The Federal Power Act requires hydropower project owners to obtain a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That act authorizes NOAA Fisheries Service to recommend hydropower license conditions to protect, mitigate damages to, and enhance anadromous fish, including related habitat. The Federal Power Act also provides authority for the fisheries service to issue mandatory fishway prescriptions.

NOAA Fisheries Service is participating in FERC re-licensing actions involving 57 major private and municipal dams that will affect salmon and their habitats during the next 30-50 years. The majority of dams lack adequate fish passage facilities, while other projects perform poorly. Many of the dams significantly decrease the level of streamflow and destroy important fish habitat. This causes serious harm to salmon and has a long-term effect on the larger landscape.

Hydroelectric dams frequently provide the largest single effect to Endangered Species Act-listed fish within a specific river basin. However, about 60 percent of the region’s electricity comes from hydropower, and other economic benefits also accrue from the projects. With so much at stake on both sides of the scale, the re-licensing process is lengthy, complicated and contentious.

The Northwest Region’s approach to hydro re-licensing is one of problem-solving to address impacts, while allowing projects to proceed. The Regional Office and Northwest Fisheries Science Center rely heavily on their biologists and bio-engineering staff to develop adult and juvenile fish passage solutions. NOAA Fisheries’ fish-passage biologists and engineers are generally considered top experts in this field. They instruct fish passage design courses for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and are highly sought out by developers and utilities within the region and throughout the world.