Yesterday, FERC issued a new 30-year license to American Electric Power (AEP), a subsidiary of Appalachian Power Company, for continued operation of the 636 MW Smith Mountain Project.

Coalition members American Rivers, American Whitewater, and Coastal Conservation League along with state and federal agencies have reached an agreement for the Saluda hydroelectric project on the Saluda River in South Carolina.

The state of North Carolina has intervened in the licensing of Yadkin hydroelectric project and is seeking to take over the project.

First certified in 2004, the Tallassee Shoals hydroelectric project on the Middle Oconee River in Georgia has applied for recertification of the facility with the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI).

FERC has granted a 30-year license for operation of the Morgan Falls hydroelectric project located on the Chattahoochee River about 12 miles upstream of Atlanta, Georgia.

Tennessee's only licensed hydropower project was granted another license today. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new license for ALCOA's Tapoco project on the Little Tennessee River in North Carolina and Tennessee.

The Tapoco hydropower project lies on the Little Tennessee and Cheoah rivers in Tennessee and North Carolina. Under a comprehensive settlement agreement and license, owner Alcoa will preserve virgin tracts of forest lands and restore flows to these Smoky Mountain streams. Now the project has earned Low Impact Certification from our partners at the Low Impact Hydropower Institute.

Located just one hour from the Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC metropolitan areas, the Great Falls of the Catawba River has potential as a whitewater boating hotspot for the area. On October 23 and 24, a flow study conducted by Duke Power and attended by kayakers from throughout the region confirmed that Great Falls holds great promise as a highly coveted recreational boating stretch.

The Coastal Conservation League and American Rivers appealed Georgia's water quality certification for the City of Augusta's operation on the Augusta Canal and Diversion Dam. Lack of terms and conditions for any stream flow to be maintained in the four-mile long Augusta Shoals, a stretch of river whose flow is diverted at the dam, served as the basis for January' s appeal.

The certification also did not include conditions to protect federally and state endangered species that occur in the shoals, nor did it require construction of a fish passage facility to allow migrating fish access to upstream waters.

On December 11, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) approved new standards for dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the Saluda River in South Carolina. These standards are supported by environmental groups - including the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (SCCCL) - that are currently engaged in hydropower relicensing on the Saluda River. These standards await final approval from the DHEC Board, followed by a legislative process that will allow the South Carolina Legislature time to act on the proposed change. Other groups in favor of the standards include American Rivers and the Saluda Scenic River Advisory Council.