Glen Canyon Dam Technical Work Group Webinar/Conference Call 

October 12, 2017 

Date: October 12, 2017 Start Time: 2 p.m. MDT 

Conducting: Seth Shanahan, TWG Chair 

Vineetha Kartha, TWG Vice-Chair 

Committee Members/Alternates Present: 

Melinda Arviso-Ciocco, Navajo Nation 

Jan Balsom, NPS/GRCA 

Cliff Barrett, USAMPS 

Carlee Brown, State of Colorado 

Charley Bulletts, Southern Paiute Consortium 

Shane Capron, WAPA 

Kerry Christensen, Hualapai Tribe 

Kevin Dahl, National Parks Conservation Assn. 

Bill Davis, CREDA 

Craig Ellsworth, WAPA 

Katrina Grantz, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Jessica Gwinn, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Paul Harms, State of New Mexico 

Ken Hyde, NPS/GLNRA 

Robert King, State of Utah 

Ryan Mann, Arizona Game & Fish Department 

Joe Miller, Federation of Fly Fishers/TU 

Jessica Neuwerth, State of California 

Ben Reeder, Grand Canyon River Guides 

Peggy Roefer, UCRC/Nevada 

Michael Yeatts, the Hopi Tribe 

Committee Members Absent:

Kurt Dongoske, Pueblo of Zuni 

Chip Lewis, Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Larry Stevens, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council 

Steve Wolff, State of Wyoming 

Kirk Young, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center: 

Helen Fairley, Program Manager 

Mike Moran, Deputy Center Director 

Scott VanderKooi, Center Director 

Interested Persons

Rob Billerbeck, NPS 

David Braun, Sound Science LLC 

Bill Chada, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Marianne Crawford, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Craig Ellsworth, WAPA 

Brent Esslin, Arizona Dept. of Water Resources 

Leslie James, CREDA 

John Jordan, Federation of Fly Fishers/TU 

Sarah Rinkevich, DOI Joint Tribal Liaison 

Randy Seaholm, State of Colorado

Meeting Recorder: Linda Whetton 

Welcome and Administrative: Mr. Shanahan welcomed the members and the public. Introductions 

were made and a quorum determined. 

 Approval of August 30-31, 2017, Meeting Minutes. Approval postponed until the January 2018 meeting. 

 Next Meeting Dates: Annual Reporting Meeting on Jan. 23-24 and TWG Meeting on Jan. 25. Greater effort will be 

made to set the ARM/TWG meetings in advance to avoid scheduling conflicts. 

 Cultural Resources Update – Ms. Grantz. Much of the function of this group has been subsumed into the PA 

Signatories Group. The CRAHG could be re-established to deal with specific issues that arise. Kurt Dongoske wants 

to step down as the chair. If anyone is interested in being the CRAHG chair, please let Seth know. This will be added 

for further discussion at upcoming TWG meetings. 

 Update on Monitoring and Research Trips - Mr. VanderKooi. The current list (Attachment 1) will be posted on the 

meeting page. If there are other trips planned, provide that information to Linda. 

o Ms. Balsom - The Park will be looking at their Colorado River Management Plan issues, archeological sites 

and some other things. They’re hoping to get on the water in November. 

o Mr. Mann – They just got off the river for their Diamond Creek fall monitoring trip and will be sending a few 

folks to help with the Little Colorado River monitoring that USFWS does. 

 Update on Potential Rainbow Trout Stocking in Glen Canyon – Mr. Mann said there is no update at this 

time but AZGFD continues to take comments on the stocking and James deVos is the point of contact. Mr. 

Dahl said he wrote to the AZGFD and never got a response and wondered if there is a written stocking 
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Final Minutes of October 12, 2017, Webinar/Conference Call Page 2

proposal being solicited for comments. Mr. Mann will follow-up and get back to Mr. Dahl. 

 Other Updates. 

o Green Sunfish Treatment – Mr. Hyde. A GCMRC crew went out yesterday to do one last look at the ponds 

and the upper slough. The treatment is 100% complete and they’re starting fresh again. Exclusion barriers 

are in place. Since there will not be an HFE this fall, they’re not anticipating fish getting back into the slough. 

They will monitoring but won’t do weekly treatments. Another crew will go out next month to take water 

samples until conditions return to pre-treatment levels for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrides. A report will be 

distributed later this year related to using the dry formulation of ammonia to include their observations for the 

black plastic treatment. 

o BT Workshop – Ms. Grantz. The workshop was held Sept. 21-22, 2017, in Tempe, Arizona. There was a 

great presentation by the Pueblo of Zuni related to their perspectives of the Canyon along with great scientific 

discussion on possible causes and risks and potential management actions. A draft white paper was sent out 

prior to the workshop and will be revised to include more detail about management options. Notes from the 

BT Workshop will also be part of the BT Workshop Report. 

o Non-Native Fish Update – Mr. Billerbeck. NPS is working on agreements with cooperating agencies The first 

meeting will be either on Oct 23 or 27. A request for public comments will tentatively be announced for midlate November with scoping meetings to be held in December in Flagstaff and Page and one public webinar. 

Potential Fall High Flow Experiment (HFE) (Attachment 2) –The fall sediment accounting period is July 

1 – Nov 30. The LTEMP HFE process includes an assessment of the status of resources prior to each 

possible HFE to incorporate new information and monitoring into decision making for that HFE. The 

status of resources information is gathered as part of the baseline research and monitoring done in the 

Adaptive Management Program. The sand budget model simulates 13 specific HFE hydrographs, 

however these hydrographs can be modified for implementation based on scientific recommendation. 

Resource status information is provided to the HFE Technical Team. The HFE Technical Team solicits 

input from the TWG and develops a recommendation to the HFE Leadership Team. The Leadership 

Team recommendation is presented to the AS-WS for a final decision on the HFE. 

Update on the Science Advisors Program (Attachment 3) – Dr. Braun. 

 BT Independent Review Panel (IRP). The IRP will focus on two items (1) set of reports from the BT 

Workshop and revisions to the white paper. The focus is on scientific soundness of the reports and the 

workshop report. It will also evaluate responsiveness to tribal concerns. (2) The NPS Bright Angel Creek 

(BAC) BT Removal Project. This is an evaluation of the effectiveness of BT removal in BAC and 

recommendation to Reclamation on translocating HBC into BAC. The final report should be completed in 

eight weeks. 

 A Science Adviser Standing Panel. The standing panel will be comprised of five members who will be oncall for immediate review of products, i.e., Annual Reporting Meeting findings, annual work plans, 

Knowledge Assessment 3-year cycle and the Draft TWP. The standing panel cannot address matters on 

policy. The first IRP topic will be identified and presented to the AMWG in February. TWG will also review 

the topics at the January 2018 meeting and make a recommendation from the TWG to the AMWG and 

Reclamation. The proposed topic for the first IRP is: Effects of dam operations, including experiments and 

routine operations, and mitigation actions on upland sediment erosion and deposition, including cultural 

sites. 

o Mr. Davis suggested the IRP look at things which are time-critical, i.e., foodbase issues. 

o Ms. Fairley advised it would be good to review the questions that will guide the panel and make them more 

specific in hopes of getting more specific answers. 

Update on the GCMRC Water Quality Review (Attachment 4) ̶ Mr. Moran. The GCMRC Water-Quality 

Review will be held on October 24-26, 2017, in Page, Arizona. An agenda has been distributed. A field 

trip is planned for the second day to visit the Wahweap Station; another field trip is planned on 

Wednesday the 25th to visit the dam in the morning and to take a blue-boat tour from the dam to 

Horseshoe Bend and back in the afternoon. Thursday morning will be a summary of key questions to be 

addressed in the review and then a panel discussion in the afternoon. 
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Summary of the Programmatic Agreement Regarding GCD Operations and Non-Flow Actions 

Identified in the LTEMP EIS ROD ̶ Mr. Chada. The PA was executed on Sept. 6, 2017, and copies of 

the signed PA were sent to all the TWG members. The PA stipulates that an HPP be written and 

completed one year from execution of the PA. The HPP is essentially a roadmap to ensure that 

Reclamation meets its Section 106 compliance. The first HPP meeting was held via webinar and the 

parties to the PA parties discussed how to approach writing the HPP. It was agreed that the process 

would be accomplished through which will be done through biweekly meetings as well as a few in-person 

meetings. The in-person writing meetings are currently being set up. The intent is to have a draft HPP 

done in May 2017 with a review process shortly after that. 

Annual Reporting Meeting (ARM) Discussion – Mr. Shanahan. The following elements were provided 

to the scientists and others for preparing ARM presentations: 

1. Identify the conceptual understanding of key drivers that affect resources. 

2. Describe and assess how different management or experimental actions have affected the resource based on 

previous monitoring. 

3. Present status and trends of the resource. 

4. Other important findings. 

5. Recommendations for future research or monitoring activities. 

Mr. Shanahan asked for additional suggestions and the following were offered: 

1. Include presentations from other stakeholders and projects being done outside the GCDAMP on Canyon resources, 

i.e., BioWest /RBS, etc. 

2. Include recap on the foodbase activities. 

3. Include results from the monitoring program as it pertains to achieving LTEMP ROD goals. 

4. Identify the metrics and discuss how the gaps can be tracked. 

5. Report on what the effects of LTEMP to GCD operations have on power production. 

6. Establish a template of 2-3 key questions at the beginning of each presentation. 

7. Identify the funding sources. 

8. Prefer status of the resource rather than a project report. 

Mr. Shanahan asked if the members would prefer having all the resource topics addressed in oral form 

or have some in a poster format. Mr. VanderKooi said the poster session is an opportunity to get into 

more detail on a longer list of elements of projects. This affords his staff, other cooperators, and 

stakeholders and partners a chance to highlight their work at a level of detail that doesn’t come through 

oral presentations. 

Ms. Balsom - The reporting meeting presentations provide new information from the full range of work 

that’s being done in support of the GCDAMP. Sometimes there are real aha moments that come out of 

presentations versus less enlightenment from posters. 

Ms. Arviso-Ciocco - It’s important to have a variety of information, but she has sensed the same kind of 

questions coming up in terms of how things really contribute to different parts of the dynamics of the 

program. She finds it difficult to propose something when the agenda is already set. 

Mr. Shanahan said it’s easier to develop an agenda that meets everyone’s needs three months in 

advance than it is if the topics don’t come up until a week before. If there are items that haven’t been 

touched upon, please send those to Linda. 

Discussion of Emerging Issues and Request for Agenda Items for Next Meeting – Mr. Shanahan. 

At the suggestion of Larry Stevens, a recurring agenda item “Emerging issues” will be included on future 

TWG agendas. Mr Shanahan asked if there were other emerging issues and/or agenda items for the 

next meeting. 

 Ms. Grantz – Next agenda should include discussion of possible experiments to be contemplated in the upcoming 

year under LTEMP. 
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Final Minutes of October 12, 2017, Webinar/Conference Call Page 4

 Mr. VanderKooi - Following up on the earlier discussion on metrics, it might be a good topic to start thinking about 

those related to some of the resources where they don’t exist. 

Public Comment: None 

Adjourned: 4:38 p.m. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

 

 Linda Whetton 

 Upper Colorado Region 

 Bureau of Reclamation 

 
Glen Canyon Dam Technical  Work Group

Final Minutes of October 12, 2017, Webinar/Conference Call Page 5

Key to Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program Acronyms 

ADWR – Arizona Dept. of Water Resources 

AF – Acre Feet 

AZGFD – Arizona Game and Fish Department 

AIF – Agenda Information Form 

AMP – Adaptive Management Program 

AMWG – Adaptive Management Work Group 

AOP – Annual Operating Plan 

ARM – Annual Reporting Meeting 

ASMR – Age-Structure Mark Recapture 

BA – Biological Assessment 

BAHG – Budget Ad Hoc Group 

BCOM – Biological Conservation Measure 

BE – Biological Evaluation 

BHBF – Beach/Habitat-Building Flow 

BHMF – Beach/Habitat Maintenance Flow 

BIA – Bureau of Indian Affairs 

BO – Biological Opinion 

BOR – Bureau of Reclamation 

BWP – Budget and Work Plan 

BT – Brown Trout 

CAHG – Charter Ad Hoc Group 

CAP – Central Arizona Project 

CESU – Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit 

cfs – cubic feet per second 

CFMP – Comprehensive Fisheries Management Plan 

CMINS – Core Monitoring Information Needs 

CMP – Core Monitoring Plan 

CRBC – Colorado River Board of California 

CRAHG – Cultural Resources Ad Hoc Group 

CRCN – Colorado River Commission of Nevada 

CRE – Colorado River Ecosystem 

CREDA – Colorado River Energy Distributors Assn. 

CRSP – Colorado River Storage Project 

CWCB – Colorado Water Conservation Board 

DAHG – Desired Future Conditions Ad Hoc Group 

DASA – Data Acquisition, Storage, and Analysis 

DBMS – Data Base Management System 

DOE – Department of Energy 

DOI – Department of the Interior 

DOIFF – Department of the Interior Federal Family 

EA – Environmental Assessment 

EIS – Environmental Impact Statement 

ESA – Endangered Species Act 

FACA – Federal Advisory Committee Act 

FEIS – Final Environmental Impact Statement 

FRN – Federal Register Notice 

FWS – United States Fish & Wildlife Service 

FY – Fiscal Year (October 1 – September 30) 

GCD – Glen Canyon Dam 

GCES – Glen Canyon Environmental Studies 

GCT – Grand Canyon Trust 

GCMRC – Grand Canyon Monitoring & Research Center 

GCNP – Grand Canyon National Park 

GCNRA – Glen Canyon Nat’l Recreation Area 

GCPA – Grand Canyon Protection Act 

GLCA – Glen Canyon Nat’l Recreation Area 

GRCA – Grand Canyon National Park 

GCRG – Grand Canyon River Guides 

GCWC – Grand Canyon Wildlands Council 

GSF – Green Sunfish 

HBC – Humpback Chub (endangered native fish) 

HFE – High Flow Experiment 

HMF – Habitat Maintenance Flow 

HPP – Historic Preservation Plan 

IG – Interim Guidelines 

INs – Information Needs 

KA – Knowledge Assessment (workshop) 

LCR – Little Colorado River 

LCRMCP – Lower Colorado River Multi-Species 

Conservation Program 

LTEMP – Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan 

LTEP – Long Term Experimental Plan 

MAF – Million Acre Feet 

MA – Management Action 

MATA – Multi-Attribute Trade-Off Analysis 

MLFF – Modified Low Fluctuating Flow 

MO – Management Objective 

MRP – Monitoring and Research Plan 

NAU – Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ) 

NEPA – National Environmental Policy Act 

NHPA – National Historic Preservation Act 

NNFC – Non-native Fish Control 

NOI – Notice of Intent 

NPCA – National Parks Conservation Association 

NPS – National Park Service 

NRC – National Research Council 

O&M – Operations & Maintenance (Reclamation Funding) 

PA – Programmatic Agreement 

PBR – Paria to Badger Creek Reach 

PEP – Protocol Evaluation Panel 

POAHG – Public Outreach Ad Hoc Group 

Powerplant Capacity = 31,000 cfs 

R&D – Research and Development 

RBT – Rainbow Trout 

RFP – Request for Proposal 

RINs – Research Information Needs 

ROD Flows – Record of Decision Flows 

RPA – Reasonable and Prudent Alternative 

SA – Science Advisors 

SAEC – Science Advisors – Executive Coordinator 

Secretary – Secretary of the Interior 

SCORE – State of the Colorado River Ecosystem 

SHPO – State Historic Preservation Office 

SOW – Statement of Work 

SPG – Science Planning Group 

SSQs – Strategic Science Questions 

SWCA – Steven W. Carothers Associates 

TCD – Temperature Control Device 

TCP – Traditional Cultural Property 

TEK – Traditional Ecological Knowledge 

TES – Threatened and Endangered Species 

TMC – Taxa of Management Concern 

TMF – Trout Management Flows 

TWG – Technical Work Group 

UCRC – Upper Colorado River Commission 

UDWR – Utah Division of Water Resources 

USBR – United States Bureau of Reclamation 

USFWS – United States Fish & Wildlife Service 

USGS – United States Geological Survey 

WAPA – Western Area Power Administration 

WY – Water Year