Working Group #3/5
Increase Basin-Scale Decision-Making and Access to River-Related Data and Advance Effective River Restoration through Improved Off-Site Mitigation Strategies Basin-Scale
Today, decisions related to dam relicensing, retrofits, removals, and environmental mitigation are typically made on a dam-by-dam basis. In contrast, basin-wide approaches consider the full complement of dams, water supply, security needs, and natural systems within a watershed, often revealing efficiencies and environmental opportunities not visible through site-specific analysis. Basin-scale strategies may enable more cost effective and streamlined approaches to river restoration and mitigation.
Additionally, current federal requirements often emphasize on-site mitigation, which may limit both the flexibility of dam owners and the environmental value of those investments. Building from basin-scale successes, it is important to assess the national potential for greater use of voluntary off-site mitigation tools that have demonstrated potential to increase the ecological effectiveness of mitigation investments and improve the flexibility and efficiency of mitigation alternatives for dam owners seeking FERC licenses.
The objectives of Working Group 3/5 are to:
- Collaborate with key federal resource agencies to pilot voluntary basin-scale relicensing efforts; meet with FERC to express joint interest in related guidance and issue a report exploring national opportunities for basin-scale planning, relicensing, and management.
- Undertake a phased process to assess and potentially implement voluntary off-site (“indirect”) mitigation strategies in the FERC relicensing context. This process explores the technical, legal, economic, and environmental feasibility of off-site mitigation and, if supported by participants, may lead to mechanisms to improve project selection, replicability, and regulatory clarity.
Working Group 3/5 Deliverables:
A Basin-scale Approach to Planning and Licensing: Options, Considerations, and Recommendations Outline (June 2024)
This outline will serve as the basis for a white paper or resource guide intended to help licensees and other interested parties better understand the benefits, challenges, opportunities, and range of methods associated with basin-scale planning. The outline describes two approaches to basin-scale planning—relicensing and planning absent of relicensing.
Working Group 3/5 Co-Chairs:
- Jeff Opperman, World Wildlife Fund
- John Suloway, Gomez and Sullivan