The act of controlled flooding entails a regulated release of dam water through designated openings within the dam wall. Planned flooding recreates sediment transport and management, that would have naturally occurred had the dam not been built (Stevens, Ayers, Bennett, Christensen, Kearsley, Meretsky, Phillips III, Parnell, Spence, Sogge, Springer, and Wegner 701). These planned floodings are instrumental in minimizing the effects the dam would have on sediment transport otherwise.
Possible future solutions to mitigate the negative effects of the Glen Canyon Dam are continued planned flooding or in a more extreme move the removal of the dam. Removal of the Glen Canyon Dam was once unthinkable however, due to the discovered environmental effects and recently the unrelenting drought there is more support for the dam's removal.…