Program to Establish and Enforce Performance Standards for Hydropower Dams to Restore Aquatic Diversity

About this grant

Hydropower dams provide many benefits, such as electrical power and flood control, but they also impact freshwater biodiversity by changing river flows and restricting fish passage. The Natural Heritage Institute, one of the nation’s leading experts on the licensing of hydropower facilities, provides strategic advice, scientific expertise, and other technical help to national- and state-level organizations active in such proceedings. Prior support has allowed the institute to provide free or low-cost assistance to organizations involved in relicensing processes in the Great Lakes and Southeast, and renewal support will help the institute continue to play this important technical assistance role.