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A Checklist of River Function Indicators for hydropower ecological assessment
Brenda May Pracheil1, Ryan A McManamay1, Esther S Parish1
1Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, United States of America.
The Science of the Total Environment
|August 16, 2019
Summary
A new Checklist of River Function Indicators aids transparent stakeholder discussions for sustainable hydropower development. This tool supports scientifically informed environmental analyses in hydropower planning and relicensing.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Renewable Energy Studies
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Hydropower offers low-carbon energy but faces challenges balancing socioeconomic and environmental needs.
- Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for hydropower can be complex, controversial, and lack transparency in addressing stakeholder concerns.
- Existing processes may not fully integrate scientific data or stakeholder input for holistic hydropower sustainability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a transparent and scientifically informed tool for hydropower environmental analyses.
- To facilitate stakeholder discussions during hydropower licensing and relicensing processes.
- To support a more holistic consideration of tradeoffs between socioeconomic and environmental priorities in hydropower development.
Main Methods:
- Compiled a database of environmental metrics from hydropower project studies (FERC, IHA, LIHI, peer-reviewed literature).
- Developed a Checklist of River Function Indicators comprising 51 indicators across six categories.
- Tested the checklist's utility by applying it to seven hydropower projects documented by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Main Results:
- The developed Checklist of River Function Indicators includes 51 indicators across six categories.
- During testing, 44 out of 51 indicators were assessed using existing FERC documentation for seven case study projects.
- The indicators proved useful in initiating discussions on ecological impacts for hydropower planning and relicensing.
Conclusions:
- The Checklist of River Function Indicators provides a transparent framework for stakeholder engagement in hydropower assessments.
- This tool supports more scientifically informed and holistic environmental analyses for sustainable hydropower.
- It offers a standardized starting point for discussing ecological impacts, regardless of project-specific issues or stakeholder priorities.
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