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Abstract
The construction of Hoover Dam in 1933 and Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 has been detrimental to the native fishes of Grand Canyon National Park. Currently, five of the eight native fish species are either extirpated or listed as federally endangered. This paper will provide an overview of the status of Grand Canyon fishes and look at how we can assess changes to dam operations through the use of hydraulic modeling of habitat variables. Ecohydraulic models clearly show the negative impacts from hydropower peaking on the persistence of physical habitat conditions (water depths and velocities). Fixing this alone, however, will not correct the altered temperature regime and sediment loads that native fishes evolved with in the Grand Canyon.
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