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Dave
Wegner, Science Director
The Citizens Environmental Assessment (CEA) continues to
move forward this summer focusing primarily on gathering of the technical
information. The CEA has been outlined to follow the format of a traditional
Environmental Assessment as defined by the Council on Environmental Quality.
Our focus initially is to gather the environmental, social and economic
information necessary to delineate the baseline conditions. We are
accomplishing this through a combination of in-house expertise, contracted
and intern studies.
Contracted Studies
The contracted studies are funded through individual grants
and donations that have been raised through Glen Canyon Institute. The
contracted studies include:
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Groundwater and evaporation
study of reservoir Powell. Dr. Tom Myers through Public Resource
Associates is completing this study. A draft report has been completed
and has undergone the first level of technical review. -
Study Results
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Regional economics study of Page,
AZ and the area around the reservoir. SWCA, Inc. of Flagstaff, AZ has
produced a draft report on the baseline economics, which is currently
undergoing technical review. Dr. Lil Jonas is the principal investigator
for this study.
Study Results
These technical studies have been contracted out because of
their importance to the overall CEA and the need to conduct in-depth
analysis of data capable of rigorous outside peer review.
Intern and In-House Studies
Last summer we had the benefit of four interns who are
working on specific research and interpretation of data pertinent to the
baseline water quality, health, and biological and alternative energy
sources on the Colorado Plateau.
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Biological Resources. Ross
Mullenhauer from Cornell University spent the summer at the EMI offices
in Durango, CO identifying and cataloging the existing biological
species of the Colorado Plateau, including the Colorado River delta, and
Glen Canyon region. This includes all of the currently threatened and
endangered species. A group of 10 indicator species has been selected
for in-depth natural history analysis as related to impacts from water
development.
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Salinity Issues. Anders
Beck from Colorado College has spent the summer at the EMI office in
Durango, CO researching and studying the effect of the reservoirs on the
salinity levels in the Colorado River basin. His report has pulled
together a large amount of data from around the basin regarding the
effects of current water management.
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Environmental Geology. Tom
Dansie, a student at Brigham Young University, has been studying the
water quality and geological effects of the uranium mine tailings that
have been covered by waters of the reservoir. Tom has been working with
EMI to develop the technical report.
Overview of results.
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Energy Facts. Alternatives and
Costs. Anders Beck has been researching alternative energy sources that
would be practical in the Colorado River basin. This list of other
sources of energy include wind power, solar power, and co-generation. A
summary fact sheet has been prepared and used in several public
presentations.
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Medical impacts from ground water
contamination. Greg Lundeen, a 4th year medical student from the
University of Utah, has been exploring the potential correlation's of
public health as related to possible contamination of the ground water
in the San Juan County area of Utah.
Public Involvement
This summer we have focused on presenting technical
information on the CEA to a wider audience of engineers, planners,
developers and power users. Presentations on the CEA have been made to:
Our presentations are being made to delineate the Glen
Canyon Institute perspective and the gain feedback on other issues that we
will need to address in the CEA.
Where to From Here?
We continue to implement additional contracted and in-house
studies relevant to the CEA as funds and personnel become available. We have
become masters at stretching our resources in innovative and cooperative
methods. Next up is the development of a Non-Use Contingent Valuation
nationwide study on the public perception for restoring Glen Canyon.
Concurrently we will begin developing the alternative scenarios for
evaluation through the CEA. As these documents are developing we can
initiate the public scoping process of the CEA.
We have elected to not go out to the public until we can
commit the resources to follow-through on the entire process. This requires
having financial and personal support for holding public meetings,
organizing events and completing the document preparation. We are getting
close and will accomplish it! Stay tuned.
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