Hydropower by Design: Balancing Hydropower Generation with Aquatic Connectivity

In today’s economy, productivity depends on connectivity as people collaborate, communicate and share information seamlessly across networks. Similarly, in aquatic ecosystems, connectivity drives productivity as organisms, energy, sediment and nutrients move through networks of stream channels. Hydropower also relies on a form of connectivity to drive productivity. Water is the “fuel” for hydropower and power plants depend on a connected network of upstream channels to collect, concentrate and deliver fuel to spin their turbines. But hydropower’s productivity generally comes at a cost to ecologicalconnectivity and productivity. Dams and reservoirs trap sediment and nutrients, alter flow patterns, affect groundwater levels, and act as barriers to the movement of fish and other aquatic organisms. Finding balance between hydropower and aquatic connectivity can be challenging at the scale of a single dam. Solutions are more likely to emerge at the system scale, such as that of a river basin or region.