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Since 1989, the Natural Heritage Institute has served as counsel to conservation groups and state and local agencies in the relicensing of non-federal hydropower projects throughout the U.S. Our general objective is that the new licenses will protect and restore fisheries, water quality, recreation and other beneficial uses of the affected rivers in a manner consistent with effective power generation.
Hydropower is an important energy source. In California, it is 20% of the total energy supply, particularly critical during peak demand in summer and fall months. Hydropower uses a renewable fuel – water – and does not contribute to global warming. However, it harms environmental quality in other ways. Dams block or impair the passage of anadromous and riverine fish, often cutting them off from crucial spawning grounds. Flow regulation – the pattern of storing and releasing flow when suitable for power generation – has caused significant losses in riverine biodiversity.
Strategies. Each hydropower project is built and operated under a federal license that lasts thirty to fifty years. Each decade, several hundred licenses expire throughout the nation. Relicensing is a new decision of how the project operations may be altered to rebalance the environmental and power benefits for the next generation.
We seek to:
- Convene, structure, and complete negotiations between a willing licensee and stakeholders. A settlement proposes license conditions for regulatory approval and also establishes enforceable contractual commitments, effectively resolving all disputes related to the project.
- Participate in evidentiary trials and advance legal positions about the proper balance between power generation and other beneficial uses. We appear before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) which issues the licenses, and before the other federal and state agencies which condition the licenses. We prosecute appeals if necessary.
- Restore the sustainability of the aquatic ecosystem in a manner that also preserves the power generation value of the project
Results. We measure our hydropower practice by actual restoration of aquatic ecosystems. Since 1989, relicensing settlements we reached have helped restore flows, biodiversity, and recreation in more than 2,000 river miles throughout the U.S. These settlements also require more than $2 billion in improvements of project facilities such as fish ladders, boating and hiking facilities, and parks.
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