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A Checklist of River Function Indicators for hydropower ecological assessment
- Source :
- Science of The Total Environment. 687:1245-1260
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Hydropower generation has advantages for societies that seek low-carbon, renewable energy alternatives, but sustainable hydropower production will require an explicit consideration of potential tradeoffs between socioeconomic and environmental priorities. These tradeoffs are often explored during a formal environmental impact assessment process that can be complex and controversial. The steps taken to address stakeholder concerns through impact hypotheses and field studies are not always transparent. We have created a Checklist of River Function Indicators to facilitate stakeholder discussions during hydropower licensing and to support more transparent, holistic, and scientifically informed hydropower environmental analyses. Based on a database of environmental metrics collected from hydropower project studies documented by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the International Hydropower Association, the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, and peer-reviewed scientific literature, our proposed Checklist of River Function Indicators contains 51 indicators in six categories. We have tested the usefulness of the Indicators by applying them to seven hydropower projects documented by FERC. Among the case study projects, 44 of the 51 Indicators were assessed according to the FERC documentation. Even though each hydropower project presents unique natural resource issues and stakeholder priorities, the proposed Indicators can provide a transparent starting point for stakeholder discussions about which ecological impacts should be considered in hydropower planning and relicensing assessments.
- Subjects :
- Environmental Engineering
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
business.industry
Stakeholder
Ecological assessment
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
Pollution
Natural resource
Checklist
Ecological indicator
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental impact assessment
Business
Energy source
Waste Management and Disposal
Environmental planning
Hydropower
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00489697
- Volume :
- 687
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Science of The Total Environment
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7dfa8c63429e49830bdb98e290d64d49