Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 3014280

National Hydropower Fish Passage Database User's Guide and Methodology

Matson, Paul G. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000321057308)·Bozeman, Bryan B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000329204667)·DeRolph, Christopher R. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283219539)·Oladosu, Gbadebo A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000349901996)·Singh, Debjani [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000277838608)·Lake, Bjorn [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States). National Marine Fisheries Service]·Anderson, Nick [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States). National Marine Fisheries Service]·Pica, Jessica [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)]·Morales, Jesus [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)]·Sojkowski, Bryan [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)]·Fischer, Maryalice [Low Impact Hydropower Inst., Boston, MA (United States)]·Ames, Shannon [Low Impact Hydropower Inst., Boston, MA (United States)]
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Fish passage facilities are used to mitigate the impacts of hydropower dams on migratory fish in rivers, but information on the location, types, and characteristics of this infrastructure is incomplete at a national scale. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnered with federal agency and industry stakeholders to create the first national-scale database of fish passage infrastructure at U.S. hydropower developments. This database contains information of great value to a broad range of stakeholders; it includes fish passage facility engineering characteristics, targeted fish species, operational schedules, and costs. This data resource addresses a large gap in knowledge of the deployment of fish passage technology and is freely available to members of the hydropower community, including federal and state regulators and resource agencies, non-governmental organizations, industry, and other user groups to support project planning and regulatory (re)licensing activities. This database supports the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office objective to develop decision support tools and data resources that improve environmental performance and ensure hydropower’s long-term value to the American public.

Explore related subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY42 ENGINEERING54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Matson, Paul G. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000321057308), Bozeman, Bryan B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000329204667), DeRolph, Christopher R. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283219539), Oladosu, Gbadebo A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000349901996), Singh, Debjani [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000277838608), Lake, Bjorn [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States). National Marine Fisheries Service], Anderson, Nick [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD (United States). National Marine Fisheries Service], Pica, Jessica [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)], Morales, Jesus [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)], Sojkowski, Bryan [US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Falls Church, VA (United States)], Fischer, Maryalice [Low Impact Hydropower Inst., Boston, MA (United States)], Ames, Shannon [Low Impact Hydropower Inst., Boston, MA (United States)]. 2026-01-01. National Hydropower Fish Passage Database User's Guide and Methodology. https://doi.org/10.2172/3014280

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

DOE OSTI2026

Validation of the NLR Pumped Storage Hydropower Cost Model

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) first released its pumped storage hydropower (PSH) cost model in 2023 as the most detailed bottom-up PSH cost model available to the public. It is available both as a spreadsheet and an interactive web tool, enabling users with a variety of PSH interests to transparently characterize costs of alternative PSH sites and designs. The PSH cost model cannot replace detailed site-level studies and design, but it is important to validate it against other industry PSH cost estimates. The initial model methodology report validated the cost model for a single proposed site, the Eagle Mountain Project in California. This slide deck documents an expanded validation exercise using cost data from six other sites: Goldendale (Washington), Seminoe (Wyoming), Gordon Butte (Montana), Swan Lake (Oregon), White Pine (Oregon), and Lewis Ridge (Kentucky). It compares itemized costs from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) applications and other reported costs with NLR PSH cost model outputs after customizing inputs for each site. The validation exercise finds that the NLR model's conservative indirect cost assumptions often drive overall cost overestimation, with direct cost comparisons typically agreeing more closely. All cost model estimates are well within an Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) Class 5 estimation range (-50% to +100%), with five within the AACE Class 4 range (-30% to +50%) and four being within 15%. This result is considered reasonable performance for a parametric model applied at a preliminary design stage.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Pumped Storage Hydropower Operation & Maintenance Cost Estimation

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) develops and hosts a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) cost model that is the most detailed bottom-up PSH cost model available to the public. It is available both as a spreadsheet and an interactive web tool, enabling users with a variety of PSH interests to transparently characterize costs of alternative PSH sites and designs. The NLR PSH cost model was designed originally to consider only upfront capital costs only. This slide deck describes methodology to expand the cost model to include operations and maintenance (OM) costs. OM costs are characterized as five distinct components with unique sources and methods for cost estimation. By combining methods for each of these components into a cumulative OM cost estimate, these methods allow a more complete estimation of total OM costs that agrees with existing literature values. The methods are scalable and transparent, allowing them to be readily to applied to any prospective PSH facility for a representative preliminary OM cost estimate in advance of detailed site-specific engineering and other studies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Staying Current: A Community Readiness Framework for Marine Energy Applied to River Current Energy in Alaska

Marine energy-including wave, tidal, and river current energy-can provide a local energy source for rural and remote communities. Marine energy has the potential to bolster self-sufficiency and create economic opportunities while preserving ecological integrity. Communities may be interested in deploying, testing, and advancing these early-stage technologies to meet their needs. However, limited capacity, workforce constraints, and other barriers can challenge development. To better understand a community's interest in and preparedness for marine energy, we developed a suite of 150 'metrics of readiness.' Organized across seven categories-technical, social, environmental, strategic, governance, economic, financial-and 29 subcategories, the metrics provide a holistic perspective beyond the technical aspects of an energy device. We conducted a desktop application of the metrics of readiness for Igiugig, Alaska. The metrics were applied retrospectively for two points in time: before (2009) and after (2018) in-stream testing of a river current energy device. By documenting changes among categories and subcategories of the metrics, our results show the evolving nature of community readiness for river current energy. They also illustrate how our interdisciplinary framework captures the investment in environmental effects research and commitment to strategic planning that occurred in Igiugig. In future applications, we envision the framework could be used to foster public engagement in marine energy, collaborate with communities in project development, shape capacity building activities, prioritize investments, and inform research needs. While our study focuses on enabling river current energy in Alaska, the metrics of readiness have the potential to inform implementation of other renewable technologies with communities in new geographies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗