摘要：Although hydropower is a source of low-carbon energy, without careful consideration andmanagement, dams have the potential to degrade river ecosystems and the goods and services they provideto society. Today, a broad range of hydropower interests and stakeholders are seeking approaches tohydropower development and operation that are more environmentally and socially sustainable. ThePenobscot River Restoration Project ('the Project') illustrates that basin-scale approaches can provide abroader set of solutions for balancing energy and riverine environmental resources than can be achievedat the scale of individual projects. The Penobscot basin is the largest in Maine and historically supportedculturally and economically significant populations of migratory fish. These migratory fish populationsdeclined dramatically following the construction of a series of hydropower dams on the main stem riverand major tributaries in the early 20th century. The Project, negotiated between a power company (PPLCorporation) and a coalition including the Penobscot Indian Nation, resource agencies, andnongovernmental conservation organizations, features the removal of two main stem dams on the lowerPenobscot and improved fish passage at the dams that remain. Because of various capacity and/or operationalchanges, power production will be increased at the remaining dams and total hydropower energy productionfrom the basin will be maintained or increase slightly. The Project is expected to expand considerably theproportion of the basin accessible to migratory fish and contribute to significant increases in fish populations.The Project illustrates that a basin-scale approach can potentially yield more comprehensive solutions forsustainable hydropower than can be achieved at the project scale, and we recommend that such large-scaleplanning processes can improve the sustainability of both regulatory licensing of existing dams as well asthe planning of future dams in regions undergoing the expansion of water-management infrastructure
关键词：Atlantic salmon; dam removal; hydropower; river restoration
