Understanding Dam Effects on Downstream Archaeological Resources: Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Research Downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The destructive effects of large dams on upstream archaeological sites has been recognized for many decades, resulting in passage of federal legislation and numerous large-scale archaeological salvage projects in the 1940s through 1970s. Considerably less attention has been paid to the effects of large dams on downstream archaeological resources. For the past three decades, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have studied effects of Glen Canyon Dam on the downstream Colorado River corridor in lower Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon, including effects to archaeological site condition. Lessons learned from this research may be applicable to other regulated rivers where the emplacement of large dams results in an unnatural sediment deficit downstream; however, caution must be exercised when attempting to extrapolate findings from the Glen Canyon Dam research program to other river systems because downstream dam effects can vary widely, depending on numerous local environmental factors including topography, pre- and post-dam hydrology, sediment supply, seasonal flow patterns, and a host of other variables. This presentation provides an overview of learning from the Glen Canyon Dam research program, plus examples from several other regulated rivers in the American West, to illustrate the various ways in which dams can and do affect downstream archaeological sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26024