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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119124203im_/http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/images/space.gif)
Hydropower and Fish Passage
Salmon and other migrating fish, such as shad and sturgeon, need access to freshwater habitat for spawning and rearing their young. Some fish need to swim thousands of miles through oceans and rivers to reach their destination. Unfortunately, that journey is often blocked by more than two million man-made barriers, such as hydropower dams, that exist in many rivers and streams across the country.
Hydropower energy installations such as dams and tidal and wave energy projects can adversely impact habitat and marine resources. NOAA works with other federal agencies and hydropower plant operators to avoid or reduce the impact to fish and their habitat.
We work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and dam operators to safeguard these species and their habitat by providing protection and fish passage measures in the dam licensing process. Since FERC licenses have a term of 30 to 50 years, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect and improve many miles of habitat degraded by changes in water flow and quality from dam operations.
![Fish jumping up fish ladder](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170119124203im_/http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/images/hydropower_fish_passage_01.jpg)
Useful Links
- Final Rule: Resource Agency Hearings and Alternatives Development Procedures in Hydropower Licenses
- Moving Fish: Fishways Connect Habitats and Support Coastal Communities
- Ladders and Licenses: Fish Passages Play Role in Relicensing Hydroelectric Facilities
- Comment on revisions to hydropower rules through June 1, 2015
- Diadromous Fish Passage: A Primer on Technology, Planning, and Design for the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (pdf - 4.93mb)
- Anadromous Salmonid Passage Facility Design - 2011 (pdf – 1.20mb)
- National Fish Habitat Action Plan 2nd Edition (pdf – 6.43mb)
- Chesapeake Bay Fish Passage