Examples
One effort currently underway to restore environmental flows is the Sustainable Rivers Project, a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which is the largest water manager in the United States. Since 2002, TNC and the USACE have been working to define and implement environmental flows by altering the operations of USACE dams in 8 rivers across 12 states. Dam reoperation to release environmental flows, in combination with floodplain restoration, has in some instances increased the water available for hydropower production while reducing flood risk.
Arizona's Bill Williams River, flowing downstream of Alamo Dam, is one of the rivers featured in the Sustainable Rivers Project. Having discussed modifying dam operations since the early 1990s, local stakeholders began to work with TNC and USACE in 2005 to identify specific strategies for improving the ecological health and biodiversity of the river basin downstream from the dam. Scientists compiled the best available information and worked together to define environmental flows for the Bill Williams River. While not all of the recommended environmental flow components could be implemented immediately, the USACE has changed its operations of Alamo Dam to incorporate more natural low flows and controlled floods. Ongoing monitoring is capturing resulting ecological responses such as rejuvenation of native willow-cottonwood forest, suppression of invasive and non-native tamarisk, restoration of more natural densities of beaver dams and associated lotic-lentic habitat, changes in aquatic insect populations, and enhanced groundwater recharge. USACE engineers continue to consult with scientists on a regular basis and use the monitoring results to further refine operations of the dam.
Another case in which stakeholders developed environmental flow recommendations is Honduras' Patuca III Hydropower Project. The Patuca River, the second longest river in Central America, has supported fish populations, nourished crops, and enabled navigation for many indigenous communities, including the Tawahka, Pech, and Miskito Indians, for hundreds of years. To protect the ecological health of the largest undisturbed rainforest north of the Amazon and its inhabitants, TNC and Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE, the agency responsible for the project) agreed to study and determine flows necessary to sustain the health of human and natural communities along the river. Due to very limited available data, innovative approaches were developed for estimating flow needs based on experiences and observations of the local people who depend on this nearly pristine river reach.
Read more about this topic: Environmental Flow
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