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- Asset Management
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- Hydraulic Optimization
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- Marine Energy
SNL Support for Kearns and West FOA 1837
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
The few wave and tidal (i.e., MHK) projects that have been licensed and permitted in the United States have been challenged by a lack of a clear understanding of potential environmental effects and mutual understanding of the regulatory pathway. Due to the low number of installed and operating projects, regulators across federal, state, and local jurisdictions in many regions are relatively unfamiliar with MHK technologies, their potential environmental effects and available strategies for mitigation and monitoring. Additionally, the developers themselves, who are typically responsible for framing the project for regulators, often lack the information and tools for establishing a productive dialog with regulators. This project compiles existing environmental information from wide ranging data sources which are currently difficult to find across several sources. Further, by engaging with experts, both nationally and internationally, across academic, government, non-profit and industry sectors the information is brought into a suite of tools, i.e., the Toolkit. The Toolkit will be accessible via the project’s web Portal where environmental information relevant to a potential project site and topics of interest can be readily accessed in support of the most expeditious permitting process, especially to address regulatory needs.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Regulatory Process
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
- Conventional Hydro
Streamflow Assessment Toolkit for Changing Conditions
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0433
The overarching objective of the project is to develop numeric analysis tools, customized to the hydropower industry, to answer a variety of specific questions based on streamflow time series.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Climate Change
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2021
- Conventional Hydro
Subseasonal Heatwave Prediction
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ken Nowak
The question we propose to explore here is to what extent snowpack melt is a gradual process due to seasonal warming and to what extent it comes in spurts driven by springtime and early summer heat waves. Are there predictable pre-conditions that favor smooth versus episodic snowmelt? These questions have bearing on water resources and their management in that gradual snowpack melt is amenable to efficient capture and storage in engineered reservoirs, while strong episodic melting can be more challenging to manage and store and can lead to flooding.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Marine Energy
Technical Assessment for Co-locating Offshore Aquaculture with Wave Energy Resources: Framework and Use Cases Development
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Lysel Garavelli
- Mikaela Freeman
This project consisted of two main research activities: a preliminary assessment of energy use in existing offshore aquaculture operations, and a spatial analysis to identify regions where environmental and socio-economic factors may support the powering of offshore aquaculture using marine renewable energy (MRE), specifically wave energy.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
complete
Completion Date
2021
- Marine Energy
Technical Feasibility and Environmental Effects of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Andrea Copping
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Testing Plan for Environmentally Acceptable Hydro Plant Oils
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- 03/103
The objective of this document was to produce a set of standardized tests (i.e., a test plan) for CEATI members to use for the evaluation of potential candidates to replace incumbent oils with environmentally acceptable (EA) oils suitable for use in various applications within power plants.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2020
- Conventional Hydro
The potential for restoring thermal refuges in rivers for cold-water salmonids
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Caroline Ubing
Human impacts to rivers have resulted in increased water temperatures that threaten cold water aquatic species such as salmonids. Higher summer water temperatures and lower winter water temperatures in rivers can lower fish viability by reducing fecundity, increasing morbidity and mortality, and reducing food sources. This can result in localized species extirpation and overall reduction in habitat basin-wide. For cold-water aquatic species recovery programs to meet their long-term goals, they must consider mitigating the impacts of warming waters with "thermal restoration" and creation of thermal refuges.Thermal refuge refers to areas within a stream corridor that buffer, lag, and cool/warm stream temperatures at biologically relevant scales and times . Thermal refuge can be expressed as biologically-available areas within a stream where cooler water temperatures exist at base flow conditions during summer and warmer water temperatures during winter. Thermal refuge restoration refers to physical and biological stream habitat restoration practices that result in creating or enhancing thermal refuges. This may be accomplished by creating and enhancing connectivity between surface and groundwater systems in the hyporheic zone (the interface between surface and groundwater along a river bed and floodplain). Re-vegetating the riparian zone to promote shading can also promote thermal restoration. This study will focus on the former mechanism as it relates to thermal refuges for salmonids including: Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
- Conventional Hydro
Threat Assessment and Evaluation of Burrowing Crayfish in Reclamation Canals
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Aaron Murphy
Although crayfish are an important component of many freshwater ecosystems and a significant food source for other animals, dense populations can become a nuisance. In addition, some species have been displaced far outside their native range and established sustaining invasive populations. In either scenario, excessive crayfish burrowing can pose a threat to earthen embankment integrity.Personnel in the PN Region have observed excessive crayfish populations associated with canal seepage, embankment damage, and increased risks for failure. This project will assess conditions that may have caused crayfish to become problematic, investigate crayfish burrowing impacts, potential risks across Reclamation facilities, and explore monitoring and mitigation methods. The outcome of this project will be a document assessing conditions associated with excessive crayfish burrowing, as well as potential risks throughout Reclamation facilities. Control methods will also be discussed and recommendations/best practices created.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
TIP 276: Enhanced Monitoring and Investigation of the Spread and Potential Impact of Aquatic Invasive Mussels in the Columbia River Basin, with Special Reference to Mitigation and Placement of Boat Cleaning Stations
Lead Companies
Washington State University Vancouver, USGS Columbia River Research Lab
Lead Researcher (s)
- Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, BPA
- Stephen Bollens, WSU Vancouver
This project provides BPA with tested products and tools to help delay the arrival and spread of zebra and quagga mussels to the Columbia River Basin (CRB) so that impacts to the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) are minimized; and to improve the efficacy of boat cleaning stations once they are developed by providing a basis for prioritizing their placement. For BPA Power Services, knowing which BPA facilities are most at risk allows for better planning of maintenance, repair and replacement schedules.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2015
- Conventional Hydro
TIP 304: Predicting the Hydrologic Response of the Columbia River System to Climate Change
Lead Companies
BPA/Univ. of Washington (UW) Oregon State University (OSU)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Erik Pytlak, BPA
This project updates and enhances the existing climate change streamflow hydrologic dataset that was developed for use by the Columbia River Basin Management Joint Operating Committee (RMJOC) in 2009-2011 to incorporate recent global and regional model output. These data sets have been delivered in a format that can be used by BPA and its partners as input to their hydroregulation models.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Climate Change
Status
complete
Completion Date
2016
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Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org