Notes

Reservoir sediment and river erosion management
Constructing fish passage facilities
Modifying dam operations to restore river flows
Building fish hatcheries
Controlling the temperature and oxygen levels of water released from dams
Conserving and remediating land surrounding reservoirs, rivers and dams

All of that changed when PSE, federal and state fisheries agencies, tribal biologists and the U.S. Forest Service came together to save the sockeye. The solution for downstream migration of juvenile salmon has been an innovative floating surface collector.

For getting adult sockeye back upstream, PSE completed construction in 2010 of a new, highly automated fish trap below Lower Baker Dam.

By installing fish lifts, Safe Harbor and three other hydropower projects on the Susquehanna (Conowingo, York Haven and Holtwood) have reopened 435 miles of the river to natural migrations and restored annual spawning populations, spending over $75 million to help these migratory fish, which are a vital part of Pennsylvania’s natural, cultural and economic heritage.

Fish ladders are another way that hydropower facilities mitigate dam impacts and help local wildlife to flourish. Structures like the one pictured above allow migrating fish to bypass the dam by swimming up a series of shallow steps and into the waters on the other side of the structure.

Southern Company’s nationally recognized initiative, Renew Our Rivers, has removed more than 10 million pounds of trash since the program began in 2Alabama Power’s 14 hydroelectric plants provide more than 150,000 acres of water and 4,000 miles of shoreline for the public’s enjoyment, and the company has taken a lead role in maintaining the many additional benefits that hydropower can provide and ensuring that there is a healthy ecosystem for fish and wildlife.