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The Grand Canyon Research and Monitoring Center (GCMRC) was created to fulfill the mandate in the Grand Canyon Protection Act for the “establishment and implementation of a long-term monitoring and research program to ensure that Glen Canyon Dam is operated in a manner that protects the values for which the Grand Canyon National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were created.” The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center serves as the science center for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center leads the monitoring and research of the Colorado River ecosystem and facilitates communication and information exchange between scientists and members of the Technical Work Group and Adaptive Management Work Group. Other functions of the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center are:
- Advocate quality, objective science, and the use of that science in the adaptive management decision process;
- Provide scientific information about resources in the Colorado River ecosystem;
- Support the Secretary of the Interior’s Designee and the Adaptive Management Work Group in a technical advisory role;
- Develop research designs and proposals for implementing (by the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center or its contractors) monitoring and research activities in support of information needs;
- Coordinate review of the monitoring and research program with independent review panels;
- Coordinate, prepare, and distribute technical reports and documentation for review and as final products;
- Prepare and forward technical management recommendations and annual reports, as specified in Section 1804 of the Grand Canyon Protect Act, to the Technical Work Group;
- Manage data collected as part of the Adaptive Management Program and serve as a repository for other information about the Colorado River ecosystem;
- Administer research proposals through a competitive contract process, as appropriate;
- Develop, with the Technical Work Group, criteria and standards for monitoring and research programs; and
- Develop, with the Technical Work Group, resource management questions (i.e., information needs).
- Produce the State of the Colorado River Ecosystem Report. [1]
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