Most run-of-river B.C. hydro projects can harm fish

Run of river hydro projects in BC are touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to large scale hydro projects. 

What these new projects don't have in size, they make up in sheer numbers. They are making it up in intrusions into hundreds of undeveloped areas with roads, dams, pipelines, temporary construc­tion camps, and a permanent spiderwork of transmission lines.

LINK (via: Watershed Sentinal)

Now an interim study by the Pacific Salmon Foundation suggests that almost 100 percent of private run-of-river power projects studied in B.C. are located on streams where they could affect fish.

LINK (via:Vancouver Sun)

Fish Return To A Mining County River

The Cheat River runs through historic mining country in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. Coal has been an economic boost to the area, but often at a cost to the environment.

The Cheat was one such casualty.

LINK (via: NPR)

Madison River Valley: Saving a Last Best Place

The Madison River Valley, in southwest Montana near the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, is one of West’s last best places. Trout Unlimited is partnering with the Trust for Public Land to restore flows and protect habitat and open space in the Madison Valley, a critical migration corridor for wildlife and a world-class wild trout fishery. Outfitter and Sun Ranch manager Craig Mathews explains how the partnership is keeping the river and its tributaries healthy and protecting the valley from overdevelopment.

TAPPED OUT -- The Upper Colorado River on the Brink

From The Story Group

Denver and the Front Range need more water, mainly for residential lawns. Their plan to take up to 20% more of the Upper Colorado and Fraser rivers, 80% in all, is pushing a stressed river ecosystem to the brink. Is residential landscaping worth the risk, or can conservation on the Front Range solve the problem?

Gold Miners Frustrated by New EPA Permit

Idaho suction dredge hobbyists miners are crying the blues about having to obtain an EPA permit which helps prevent violations of the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.

LINK (via: MagicValley.com)

National Atlas Streamer Map

A new U.S. Geological Survey interactive map lets viewers trace the nation’s waterways – both where they go and where they come from.

With the National Atlas Streamer map you can explore our Nation's major streams by tracing upstream to their source or downstream to where they empty. In addition to making maps, Streamer creates reports about your stream traces and the places they pass through.

LINK (via:The Missoulian)