A Checklist of River Function Indicators for hydropower ecological assessment
| Autor: | Corey Vezina, Shannon Ames, Dana M. Infante, Will Graf, Brennan T. Smith, Adam M. Witt, Anna West, Mary Beth Day, Esther S. Parish, Ryan A. McManamay, Dana N. McCoskey, Tim Welch, Christopher R. DeRolph, Kelsey Rugani, Brenda M. Pracheil, Shelaine L. Curd |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
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 |
| Zdroj: | Science of The Total Environment. 687:1245-1260 |
| ISSN: | 0048-9697 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.049 |
| Popis: | 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. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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