Environmental impact of hydropower

In this project, environmental economists with many years' experiences of economic analysis of environmental issues linked to hydropower and water management will work on developing a general framework that can be used for cost-benefit analysis when Swedish hydropower is renegotiated. This will entail developing valuation meta-models applicable to a range of typical valuation situations, and carrying out studies that can fill the key knowledge gaps that currently prevent the development of such models. The work will entail:

• Valuation studies of how recreational anglers value changes in angling linked to changes in the water environment.
• Valuation studies tailored to ongoing renegotiations, e.g., studying how people in the vicinity of a hydropower plant would value changes in the water flow and in the water ecology.
• Replicating older valuation studies in order to assess their relevance for current Swedish hydropower management, and meta-analyses of existing studies in order to generate general meta-models that new studies can fit into in future.
• New studies of non-use values from an improved water environment, e.g., existence values linked to strengthened populations of endangered species living in or near water systems affected by hydropower.
• Studies of conceptual issues linked to the valuation of the environmental effects of hydropower.
• Estimates of costs linked to environmental improvement measures.

A key strength of the project team is that the team members have been involved in numerous studies in the past on behalf of e.g., government agencies and industry groups, and can draw on experience from these studies to identify important knowledge gaps. The main target audience for the project is government agencies, companies and other stakeholders involved in hydropower renegotiations. However, the meta-models will also be useful for other parties.

Jesper Stage, Luleå University of Technology

4 893 039 SEK

The National Plan for Modern Environmental Provisions for Hydropower (NAP) aims to ensure that hydropower projects are provided with modern environmental provisions in a way that maximizes benefit to the aquatic environment and an efficient supply of hydropower electricity. Achieving these objectives is challenging since the stakeholders involved need to compile evidence of the current situation, identify problems, and required remedial actions that depend upon, and influence, a range of complex systems at different scales. Moreover, trade-offs are meant to occur through the stakeholder collaborative processes and court proceedings with stakeholders who often have strong conflicts of interest, which influences the ability to achieve constructive cooperation and consensus. Given these challenges, we explore how to effectively manage complexity despite conflicts of interest in the environmental review processes. We do this through an interdisciplinary collaboration combining procedural and environmental law analysis with environmental governance and sociology research. Jointly, we analyze the legal framework, the collaborative processes and court proceedings carried out as part of the environmental permitting process. Focus is on how the legal framework conditions the collaboration and identifying obstacles and success factors for an effective permit review process. Leading the collaboration process, as well as participating in the court proceedings, the Swedish C ounty Administrative Boards (C AB) are key actors who can contribute both valuable information to our research, as well as benefit from it. We have therefore created a reference group with confirmed participation of NAP coordinators from 15 C AB. With our research focus, interdisciplinary approach and collaboration, we ensure the relevance of the research for the responsible authorities while contributing to advancing the state-of-the-art research in sustainable natural resource management.

Annika Nilsson, Uppsala University

4 986 000 SEK

Read more:

ACDC hydro – Addressing Complexity Despite Conflicting interests in HYDROpower

This research project develops a model that provides support for the design and execution of the regional cooperation processes that must precede re-examination of the environmental conditions for Swedish hydropower plants. The project positions itself in a research debate on collaborative processes and collaborative governance, and mainly uses Emerson & Nabatchi's analytical framework to structure and understand central areas of inquiry. Through interviews, site visits, participant observations, and surveys, the project provides unique knowledge about success factors in the collaboration processes around hydropower that have already begun. Together with the previous literature and knowledge from other areas of public administration, empirical evidence is analyzed based on the project's theoretical position. The project's results are communicated through research articles, blog posts, updates on the project's website, and a final report where the focus is on concrete guidance for what can promote regional cooperation in the specific issue of environmental testing for hydropower. The project group brings competencies from different subject disciplines within social sciences such as social anthropology, human ecology, political science, and public administration.

Annelie Sjölander-Lindqvist, Gothenburg University

4 916 000 SEK

The EU Water Framework Directive, incorporated into Swedish law (Miljöbalken 1998:808), states that hydroelectric power plants require legislative changes to meet modern environmental conditions. A number of revisions to the Environmental C ode recently entered into force. Restoration of water connectivity is key for enabling fish migration, recolonization and genetic exchange between populations. In addition to obstructions following hydropower, the river systems are affected by pressures in terms of outputs of discharge waters with chemicals, pharmaceuticals and microplastics. Restored connectivity may alter chemical flows and may also increase the risk of spread of disease and invasive species. Studies demonstrate that pharmaceuticals and chemical pollutants alter fish behavior (Brodin et al. 2013), swimming capacity as well as ability to withstand diseases (Dahlgren et al. 2022). In water regions with high pollution and fish populations with already reduced health status, consideration to fish health may be of particular relevance in relation to measures to improve connectivity. Additional factors that generate cumulative effects to the water systems are fish farms and activities affecting flow and turbidity of water (causing release of pollutants incorporated in sediments). Currently, a holistic view on fish health aspects is lacking within the process of water status classification and management action related to Swedish hydropower (such as construction of fish passages). This projects targets identification of water systems where the effects of pollution, fish farms, disease, invasive species, and fish health need particular consideration in the process of restoration of water connectivity, so called Waters at Risk. By creating a platform for grading and visualization, the output of Waters at Risk provides a tool for environmental assessments to reduce risk of negative impact on fish health in the process of restoring water connectivity.

Tomas Brodin, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

1 999 972 SEK

Dams are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and functioning of riverine ecosystems. Although the construction of new dams continues, awareness of environmental impacts has resulted in an increasing number of dams being decommissioned and removed. Understanding biological responses to dams and dam removal are increasingly relevant for quantifying ecosystem-level (e.g. catchment-based) impacts because:

1. the spatial scale of responses to dams and removal correspond to the spatial scale of impact;
2. they provide benchmarks of the potential for environmental flows to mitigate impacts of dams on biodiversity and function and
3. they reduce cumulative effects of multiple barriers in stream networks.

Despite years of research on dams and dam removal critical knowledge gaps remain hindering application of regulations and standards. In this project, we will make general predictions of biological responses to dams and dam removal in a quantitative review (metaanalyses) with fish and macroinvertebrates as focal organism groups. Statistical models will include a space–time component and explanatory factors that describe dam characteristics and environmental settings. Our study will identify systemic consistencies in biological responses and key environmental drivers between the studies. Further, we focus on areas of research urgently needed to validate key assumptions in common mitigation and restoration schemes, such as:

1. the rate and spatial extent (longitudinal and lateral) of instream and streamriparian meta-ecosystem responses to dam removal, and when to anticipate negative effects;
2. the potential for environmental flows to improve biodiversity and function in hydromorphologically degraded systems and
3. the identification of biological metrics and indices that are suitable to characterize and quantify hydromorphological degradation as well as improvement.

Peter Carlson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

1 998 582 SEK

Freshwater habitats support terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, provide ecosystem services and underpin ecological connectivity. Hydropower is a significant stressor of freshwater ecosystems, leading to extensive habitat degradation and fragmentation, and decreasing biodiversity. The Swedish government recently initiated a national 20-year plan (NAP) for reviewing hydropower plant licenses, aiming to modernize environmental regulations for the hydropower sector. This extensive process encompasses c. 2100 hydropower plants and all major river catchments in Sweden. Regulated lakes and reservoirs, needed for efficient electricity production, comprise a large portion of Sweden's water bodies. These regulated freshwater ecosystems were the focus of the previous “FÅK-project” (1976-85), focusing on fisheries management measures (FMM) (in Swedish: Fiskevårdsåtgärder) with the aim to improve fishing opportunities and mitigate negative effects of hydropower development. However, after the 1980s, regulated lakes and reservoirs have been largely ignored in terms of both management, research and environmental monitoring. Sweden, for example, does not have a monitoring program specifically for fish in water bodies affected by hydropower, which is contrary to commitments towards the EU's water directive. At present, an overview of long-term effects of FMMs is lacking, and there is an urgent need to summarize and synthesize research and experience in this field. In our project, FÅK revisited, we will review, re-analyze and synthesize knowledge gained in the original FÅK-project. We will also review recent international research, and analyze existing data from national monitoring databases, to explore key questions. Our results will be essential for updating guidelines for the NAP-process and for developing monitoring programs and ecosystem-based management.

Johan Östergren, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

2 000 000 SEK