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A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) DATA BASE FOR 
LONG-TERM MONITORING OF PORTIONS OF THE GRAND CANYON 
David Wegner 
Michael Pucherelli 
Patrick Wright 
Sherry Jacobs 
Aleta Powers 
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 
Glen Canyon Environmental Studies Office 
P.O. Box 25007, DFC Code D-3744 
Flagstaff, 80225, Arizona, USA 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 5 
ABSTRACT 
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, USA, is a unique environmental resource visited by millions 
of people each year. Glen Canyon Dam, originally constructed for hydropower generation, flood control, 
and irrigation purposes, is located immediately upstream of Grand Canyon National Park. Its operations 
control the timing and volume of water flowing through Grand Canyon which impacts cultural, natural, 
recreation and economic resources downstream. In order to better manage the operation of Glen Canyon 
Dam to enhance and protect these downstream resource values an innovative and integrated long-term 
monitoring and data management systems is being designed. A multi-year and phased program for the 
development of a long-term monitoring plan is being carried out by an inter-agency group of resource 
management agencies and Indian tribes. The United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is 
providing the technical lead in the development and integration of a GIS. Over forty existing 
environmental and cultural studies and over 100 historic studies will be ultimately linked into a 
geographically based data management system. Reclamation, through the Glen Canyon Environmental 
Studies, is utilizing aerial photography, field based monitoring studies, satellite imagery, field 
photogrammetry, remote cameras and global positioning systems to develop and integrate the technical 
information. À scientific information management system is being concurrently developed to handle the 
numerical information and is being linked to the GIS. From the work of Reclamation, a region-wide 
approach to ecosystem management combined with water and hydroelectric resources of the Colorado 
River basin will be possible. The subject paper will discuss the development of large-scale base maps, the 
GIS and the ancillary dated that has been integrated for monitoring resources in the Grand Canyon. 
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