GCDAMP History Time-Line -Years

• 11,000 BP Paleo-Indian peoples occupy Grand Canyon region

1869

Major John Wesley Powell leads first recored expedition to traverse Grand Canyon

1902

Reclamation Act Creates the Bureau of Reclamation

1916

National Park Service Organic Act passed

1919

Grand Canyon National Park created

1922

Colorado River Compact signed allocating the Colorado River water between the upper and the lower basins. Upper basin States have the right to use 7.5 maf/yr only if that quantity is available after meeting delivery requirements of 7.5 maf/yr to the Lower basin plus the amount required to satisfy anticipated claims by Mexico.

1928

Boulder Canyon Project Act passed authorizing Hoover Dam.

1935

Hoover Dam completed

1944

Treaty with Mexico obligating the US to provide 1.5 maf of Colorado River water to Mexico annually

1948

Upper Colorado River Basin Compact signed

1956

Colorado River Storage Project Act passed authorizing Glen Canyon Dam

1963

• Glen Canyon Dam completed as part of the Colorado River Storage Project.
• U.S. Supreme Cort held in Arizona vs California that, as a result of the Boulder Canyon Project Act, California held an allocation of 4.4 maf, Arizona 2.8 maf, and Nevada 300,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water

1964

U.S. Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. California confirmed apportionments of Colorado River water authorized in 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act, including Nevada's allocation of 0.3 maf per year. The Decree in this case set many of the rules under which the river is operated.

1965

United States contract for delivery of power from the Colorado River Storage Project to customers.

1966

National Historic Preservation Act passed

1967

Humpback chub and Colorado pikeminnow federally listed as endangered

1968

Colorado River Basin Project Act passed

1969

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 passed requiring Federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions.

1970

Long-range Operating Criteria developed for Glen Canyon Dam operations

1972

Last verified record of Colorado Pikeminnow caught in Grand Canyon at Havasu Creek

1973

Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 passed to protect and promote the recovery of animals and plants that are in danger of becoming extinct because of the activities of people. Administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

1974

• Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act authorized the construction, operation, and maintenance of works in the Colorado River Basin to control the salinity of Colorado River water available for use in the United States and Mexico. Some GCDAMP stakeholders participate in the Salinity Control Forums created by the act.
• First Lawsuit filed over Glen Canyon Dam operations by commercial raft operators contending that the disruption of normal flows was interfering with their ability to conduct river trips.

1975

Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act passed

1978

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service files jeopardy opinion on the effects of Glen Canyon Dam on endangered fishes

1979

• Grand Canyon National Park designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• USBR proposes an upgrade of Glen Canyon Dam's generators

1980

• Lake Powell reaches full pool (3,700 ft)
• Bonytail chub listed as endangered

1982

Glen Canyon Environmental Studies created to study effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations

1983

Glen Canyon Dam releases more than 92,000 cfs to stop Lake Powell from overtopping Glen Canyon Dam.

1984

One of the last Razorback Suckers seen in Grand Canyon is caught and released at Bass Rapids

1987

National Research Council completes review of Glen Canyon Environmental Studies, publishing River and Dam Management: a Review of the Bureau of Reclamation's Glen Canyon Environmental Studies

1988

• Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects(CRSP)passed-1989 after a series of public information and comment forums.
• Glen Canyon Environmental Studies issues Glen Canyon Environmental Studies Final Report, completing Phase I and starting Phase II, which would be accelerated to support environmental impact statement process.

1989

• Secretary of the Interior Lujan orders an environmental impact statement on dam operations.
• National Research Council sponsors symposium that reviews existing knowledge on Colorado River ecosystem

1990

1990-91_ Research flows used to evaluate a variety of discharge patterns

1991

• Interim operating criteria for Glen Canyon Dam implemented.
• Razorback Sucker and Kanab Ambersnail federally listed as endangered.

1992

Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 passed

1994

• Programmatic Agreement on Cultural Resources signed between the State of Arizona, Department of the Interior agencies, and six tribes over protection of cultural resources in the river corridor below Glen Canyon Dam.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designates critical habitat for four species of endangered Colorado River fish and completes Biological Opinion outlining reasonable and prudent alternatives that must be evaluated for dam operation.
• Memorandum of Agreement signed for development of a Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Plan between state agencies in Nevada, California, and Arizona and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.MSCP History (SDSU)

1996

• Experimental controlled flood of 45,000 cfs conducted at Glen Canyon Dam.
• Record of Decision on the Operation of Glen Canyon Dam Final Environmental Impact Statement to comply with consultation requirements of the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992. (Signed by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt)

1997

• The AMWG held their first meeting on September 10-11, 1997, and officially formed the Glen Canyon Technical Work Group (TWG) as a subgroup to work on tasks charged to them by the AMWG.
• The TWG was formed to provide stakeholders with involvement in federal decisions concerning the operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Power Plant.
• First test of Habitat Maintenance flows conducted in November.

2000

• Test of low summer steady flows for the possivle benefit of endangered species of fish.
• Second and third tests of the habitat maintenance flows concept conducted in spring and summer.

2001

• Humpback Chub population in Grand Canyon was in decline in the 1990s, and reached a low of about 5,000 adult fish in 2001.
• Draft Strategic Plan for the GCDAMP developed by program managers.

2012

• Razorback Sucker found in lower part of Grand Canyon- believed the fish traveled some 50 miles upstream from Lake Mead. Last one recorded had been caught in 1990. (October 9th)