Reshaping the scale of planning for hydropower development, from reaches to basin-scales, has been recommended as a more effective way to ameliorate the environmental impacts of hydropower. One approach is identifying mutually exclusive areas where development is precluded for conservation purposes and areas of low conservation value that present fewer barriers to development. This strategy, however, is less adoptable in developed countries where hydropower is already widespread and large-scale construction of new dams is unlikely. To broaden the adoption of basin-scale planning, alternative approaches and planning tools are needed for identifying mutually beneficial opportunities for simultaneous increases in hydropower capacity while improving environmental conditions. In this study, we present the Basin Scale Opportunity Assessment as a methodology to improve environmental conditions through either direct (on-site) or indirect (off-site) mitigation. We assess whether direct or indirect mitigation activities lead to optimal results in terms of added hydropower, environmental improvement, and monetary cost at a basin scale. We present two case studies for the Connecticut River and Roanoke River Basins, USA. Significant opportunities for expanding hydropower generating capacity are numerous in both basins. Results suggest that total hydropower capacity could be increased 4 to 7 % in the Roanoke and Connecticut Basins, respectively, without new dam construction and with net improvements in environmental conditions. We found that environmentally and economically optimal win-win strategies for increasing hydropower capacity and improving environmental conditions included improving environmental conditions in rivers downstream of existing dams. Off-site mitigation opportunities, such as dam removal and wetland mitigation, were identified as optimum solutions for achieving net environmental improvements only when they were associated with new hydropower construction. Our results demonstrate that opportunities to increase hydropower capacity and improve environmental conditions are expanded by viewing cumulative benefits at basin scales; however, increasing regulatory flexibility may be required to realize these opportunities.

Ultimately, the challenges that researchers face with finding, accessing, using, and disseminating water data affect their ability to do mission critical research for DOE and other sponsors. We interviewed PNNL researchers who support DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office and summarize their views on issues pertaining to data access, use, and dissemination. We also take a closer look at approaches to disseminating data to help inform WPTO and lab researcher decisions about incorporating data dissemination into future projects.

Collaborative management of water resources requires a broad suite of "water data" that extends beyond basic information about water quantity and quality to other related topics such as water infrastructure, aquatic ecosystem health, socioeconomic factors, and power generation. Water data are disparate in nature because they are collected and provided by many entities, and in some cases, remain challenging to access and use. The U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office initiated a project to characterize relevant categories of water data; describe the current state of accessing, using, and visualizing water data; and outline investigatory pathways for future efforts aimed at improving the discovery, sharing, and use of water data. Input on these topics was solicited from a small but diverse cross section of members of the water resources community. Fourteen broad categories of water data were identified: dams; ecology; flood control; hydroclimatology; hydrography; hydrology; hydropower; management landscape; migratory barriers; recreation and aesthetic importance; socioeconomic; water quality; water availability and use; and weather. Stakeholder perspectives on the accessibility and usability of water data indicate these aspects are affected by a complex set of technical and social factors. However, stakeholders generally agreed that better access to water data can provide a range of benefits to water management, and they stressed the need to generate broad support from water data users and producers. Two investigatory pathways were outlined that, taken together, provide a logical progression toward the goals of the project. The first pathway emphasizes further investigation to better define target audiences and data needs, identify opportunities for collaboration between related efforts, and conduct value demonstration activities to generate further support for improving discovery and access of water data. The second pathway focuses on creating a comprehensive vision for potential solutions that improve the discovery of water data. Several activities that align with the first pathway are suggested for the next phase of the project.

Increasing spread of invasive annual grasses, such as Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), can contribute to increased fire frequency and hinder the reestablishment of native sagebrush, forbs, and grasses in subsequent years. Knowledge of the current distribution of cheatgrass on the landscape is a key component in planning and executing strategies to protect sagebrush ecosystems and sensitive wildlife species such as the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) worked with US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to assemble and derive information to map cheatgrass occurrence across the historic range of sage-grouse. The information and map products described in this report can help land managers prioritize conservation efforts at the species’ range scale. We constructed an ecological model based on a suite of climatic and biophysical variables and satellite measures of peak NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) – an index of vegetation greenness – to predict cheatgrass occurrence across the historic range of sage-grouse in the United States. More than 24,000 field measurements of cheatgrass cover across the study area were acquired from various agencies and research groups and reviewed for use in the modeling efforts. A subset of 6650 field measurement points were identified and verified for use in statistical analyses. For each measurement location we derived a suite of 50 biophysical and NDVI variables correlated with cheatgrass occurrence. Pairwise correlation of variables was examined to remove highly-correlated variables from the model. A total of 13 variables were retained for use in forward-stepping discriminant analysis and modeling. Discriminant scores were used to determine probability of cheatgrass occurrence, which was broken into two relative cover classes: 0% to 2% cover and > 2% cheatgrass cover. This report describes the data and methods used to develop the model and the cheatgrass occurrence map. We provide a brief discussion of the accuracy of classification, and describe the appropriate scale of use for map results. The range-wide map of occurrence will be made available online for FWS and partner agencies.