Hydropower Reform Coalition - American Rivers

American Rivers Accepting River Restoration Proposals

Rupak Thapaliya — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:11:37 -0500

American Rivers recently announced the opening of the American Rivers-NOAA grant for 2009 for river restoration projects. According to American Rivers, since 2001, this partnership has provided technical and financial assistance to community based projects that aim to restore fish species by removal of stream barriers such as dams.

Grant proposals will be accepted for projects in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northwest and California only.

The deadline for submitting applications is December 3, 2008.

According to American Rivers, during the first seven years of the partnership, the program has provided more than $2 million to support 100 community-driven river restoration projects that have benefited diadromous fish populations and habitats throughout the country.

For more information on the grants and application process, visit American Rivers' NOAA Grants page.

Read more about NOAA's Community-based Restoration Program here.

American Rivers Seeks Proposals for River Restoration Projects

Rupak Thapaliya — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:36:20 -0600

American Rivers is seeking proposals for projects that aim for restoration of diadromous fish through dam removal projects. Projects in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northwest and California are eligible to apply for this funding made possible through the NOAA's Open Rivers Initiative.

According to American Rivers, in the first six years of the partnership with NOAA, this program provided more than $2 million to support 100 community-driven river restoration projects that have benefited diadromous fish populations and habitats throughout the country.

Applications for the second cycle of FY08 are due by April 1, 2008.Please contact Serena McClain at American Rivers (see below) to discuss potential projects before submitting your proposals. Visit www.americanrivers.org/NOAAGrants for more information on the grant and to the download guidlines and application forms.

Contact:
Serena S. McClain
American Rivers
1101 14th St. NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005
Email: rivergrants@americanrivers.org

Supreme Court Upholds States' Right to Protect Rivers from Hydropower Dams

John Seebach — Mon, 15 May 2006 07:00:00 -0500

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a 9-0 opinion in the case of S.D. Warren v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection, rejecting a South African paper company' s bid to exempt five of its hydroelectric dams in Maine from the Clean Water Act. In doing so, the court upheld states' long-established practice of requiring hydropower dams to comply with state water quality standards, as well as established science demonstrating dams' impact on water quality.

Coalition members American Rivers and Friends of the Presumpscot River (FOPR) were formal intervenors to the case, strongly supporting Maine's right to require dams on its rivers to live up to the state's water quality standards. They were joined by the Bush Administration, a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 35 states and territories, American Indian tribes, angling groups, leading river scientists and engineers, more than four dozen conservation and recreation NGOs, and others that filed "friend of the Court" briefs in support of Maine's position.

While hydropower dams can provide a number of benefits, they do so at considerable cost to rivers. Dams can destroy healthy fisheries, harm river ecosystems, and limit recreational opportunities. Since the 1970s, states have used the Clean Water Act to mitigate many of these harmful impacts.

A win by S.D. Warren could have given the hydropower industry a long-sought-after loophole allowing dam owners to escape state water quality requirements. Instead, the Court recognized that dams can cause severe water quality impacts that are a state's "legitimate legislative business," and calling states' Clean Water Act authority over federally-licensed hydropower dams "a system that respects the States' concerns."