Community Highlights

Improving fish passage is key to supporting certain migratory fish populations and minimizing the environmental impacts of hydropower facilities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) worked with Duke Energy to implement new fish passage technologies at hydropower facilities in North Carolina, during the relicensing process for the Yadkin-PeeDee Hydroelectric Project. 

The new fish passage options were tailored to support American eel, American shad, and blueback herring—species that have experienced population declines in part due to habitat loss. A custom, stainless-steel eelway was added at Blewett Falls Dam, along with an “attraction flow”—a stream of water containing the scent of eels in the eelway—to draw eels towards the entrance of the passage. To support other fish species, inflatable gates were installed across the dam to better control water spill during fish migratory season and a new notch was cut in the dam to support downstream fish passage. In total, these new fish passage technologies have restored access to over one thousand miles of additional habitat in the watershed for eel, shad, and herring. 

Learn more from NOAA.

Long-lived hydropower infrastructure must be kept well-maintained and periodically modernized to ensure functionality and safety—particularly in the face of altered rainfall patterns and flood risk due to climate change. To inform emergency and safety planning in the state of California, a consortium of researchers funded by the Yuba Water Agency, California Department of Water Resources, and the National Science Foundation developed ARkStorm 2.0, which simulates possible 1000-year extreme storm and flood scenarios. Based on historic megastorm events in California, ARkStorm 2.0 also incorporates the effects of climate change and advanced climate and hydrological science to improve simulations of these possible weather events. The information in ARkStorm 2.0 about extreme storm and flood scenarios can help inform dam safety investments and emergency planning, to prepare for extreme weather events that can lead to spillway damage, downstream erosion, and even dam failure. 

Learn more about ARkStorm 2.0.

River infrastructure, such as locks and dams, alters water flow patterns in ways that can affect river species and habitats. The Sustainable Rivers Program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and The Nature Conservancy to find sustainable ways to manage river infrastructure and water flows that maximize benefits to both people and nature. Specifically, the program helps determine environmental flow requirements for rivers—the water flow on either side of a dam necessary to support river species and habitats—and operating plans for infrastructure that use these flows. The program takes a collaborative approach that combines science and stakeholder engagement to review new environmental flow patterns and modernize river infrastructure. Since 2002, the Sustainable Rivers Program has grown to include 44 rivers and 90 associated reservoirs and dams. 

Learn more about the Sustainable Rivers Program from The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

Hydropower Flows Here is a multi-year hydropower educational campaign managed by the Bonneville Power Administration in collaboration with public power utilities across the Northwest. The effort has created hundreds of fact-based, educational resources for the public about the benefits of hydropower, including videos, infographics, and activity sheets. There are also free curricula designed for K-12 classrooms that take a closer look at the science and engineering behind hydropower – like how to build a motor or turbine.  

Visit Hydropower Flows Here to learn more and access their free educational content.

Full-scale testing of new hydropower technologies is key to future hydropower innovations, according to research by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In a report entitled “Needs and Opportunities for Testing of Hydropower Technology Innovations,” the research team highlights the need for hydropower testing facilities that allow full-scale, high hydraulic capacity testing. Such facilities would enable demonstrations of new technologies under realistic operating conditions, lowering the risk for industry adoption. The researchers also identified important characteristics for these testing facilities and some promising pathways to establish such a testing network. 

More information available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.