Sustainable hydropower - strategic planning, measures and governance

There are several hundred thousand of barriers and transverse structures in European rivers. A majority of the river water bodies in are classified to moderate or worse ecological status due to hydromorphological pressures.

To reach good ecological status on a general level there are essentially three key type of measures, improving continuity, improving physical habitats and implementing ecological flows. However, hydromorphological pressures are in many cases a result of important societal services such as hydropower, agriculture and infrastructure.

It is therefore crucial to maximize the environmental improvements and at the same time secure the benefits from abiotic services such as hydropower. The process will be very extensive and costly, which requires, a good planning and prioritization on all scales from catchment level to national level. Application of “best” available technology and a knowledge-based governance also need to be adaptable to outcomes and changing conditions, like climate change.

The meeting will discuss how to improve the environmental sustainability of the hydropower in the perspective of the EU Water Framework Directive and will include three main themes:

• Essentials for planning successful improvement of environmental values while securing the benefits of hydropower production.
• The smorgasbord of environmental measures and best available technology.
• Governance with regard to sustainability, resilience, biodiversity and climate change.

The meeting and the different themes will be introduced by invited key note speaker from EU, Great Britain, Norway and USA.

Agenda

Programme Pdf, 597 kB.

Key speakers

Professor Dr. Ian Cowx

Director of Hull International Fisheries Institute (HIFI), Hull University

Ian Cowx is Professor of Applied Fisheries Science and Director of Hull International Fisheries Institute at the University of Hull, UK. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University.

His field of expertise covers a range of topics, including inland fisheries management, rehabilitation of inland fisheries, impact of dams on fisheries and management of alien invasive species within the overarching theme of climate change. He has been heavily involved in international fisheries development for many years and has been PI on major EU and World Bank projects to develop fisheries management plans for Lake Victoria, Zambezi floodplain fisheries and Botswana dams.

He now spends considerable time in the Mekong region trying to reconcile the impact of large scale hydropower dam development on fisheries and is actively involved in the EU H2020 project CERES (Climate change and European aquatic RESources)and FIThydro (Fish friendly Innovative Technologies for hydropower).

Ian is strongly involved with knowledge transfer to stakeholders through workshops and has edited 14 books and published over 200 peer review articles.

His scientific understanding and management of the world’s inland fisheries have led to him being awarded the Fisheries Society of the British Isles Beverton medal in 2015 symposium for lifelong contribution to the study of fisheries science, with a focus on ground-breaking research. It follows his award in 2012 of the International Fisheries Science Prize in honour of his life-time contribution to fisheries science and conservation awarded by the World Council of Fisheries Societies.

Peter Kristensen

Integrated Water Assessment, European Environment Agency expert

He has more than 25 years of experience in the assessing the state of and pressures affecting Europe's water. A wide experience in state of the environment reporting and data management at national and European level including a European-wide knowledge of water quality and pollution: hydromorphology, water resources, water abstraction and water use; climate change impacts on water; and sector activities affecting the state of water quality and water quantity.

Jo Halvard Halleraker

Chief engineer at Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA)

He has been co-chairing Ad hoc Task Group on Hydromorphology to work out common understanding and guidance on ecological potential in Europe (CIS - WFD). He has worked in the science policy interface of water management, environmental impact assessment and sustainable hydropower both in Norway and internationally.

From 1997-2006 he was a research scientist at SINTEF involved in habitat assessment and Eflow projects, mainly related to mitigation of ecological impacts from hydropower. Graduated in Nature Management from the Agricultural University of Norway (1992). Jo is presently carrying out the OFFPHD-project "Ecosystem based management – development of management tools and indicators for sustainable use of water and catchments", as a collaboration between NTNU, NINA and NEA.

Daryl Fields

World Bank

Daryl Fields, has worked in water and energy issues in both national (India, Colombia, Vietnam Lao PDR) and transboundary (Central Asia, Mekong, Lesotho, Eastern Nile, Senegal Basin) contexts. She has over 30 years of experience in natural resource management including water allocation and environmental economics. Before joining the World Bank in 2004, Daryl held numerous management positions at a major Canadian Hydropower company, including Operations, Strategic Planning, and Environmental and Aboriginal Affairs, and was responsible for the company’s relicensing program on both national and international rivers to better balance operations for power (including ecological) uses of water. Daryl has a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics.

Poster session

Please note that the conference will include a poster session. All participants are invited to bring posters presenting research, good examples of measures and other kind of information with relevance to the conference.

The meeting is arranged by:

• Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management together with
• the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten.

We expect a broad audience from different countries, especially representatives from national and regional governments, as well as representatives from the hydropower sector.

Map

Storforsen Hotell AB

The registration is now closed

The registration was open until April 1. The number of participants are limited and the registration is now closed.