlled Flooding of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon: the Rationale and Data-Collection Planned Other Stuff Earth Magazine 2013 Releasing a flood of controversy on the Colorado River --This article sets the basis for the HFE, provides the history of past HFEs, and discusses the issues. Rapid Response HFE Page