Contact: Amy Souers Kober, 503-708-1145 

American Rivers announced today that Andrew Fisk is joining the organization as its new Northeast Regional Director. Fisk has worked in natural resource conservation and environmental advocacy throughout New England since 1998. 

“In this moment where the Northeast’s rivers and clean water face so many challenges, Andrew has what it takes to advance our bold vision and secure lasting solutions for the region’s rivers and communities. We are thrilled to welcome him to the American Rivers team,” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Regional Conservation.  

Most recently, Fisk served as Bureau Chief for Natural Resources at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, overseeing the state’s fisheries, wildlife, and forestry programs. From 2011 to 2022, he led the Connecticut River Conservancy as executive director. With the hard work of a great team and strong board, CRC grew substantially in impact, scale, and reputation in its drive to make New England’s longest river and watershed clean, healthy, and full of life.  

Between 1998 and 2011, Fisk served in administrative, planning, and leadership positions in the Departments of Conservation, Marine Resources, and Environmental Protection in the State of Maine, including an appointed position under Governor John Baldacci.  

He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Norcross Wildlife Foundation as well as the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission. He is on the Advisory Board of Estuary Magazine and currently a volunteer on the City of Holyoke’s citizen advisory committee on wastewater infrastructure working to develop an ambitious overhaul of the city’s infrastructure. He also serves on the Community Advisory Board for New England Public Media. 
 

“I am honored to be joining American Rivers, and I am energized by the organization’s ambitions for growth in the Northeast,” Fisk said. “The American Rivers model of generous partnership and collaboration while fighting for a better world is spot on for me. I am confident that together with our partners and supporters, we will make great strides for the region’s rivers, and all of the life they support.” 

Fisk will start at American Rivers on September 11. He will be based in Holyoke, MA. 

About American Rivers  

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit www.AmericanRivers.org  

Contact: 
Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, American Rivers, 412-680-2255 
Amy Souers Kober, American Rivers, 503-708-1145 
 

Susquehanna, PA– In a major step forward for public safety and river health, demolition of Oakland Dam on the Susquehanna River begins today. The project is the largest dam removal to date in Pennsylvania. 

Oakland Dam, a dangerous and obsolete former hydropower dam, is 755 ft long and 16 ft high. Removal will eliminate a severe safety hazard at #350 on the North Branch Susquehanna River Water Trail, eliminating the need for water trail users to portage around this barrier. The project will also reconnect 250 miles of aquatic habitat for sportfish, iconic freshwater mussels, and other critical fish and wildlife. 

Project partners include American Rivers, the Boroughs of Susquehanna and Oakland, Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Upper Susquehanna Coalition via Tioga County Soil & Water Conservation District, PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Fish & Boat Commission, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. This river restoration project is funded by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PA Department of Community & Economic Development, River Bounty, and Susquehanna County. 

Oakland Dam once provided electricity to Barnes Kasson Hospital and to Susquehanna Depot, a major railroad hub for the northeastern US, located on the banks of the Susquehanna River in what is now Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park. Hydropower generation was abandoned in the early 2000’s due to an accidental breach in the center of the dam. 

“Susquehanna Borough is extremely happy this project has come to the point of work beginning on July 25th, 2023. Boaters will be able to utilize this section of the North Branch of the Susquehanna River safely. A big thank you to all for making this project happen,” said Roy Williams, President of Susquehanna Borough.  

Valerie Senese, President of Oakland Borough Council said, “I am thrilled to celebrate the inspiring display of cooperation and progress between Oakland Borough and Susquehanna Depot Borough in our joint effort towards ensuring the safety, environmental sustainability, and economic growth of both of our communities. The breached dam, which has been a longstanding concern for both towns, will soon undergo demolition and removal thanks to the collaborative efforts of American Rivers and Beran Environmental Services.” 

“Rivers are essential to our health and the health of the natural world. Removing a dam is the fastest, most efficient way to bring a river back to life,” said Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers.  “We applaud our partners for their dedication to restoring the Susquehanna River and we are thrilled to watch the revival and healing of this vital waterway.” 

Caution tape and construction fencing will be installed in Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park to indicate areas that are unsafe for the public during dam removal construction activities. Visitors to the park should observe these safety markings and stay out of the construction zone. Boaters should observe the warning signs and buoys, and Water Trail users should avoid the construction zone during the construction period by taking out at the Exchange St Access (#351 on the Water Trail map) and portaging around the construction zone to put back in the river at #348 PFBC Great Bend Access.  

More than 2,000 dams have been removed across the United States. Dam removal is a proven tool to restore river health, improve public safety, revitalize fish and wildlife populations, safeguard cultural values, and reconnect communities to their rivers. River restoration also benefits the economy: every $1 million invested in restoring watersheds generates 16 jobs and up to $2.5 million in economic benefits. Pennsylvania has been a leader in dam removal and river restoration, removing more dams than any other state with benefits for communities, the economy, and environment. 

“There are tens of thousands of unsafe, outdated dams across our country. The removal of Oakland Dam is a great example of the action we need to see in more communities nationwide, improving public safety and river health. We urge Congress and the Biden administration to continue funding and prioritizing these critical river restoration efforts,” said Kiernan. 

ABOUT AMERICAN RIVERS 

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AMERICANRIVERS.ORG. 

U.S. Senators Daines and Cantwell’s Community and Hydropower Improvement Act included in today’s subcommittee hearing on pending legislation

Washington, D.C. (July 19, 2023) – The National Hydropower Association (NHA) and American Rivers applaud the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Water and Power Subcommittee for holding a hearing today on the bipartisan S. 1521 Community and Hydropower Improvement Act, jointly introduced in May of this year by U.S. Senators Steve Daines (MT) and Maria Cantwell (WA).

The Community and Hydropower Improvement Act proposes amendments to the Federal Power Act (FPA), which would streamline and modernize the hydropower licensing and re-licensing process. The Federal Power Act, originally enacted in 1920, authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue licenses to build, operate, and maintain hydropower facilities. The proposed updates would improve cooperation among FERC and resource agencies, coordinate federal decision-making, and add transparency to the hydropower licensing process.

Proposed changes include:

• Expediting the licensing process by directing FERC to establish a two-year process to grant licenses for hydropower additions to non-powered dams and a three-year process for lower-impact closed-loop and off-stream pumped storage projects
• Improving coordination between FERC, federally recognized tribes, and resource agencies in the hydropower licensing, relicensing and license surrender processes
• Shifts Federal Power Act (FPA) § 4(e) mandatory conditioning authority from the U.S. Department of the Interior to a Federally Recognized Tribe for any project located on land held in trust within the exterior boundaries of a Tribal reservation
• Clarifying the scope of environmental effects that may be considered in hydropower relicensing and ensuring that mandatory conditions submitted by certain federal agencies under sections 4(e) and 18 of the Federal Power Act address effects of the licensed project
• Improving the processes for surrendering licenses and removing non-operating dams
• Coordinating federal decision-making by directing FERC to convene a conference between agencies with conditioning authority and establish a joint schedule, allowing for the timely completion of all federal authorization decisions

“The Community and Hydropower Improvement Act is a landmark bipartisan bill that will protect and expand critical hydropower resources by streamlining and expediting the FERC licensing process and improving inter-agency coordination,” said Malcolm Woolf, CEO & President of the National Hydropower Association. “The current permitting process is bogged down with high costs and delays, leading to uncertainty and threatening 17 gigawatts of carbon-free, flexible energy currently on our grid. This strategic package proposes practical improvements to the hydropower permitting process, and with nearly half of the non-federal fleet coming up for relicensing, today’s hearing is a step in the right direction to protecting these vital hydropower resources and ensuring a clean energy future.”

“This is a package of smart, strategic updates to make the process work better for everyone,” said Tom Kiernan, President of American Rivers. “Healthy rivers are essential to all life. By improving the process for licensing, relicensing and decommissioning dams, and by restoring autonomy and self-determination to tribes, we will improve outcomes for rivers, the electric grid, and communities nationwide.”

Background

This legislation was informed by years of negotiations across a wide range of stakeholders convened under Stanford University’s Uncommon Dialogue on Hydropower, River Restoration and Public Safety, administered by the Woods Institute for the Environment and led by Dan W. Reicher. Members of the hydropower industry, environmental organizations, conservation groups, and Tribes came together to develop a legislative package to address and reform hydropower licensing.

In May, the White House expressed support for hydropower permitting reform, including it on the Administration’s priority sheet for clean energy. “We’ve got to fix the cost and delays that are bogging down the licensing process for hydropower projects. Hydro supplies 37 percent of zero-carbon power in the United States—and more than thirty percent of all the nonfederal hydropower licenses in the United States are set to expire by 2030,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. “It’s time to reform the process so we can keep this crucial energy source online.”

The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing concludes. 

For more information, please contact Kelly Rogers with NHA at kelly@hydro.org or Amy Souers Kober with American Rivers at akober@americanrivers.org.

Contacts:
David Moryc, Senior Director, River Protection with American Rivers, dmoryc@americanrivers.org
Helen O’Shea, Director, Protected Areas Project with the Natural Resources Defense Council, hoshea@nrdc.org
Shanna Edberg, Director of Conservation Programs at the Hispanic Access Foundation, shanna@hispanicaccess.org
Rick Lofaro, Executive Director with Roaring Fork Conservancy, rick@roaringfork.org

More than 125 organizations and businesses that value watershed health, clean water, and healthy streams and rivers have signed on in support of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Conservation and Landscape Health rulemaking, also known as the Public Lands Rule, which proposes to increase protection and restoration of America’s public lands and waters. The group also called on BLM to protect and restore watershed health in the final rule. Recommendations included:

• Implement the assessment, prioritization, restoration, and conservation requirements of the final rule at the watershed scale.
• Establish standards and guidelines to protect watershed health and clean water and create a watershed classification system for all waters on BLM lands.
• Conduct an inventory of intact natural landscapes and high-integrity watersheds and ensure these lands and waters will not be degraded by future management actions.
• Require complete and current inventories of eligible rivers with Wild and Scenic River potential.
• Ensure that all eligible areas that meet the criteria for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) are designated as such and managed to protect the values for which they were designated.
• Require older and mature forests to be protected and restored.

In the Western United States, BLM is an important steward of public lands and waters, managing more than 250,000 miles of streams and rivers, roughly 8% of the nation’s riverways and associated riverside lands. BLM’s water resources are estimated to provide drinking water to 1 in 10 Americans in the West. In addition, BLM manages some of the best remaining healthy rivers in the West, including 81 designated wild and scenic rivers. While western wetlands have been reduced to just two percent of the land surface, they support around 80 percent of the area’s biodiversity. 

“Latino communities hold a strong belief that we have a moral obligation to protect our nation’s iconic public lands and waters,” says Shanna Edberg, Director of Conservation Programs at the Hispanic Access Foundation. “We have a responsibility to future generations to leave a legacy of stewardship, clean air and water, accessible nature, and a livable climate. The Bureau of Land Management’s Rule to put conservation on an equal footing with development is a strong step toward ensuring that we protect our public lands and waters for the benefit of future generations, local economies, public health, access to the outdoors, and our shared history and culture.”

Climate change is driving unprecedented drought and increasingly intense fires, a loss of wildlife, and an influx of invasive species. At the same time, public lands face growing pressure as recreation increases and development on private land disrupts habitat. BLM’s proposal would ensure the Bureau is able to respond to these pressures, managing for healthy lands today so that it can deliver its multiple use mission now and in the future.

“Freshwater is the single most valuable resource coming from our public lands,” states David Moryc, American Rivers’ Senior Director, River Protection. “The protection and restoration of freshwater and rivers as a part of the Conservation and Landscape Health rulemaking is the key to providing for the long-term resilience of BLM lands in the face of climate change and the biodiversity crisis.”

BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule aims to ensure healthy lands and waters, abundant wildlife habitat, clean water, and balanced decision-making on lands managed by BLM. It puts conservation on equal footing with other uses, while upholding BLM’s multiple use and sustainable yield mission. By ensuring protection and restoration, the rulemaking positions BLM to increase the health of its freshwater resources dramatically. Such an emphasis on stream restoration can help the Bureau restore narrow, often incised stream channels, into healthy, functioning riverscapes and return life to rivers.

Rick Lofaro, Executive Director of the Roaring Fork Conservancy, shares that “healthy watersheds reflect a healthy landscape. As water quality and quantity concerns become more prevalent, BLM’s proposed rule which prioritizes healthy lands and waters represents a key step forward in addressing and protecting these invaluable resources.”

The proposed rule also provides important new guidance on the process for designating ACECs when special management is required to protect important natural, cultural, and scenic resources, systems, or processes, or to protect life and safety from natural hazards. It enables maintenance of intact ecosystems to support wildlife migration corridors and functioning watersheds. The proposed rule recommends tools to support building ecosystem resilience including one to classify watershed condition on BLM-managed lands.

“BLM’s proposed rule will balance its management to address the needs of the 21st century, bringing much needed attention to the conservation aspects of its multiple-use mandate. The meaningful conservation measures in the proposed rule have the promise to restore our streams and wetlands, increase our resiliency to drought, and deliver more clean water to communities and Tribal nations,” concludes Helen O’Shea, Director, Protected Areas Project with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Organizations and businesses in support of the Rule:

Contact: Amy Souers Kober, 503-708-1145 

(Washington, DC) – American Rivers today announced that it is welcoming three new members to its board of directors. The new directors bring strong leadership and expertise that will help American Rivers champion the nationwide effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. 

“I am thrilled to welcome these talented leaders to the board of American Rivers,” said  Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers. “Rivers are essential to our health, safety, and future. We have an opportunity to create transformational change as we address the challenges of climate change, environmental injustice, and loss of nature that are impacting rivers nationwide. Our dedicated board will continue to help maximize our impact, protecting and restoring the rivers on which all life depends.”  

Dr. Mark Barnes (Baltimore, MD) is Associate Professor, History & Geography at Morgan State University. Dr. Barnes is a human geographer. His scholarship and teaching are informed by global environmental change, economic, urban, and transport geography subfields. Equity, mobility, sustainability, and environmental justice interventions relating to the causes and consequences of weather and climate extremes form the basis of his work. In addition to co-chairing the Geospatial Collaborative, he directs its Environmental Studies Program whose purpose is to bring social and physical science disciplines together to help drive and support efforts towards equitable climate adaptation. His graduate degrees in Geography and Urban Studies are from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and Temple University, respectively. He majored in Geography and Planning at West Chester University.  

Mark Greatrex (Atlanta, GA) is President of Cox Communications, the largest private broadband company in America serving nearly seven million homes and businesses across more than 20 states. His experience innovating, building brands and businesses based on consumer insights is fitting to lead a company committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. Today Mark leads with the shared purpose and values instilled by the founder of the multi-generational business, Governor James M. Cox. He is the co-chair of the Cox National Diversity Council, standing by his personal commitment to be a vocal ally and his determination to bring lasting change and equal opportunity for all. Mark has a passion for environmental sustainability and leads the charge for Cox Communications’ efforts to achieve enterprise-wide goals. Sparked by his global travels, Mark has a personal passion for ensuring clean water for communities worldwide, which inspired his service as a Board member at the Chattahoochee River Keeper. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Masters of Business Administration with distinction from New York University’s Leonard Stern Business School.  

Dan Reicher (Warren, VT) is a Stanford University senior scholar, clean energy entrepreneur, and business and policy advisor. He has served under three U.S. presidents, testified before the U.S. Congress more than 50 times, led the launch of Google’s pathbreaking climate and clean energy work, oversaw a $1.2 billion annual clean energy R&D budget as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, and co-founded the nation’s first investment firm focused exclusively on renewable energy project finance. From 2011 to 2018, he served as founding executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, a joint center of the Stanford Law School and Graduate School of Business. Reicher originated and facilitated the Stanford Uncommon Dialogue on Hydropower, River Restoration, and Public Safety. Reicher came to Stanford from Google, where he served since 2007 as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. Reicher holds a BA in biology from Dartmouth College and a JD from Stanford Law School.  An avid kayaker, Reicher was a member of the first expedition on record to navigate the entire 1888- mile Rio Grande (with support from the National Geographic Society) and to kayak the Yangtze River in China. 

About American Rivers 

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AMERICANRIVERS.ORG. 

Statement by American Rivers

Contact: Amy Souers Kober, 503-708-1145 

In today’s ruling on Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court dramatically narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act, undoing protections that have safeguarded the nation’s waters for over 50 years. Because it erases critical protections for tens of millions of acres of wetlands, the court’s ruling threatens the clean drinking water sources for millions of Americans.  

Overturning federal protections for wetlands makes them vulnerable to pollution and harmful development, which impacts water quality, groundwater supplies, flood protection, and habitat for plants, fish, and wildlife. It will also make it more expensive to treat our water, driving up costs for millions of people. The court’s ruling will allow further destruction of wetlands, which will increase the rate and severity of flooding and flood damages in many places. 

Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers, made the following statement: 

“The court’s ruling is a serious blow to wetlands, which are essential to clean, affordable drinking water, public health, and flood protection. Today’s ruling puts rivers and people at greater risk from pollution and harm. We urge state officials, the Biden Administration, and Congress to act quickly to safeguard rivers, wetlands, and streams that are so vital to our health and safety, environment, and economy. Rivers should unite us, not divide us.” 

“Without strong, science-based protections, the rivers and wetlands that are the lifeblood of our nation will suffer irreparable harm. We risk going backwards to a time of beach closures and rivers choked with pollution. This ruling will exacerbate environmental injustices as the worst impacts harm communities of color. American Rivers will continue to stand with local partners and frontline communities to secure equitable protections for rivers and clean water nationwide. ” 

About American Rivers

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AMERICANRIVERS.ORG.

Contact: Amy Souers Kober, 503-708-1145 

American Rivers today applauded the three Lower Basin states (California, Arizona, and Nevada) along with the US Bureau of Reclamation for continuing to urgently work towards an agreement to voluntarily conserve up to 3-million-acre feet of water by the end of 2026, with about half of that being conserved by the end of 2024. 

This agreement proposes a near-term management approach that the Lower Basin states are prepared to support between now and 2026.  They, along with the Upper Basin states, ask that this proposal be modeled and evaluated as a new action alternative as part of Reclamation’s current SEIS process. Once it is modeled and analyzed, Reclamation plans to issue a new SEIS document for public review and comment with a decision expected later this year. 

American Rivers recently named the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon as America’s Most Endangered River in 2023 due to the impacts of aridification and climate change negatively impacting the Grand Canyon, along with overallocation of the river overall.  

“This commitment from the states is exactly the kind of collaborative, urgent action that America’s Most Endangered River needs,” said Sinjin Eberle. This is a major step forward, and we will continue to encourage solutions to advance conservation measures across the basin to sustain the Colorado River and everyone who depends upon it.” 

Contact: David Moyrc, 503-307-1137

Yesterday the Oregon Recreation Enhancement (ORE) Act cleared a key hurdle, being voted out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee with bipartisan support. The ORE Act will protect clean drinking water flowing off our public lands and some of the best salmon habitat in the lower 48 United States. The ORE Act would also preserve outdoor recreation including extensive horseback riding and mountain-biking along the Molalla River and hunting and fishing in the Rogue River Canyon which provides a substantial benefit to the outdoor recreation economies for the City of Molalla and all of Southwestern Oregon.  We are proud to support Senator Wyden’s leadership as he moves this bill forward.  

Contact:

Scott Bosse, Northern Rockies Regional Director, 406-570-0455

sbosse@americanrivers.org

American Rivers is deeply concerned that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is considering drastically reducing flows in the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam in Grand Teton National Park beginning on May 10 and continuing over the next few months. Dropping flows to the minimum recommended level of 280 cubic feet per second or below when the river should be surging with snowmelt would disrupt native cutthroat trout during spawning season and deprive the river’s riparian cottonwood forest of the nourishing flood flows it needs to survive and thrive.

Congress recognized the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam as a national treasure when it designated it as a Wild and Scenic River in 2009. The Oxbow Bend of the Snake River, one of the most photographed riverscapes in America due to its spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife, would bear the brunt of the diminished flows.

Scott Bosse, American Rivers’ Northern Rockies Regional Director, met with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Snake Area Manager, Lanie Paquin, and Assistant Area Manager, Mike Hilliard, in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, May 9 to discuss the flow situation.

“I conveyed to the Bureau in no uncertain terms that the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park is a globally significant treasure, and reducing flows out of Jackson Lake Dam to a trickle when it should be at peak flood stage is totally unacceptable due to the profound negative ecological and economic impacts it would have,” Bosse said. “While the Bureau is maintaining flows at 280 cubic feet per second and has no immediate plans to reduce flows below that level, normal flood flows on that reach of the Snake River should be at least 10 times that level in order to sustain healthy fish and wildlife habitat. I appreciate that they listened to what I had to say, and they seem to understand the importance of the upper Snake River to Jackson Hole’s tourism-based economy.”

If the Bureau follows through with its plans to reduce flows out of Jackson Lake Dam, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has agreed to use its storage rights in Palisades Reservoir to maintain a minimum flow of 280 cubic feet per second for as long as possible, but that would just be a temporary solution. American Rivers believes the best long-term solution this year and in future years is for the Bureau to provide spring flows that mimic a natural hydrograph in order to sustain a thriving native cutthroat trout fishery and healthy riparian vegetation downstream of Jackson Lake Dam.

About American Rivers

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AMERICANRIVERS.ORG

U.S. Senators Daines and Cantwell lead effort to support river conservation, hydropower development and expand authority for Tribal Nations 

Contact:
LeRoy Coleman, National Hydropower Association, 202-413-4605 
Amy Souers Kober, American Rivers, 503-708-1145 

Washington, D.C. (May 10, 2023) – Today, Conservation organizations, hydropower industry groups, and tribes applauded the bipartisan introduction of the Community and Hydropower Improvement Act to improve hydropower licensing, relicensing, and license surrender processes; additionally, the bill would strengthen environmental stewardship at the nation’s hydropower projects and expand principles of Tribal sovereignty in hydropower licensing. The bill, led by U.S. Senators Steve Daines (MT) and Maria Cantwell (WA), proposes amendments to the Federal Power Act to enhance cooperation, improve clarity, restore autonomy and self-determination to tribes, and retain states’ decision-making authority. In doing so, the bill would help address climate change, better protect the health of the nation’s rivers, expedite licensing of qualifying projects at non-powered dams and closed-loop pumped storage, ensure that mandatory license conditions submitted under sections 4(e) and 18 of the Federal Power Act address effects of the licensed project and provide some tribes long-sought authority over their lands and waters. 

 The package is supported by American Rivers, National Hydropower Association, Skokomish Indian Tribe, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, National Congress of American Indians, Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Hydropower Reform Coalition, California Outdoors, Friends of the River, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, American Whitewater, New England FLOW, Idaho Rivers United, Foothill Conservancy, Gravity Renewables, Rye Development, Natel Energy, and Nelson Energy. 

 The Federal Power Act (FPA), originally enacted in 1920, authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue licenses to build, operate, maintain, and remove dams. The proposed updates would significantly improve cooperation among FERC and resource agencies in the hydropower licensing process. 

 Proposed changes include: 

1. Improving coordination between FERC, federally recognized tribes, and resource agencies in the hydropower licensing, relicensing and license surrender processes 

2. Ensuring that mandatory conditions submitted by certain federal agencies under sections 4(e) and 18 of the Federal Power Act address effects of the licensed project 

3. Expanding the authority of federally recognized tribes with hydropower projects on their lands to protect natural resources and treaty-protected rights 

4. Addressing climate change in the hydropower relicensing process 

5. Improving the processes for surrendering licenses and removing non-operating dams 

6. Providing opportunities to expedite licensing for powering existing non-powered dams and building closed-loop pumped storage hydropower projects 

7. Improving the evaluation of projects during the licensing process 

  “This proposed package is an important next step in recognizing tribal sovereignty over tribal lands, and trust resources,” said Mary Pavel, partner at the firm Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, LLP and former staff director of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Indian reservations and tribal trust resources have unduly borne the burden of hydroelectric power development in this country, and this package would give tribes a true seat at the table to ensure that this does not continue to happen.” 

 “This is a package of smart, strategic updates to make the process work better for everyone,” said Tom Kiernan, President of American Rivers. “Healthy rivers are essential to all life. By improving the process for licensing, relicensing and decommissioning dams, and by restoring autonomy and self-determination to tribes; we will  improve outcomes for rivers, the electric grid, and communities nationwide.” 

 “Hydropower is critical to achieving the goal of a resilient and reliable, zero-carbon electricity grid, and this bill seeks to protect and advance this critical energy resource by strengthening and expediting the FERC licensing process, better informing agency decision making, assuring environmental stewardship, and improving coordination among all relicensing participants,” said Malcolm Woolf, CEO & President of the National Hydropower Association. “The existing regulatory process is unnecessarily time consuming and expensive. With a historic number of projects coming up for relicensing and growing interest in developing new hydropower resources at existing non-powered dams and new closed-loop pumped storage, this bill will help safeguard and expand vital hydropower resources in an environmentally responsible manner, improve grid stability and security, and advance our trajectory towards a clean electricity grid. The hydropower industry applauds the leadership of Senators Daines and Cantwell for advancing this bipartisan effort.”

Background 
Recognizing the need to address climate change, conservation organizations, hydropower industry groups, and tribes worked together to develop a legislative package to address hydropower licensing.  The groups are convened under Stanford University’s Uncommon Dialogue on Hydropower, River Restoration and Public Safety, administered by the Woods Institute for the Environment, within Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability, and led by Dan W. Reicher. 

Last May, during a House Energy Subcommittee hearing on hydropower, lawmakers expressed bipartisan support for license reform:

• Representative Tonko (D-NY) said, “I want to commend the Uncommon Dialogue participants for finding agreement on this proposal. Last time this committee considered hydropower license reform it did not start from a place of broad stakeholder consensus, and I truly believe that ultimately it hurt the legislative process as well as the final product, but these organizations have given us a strong foundation, and I hope they will continue to stand together and even expand the coalition as policy makers inevitably consider changes to the original proposal. Because hydropower is an incredibly important clean energy solution, one that has had strong bipartisan support on this committee, but like all energy infrastructure it needs to be developed and operated responsibly. An improved license process can indeed help ensure that.” 

• Representative Pence (R-IN) expressed the need for an expedited licensing process to ensure hydropower projects remain economical, and said to his Subcommittee colleagues, “I would say to my peers across the aisle, come one, let’s figure out how to get this done and figure this out. You’re [Uncommon Dialogue participants] all doing a great job in working together as Ms. Pavel said.  I think we’ve ought to move on with this.”

• Representative Peters (D-CA) said, “I remember in our last discussion on this topic that the permit process is so unwieldy and unbounded o and I hope we can do something that provides more certainty, better timelines, better results and frankly, clean energy with environmental protection is our goal.”

• Representative Bucshon (R-IN) said, “I support the development and expansion of hydropower in the U.S. as a part of an “all of the above” energy strategy.” When asking Malcolm Woolf about what this proposal would do for adding hydropower generation to existing non-powered dams, Woolf explained that the license timeline would start once a facility submitted their NOI and FERC approved it, streamlining the process to two years from the moment the application is submitted, Bucshon responded, “That’s great, I would be for that.” 

Dam removal and land back project is the second largest grant beneficiary in the country from the recently-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Washington, DC – Today, American Rivers announced that the Ela Dam Removal Coalition secured $4M in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as an initial payment to commence deconstruction of the Ela dam in Western North Carolina. This is the second largest grant secured in the country for such a restoration project as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Once Ela dam is removed, 549 miles of the Oconaluftee River watershed will be restored, allowing for a free-flowing river that will expand the habitat for endangered and other aquatic species.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, (EBCI), American Rivers, and Mainspring Conservation Trust submitted the funding request. Mainspring will receive the funding award to progress the project.

“Healthy rivers are essential to all life, and removing a dam is the fastest way to restore a river’s health. We appreciate this initial investment by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in  the restoration of the Oconaluftee River. We look forward to working with them to leverage this investment to fully realize this project to revitalize fish and wildlife habitat and restore vital cultural connections. We are grateful to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for their leadership, and for the partnership of Mainspring Conservation Trust,” said Tom Kiernan, American Rivers President and CEO.  

Bisecting the Qualla Boundary, home to the EBCI, the Oconaluftee River has long been a part of the Indigenous people’s lives and culture. For nearly 100 years, the Ela dam has blocked native species migration and cut off a once vital fishery for the Cherokees. After the dam is removed the land will be returned to the Cherokees.

“The Ela dam project is one of the most exciting as it has all the bells and whistles – it will benefit a huge river system, the Cherokee people and the wider community,” said Southeast Conservation Director Erin McCombs. “Removing Ela dam will restore the river to its natural state, allowing for increased biodiversity, habitat renewal and improved water quality. It’s also a huge win for environmental justice in that the land will be returned to its original stewards – the Cherokees.”

Led by EBCI, the Ela dam project consists of a large coalition of partners who along with American Rivers made this project possible, including Mainspring Conservation Trust, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, USFWS, Army Corps of Engineers, Southern Environmental Law Center, Water and Power Law Group PC, Northbrook Carolina Hydro II, Environmental Protection Agency, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, American Whitewater, and many others.

“What started as a pipe dream will now be a reality,” said Joey Owle, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “Removing the Ela dam will truly be a monumental success story in reconnecting the tribe to a life-giving river that has been a part of our community for thousands of years. I’m beyond elated that the Ela dam removal project is now moving forward full steam ahead and am grateful to all our coalition partners for their hard work in getting this closer to the finish line.”

In August 2022, American Rivers secured initial funding of $800,000 from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for design, engineering, permitting, project management and communications. Design work is already underway and the new USFWS grant will help to move the project forward as early as 2024, with a goal of completion by the fall of 2025.

The Oconaluftee River is home to 11 sensitive and rare aquatic species, some of which are only found in a few streams and rivers in western North Carolina, including the federally endangered Appalachian elktoe freshwater mussel, the Sicklefin Redhorse (NC Threatened), and Eastern Hellbender (NC Special Concern).  

About American Rivers 

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AmericanRivers.org.

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Media Contact: tami@tvicommunications.com | 415-225-7284

Dam removal and land back project is the second largest grant beneficiary in the country from the recently-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Washington, DC – Today, American Rivers announced that the Ela Dam Removal Coalition secured $4M in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as an initial payment to commence deconstruction of the Ela dam in Western North Carolina. This is the second largest grant secured in the country for such a restoration project as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Once Ela dam is removed, 549 miles of the Oconaluftee River watershed will be restored, allowing for a free-flowing river that will expand the habitat for endangered and other aquatic species.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, (EBCI), American Rivers, and Mainspring Conservation Trust submitted the funding request. Mainspring will receive the funding award to progress the project.

“Healthy rivers are essential to all life, and removing a dam is the fastest way to restore a river’s health. We appreciate this initial investment by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the restoration of the Oconaluftee River. We look forward to working with them to leverage this investment to fully realize this project to revitalize fish and wildlife habitat and restore vital cultural connections. We are grateful to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for their leadership, and for the partnership of Mainspring Conservation Trust,” said Tom Kiernan, American Rivers President and CEO.  

Bisecting the Qualla Boundary, home to the EBCI, the Oconaluftee River has long been a part of the Indigenous people’s lives and culture. For nearly 100 years, the Ela dam has blocked native species migration and cut off a once vital fishery for the Cherokees. After the dam is removed the land will be returned to the Cherokees.

“The Ela dam project is one of the most exciting as it has all the bells and whistles – it will benefit a huge river system, the Cherokee people and the wider community,” said Southeast Conservation Director Erin McCombs. “Removing Ela dam will restore the river to its natural state, allowing for increased biodiversity, habitat renewal and improved water quality. It’s also a huge win for environmental justice in that the land will be returned to its original stewards – the Cherokees.”

Led by EBCI, the Ela dam project consists of a large coalition of partners who along with American Rivers made this project possible, including Mainspring Conservation Trust, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, USFWS, Army Corps of Engineers, Southern Environmental Law Center, Water and Power Law Group PC, Northbrook Carolina Hydro II, Environmental Protection Agency, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, American Whitewater, and many others.

“What started as a pipe dream will now be a reality,” said Joey Owle, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “Removing the Ela dam will truly be a monumental success story in reconnecting the tribe to a life-giving river that has been a part of our community for thousands of years. I’m beyond elated that the Ela dam removal project is now moving forward full steam ahead and am grateful to all our coalition partners for their hard work in getting this closer to the finish line.”

In August 2022, American Rivers secured initial funding of $800,000 from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for design, engineering, permitting, project management and communications. Design work is already underway and the new USFWS grant will help to move the project forward as early as 2024, with a goal of completion by the fall of 2025.

The Oconaluftee River is home to 11 sensitive and rare aquatic species, some of which are only found in a few streams and rivers in western North Carolina, including the federally endangered Appalachian elktoe freshwater mussel, the Sicklefin Redhorse (NC Threatened), and Eastern Hellbender (NC Special Concern).  

About American Rivers 

American Rivers is championing a national effort to protect and restore all rivers, from remote mountain streams to urban waterways. Healthy rivers provide people and nature with clean, abundant water and natural habitat. For 50 years, American Rivers staff, supporters, and partners have shared a common belief: Life Depends on Rivers. For more information, please visit AmericanRivers.org.