| "I want
to say publicly, for the record, that the idea of decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam and
draining Lake Powell is outside the Circle of Reality"
Bruce Babbitt, July 14th, 2000
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"I think it (the idea to drain it) is
absolutely ridiculous."
Jane Dee Hull - Arizona Governor
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"Were it not for the storage Lake Powell provides,
Lake Mead's water level would likely be precariously low, threatening both Southern
Nevada's drinking water intakes and impairing the ability of Hoover Dam to generate
hydroelectric power."
J.C. Davis spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water
Authority
************************************************
"The Sierra Club's proposal does not address all of
the complexities of water administration under the upper compact and lower compact states.
It also does not address the adverse impacts on Navajo
water rights, Navajo economic development concerns, or Navajo social welfare."
Melvin F. Bautista, Executive Director
of the Division of Natural Resources of the Navajo Nation
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"We're not trying to get rid of the dam. We
recognize its significant human benefits,"
Nikolai Ramsey Grand
Canyon Trust
April 2, 2004, Arizona Daily Sun
************************************************
"Everybody's running out of water. The end is
in sight---Albuquerque, Las Vegas, El Paso. Tucson's not too far behind.
They're trying to figure out how to increase their future water supply".
Paul Babbitt, Coconino County Board of Supervisors
*********************************************
` "The unemployment
rate on the Navajo Indian Reservation exceeds 50%."
KXAZ Radio - October 1998 (when the national unemployment rate was at its lowest level in
30 years).
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"If you go to any barrio or inner-city ghetto or
even Appalachia, will find some of the same problems that you find here [on the Indian
Reservation]-- lack of economic opportunity, unemployment poverty. They have a
very negative impact on kids."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who recently volunteered for a high school basketball coaching job on
the Apache Indian Reservation for a salary of 1 dollar)
************************************************
"We can let nature do as it chooses or we can
intervene but once we have gone one way, I don't think we know how to go back the other
way. I suspect either plan will have drastic environmental effects that are
unforseen."
Phil Hatch
************************************************
"Lees Ferry is widely regarded as one of the top
tailwater trout fisheries in the nation. The fishery was created in 1963 when the
Glen Canyon Dam impounded the Colorado River.
The fishery is a significant tourist draw for northern
Arizona, especially in the winter months."
Arizona Daily Sun, October 31, 1998
************************************************
"The hydro-electric power from Glen Canyon Dam,
saved 11,581,702,000 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere during calendar year 1996.
The life-of-the-dam savings is now over 320,000,000,000 (320 billion!) pounds and
continues to grow each year.
In addition to CO2, the hydro-electric power from Glen Canyon saved our coal reserves to
the tune of 3 million tons during 1996 with the life-of-the-dam savings now exceeding 63
million tons of coal."
Paul Ostapuk, Environmental Specialist
************************************************
"The river corridor that Stanton saw and
photographed was desolate in comparison to the verdant channel banks for today.
Photographs of Franklin Nims and Robert Brewster Stanton well document the conditions seen
by Clover and Jotter, showing a stark river corridor largely
devoid of trees and riparian plants".
Robert Webb,
Grand Canyon: a Century of Change
************************************************
"The Operation of Glen Canyon Dam has increased the
amount of riparian habitat in Grand Canyon. The channel banks are now biologically
productive..."
Robert Webb, Grand Canyon: a
Century of Change
************************************************
"There is little question that the primary
productivity of the aquatic environment is far greater now than it was then".
Carothers and Brown, The Colorado River
through the Grand Canyon
************************************************
"Visitors to the bottom of Grand Canyon frequently
are delighted with large populations of birds and other wildlife. The abundance of
wildlife is due partly to the presence of marshes.
Marshes that are now present below the old high-water
zone owe their existence entirely to Glen Canyon Dam. Before regulation, flow in the
Colorado River varied too much to allow the establishment of marshes with perennial
vegetation.
Native species, such as beaver; have prospered in
the dam-controlled river, largely because the new high-water zone provides more
food."
Robert Webb, Grand
Canyon: a Century of Change
************************************************
"Removal of the dam would have negative results [on
native fish populations]. With restoration the river would run warmer and the
population of non-native fish would increase. This would not be promising for the
native fish, as most of the non-native fish are predatory species."
Mike Douglas, Dept. of Biology, Museum of Northern Arizona
************************************************
Glen Canyon might not be the best place [for
preserving] native fish because of many factors. It's likely that pre-dam conditions
were not very favorable for native fish. If I had to choose a reservoir for native fish, I would
choose Flaming Gorge.
I don't think restoration [of Glen Canyon]
is a good idea. I don't think we are going to restore it back to 1958
[conditions]. Non-native fish would be a problem. It would become a great
non-native fish place. I think that sediment will [also] be a problem."
Paul Holden, Bio/West, Inc.
*************************************************
After Glen Canyon Dam was completed, the
number of marshes along the river increased - from about 10 in 1965 to 65 in 1976
(Stevens and Ayers 1993)
***************************************************
Lees Ferry has 21
different species of migratory waterfowl that migrate here and travel the river
corridor. We were recently graced with the presence of 3 tundraswans. These
large-graceful swans were immature birds that had not yet achieved their adult plumage.
The tundra swans were most likely hatched on the northern tundra of Alaska or the Arctic
Slopes of Canada. They stayed for 3 weeks before departing the day after Thanksgiving.
I recently spotted the first bald eagle of the season. They
migrate here to feed on the spawning trout. As the spawn progress the eagles should be
regular visitors to the river.
The Peregrine Falcons have resumed their migration to Southern
locations. There are some peregrines that live here year round but most of the peregrines
migrate with the swallows. This region has the highest concentration of Peregrine falcons
of anywhere in the Continental United States.
Terry Gunn, Lees Ferry River Guide
(Dec. 9 1998)
*************************************************
The Earth's population went from 5 billion to 6 billion people on earth in just
12 years.
"By 2050, a quarter of the world will have less
water than it needs. Some experts believe the wars in the Middle East in the 21st century
will be over access to drinking water,'' says Brian Dixon, director of government
relations for Zero Population Growth, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group.
The Arizona Daily Star, October 11 1999
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