Estuary News, August 1999

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | August 15th, 1999

Estuary News, February 2001

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | February 15th, 2001

Estuary News, October 2003

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | October 15th, 2003

Final Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration PG&E’s Upper Drum-Spaulding Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 2310) and Lower Drum Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 14531)

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | February 1st, 2021

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has prepared this Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) to provide the public, responsible age

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has prepared this Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) to provide the public, responsible agencies, and trustee agencies with information about the potential environmental effects of relicensing the two specified Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) hydroelectric projects, collectively referred to as the Proposed Projects: Upper Drum-Spaulding Hydroelectric Project (Proposed Upper Drum-Spaulding Project) - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2310; and Lower Drum Hydroelectric Project (Proposed Lower Drum Project) - FERC Project No. 14531.

Forty-year hydropower generation reanalysis for Conterminous United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 19th, 2025

First published in 2022, the RectifHyd dataset provides hydrologically consistent estimates of monthly net generation for approximately 1,500 hydropower plants in

First published in 2022, the RectifHyd dataset provides hydrologically consistent estimates of monthly net generation for approximately 1,500 hydropower plants in the United States, addressing a gap in industrial surveys that have collected monthly generation data from only ~10% of plants post-2003. Here we present RectifHydPlus—an extended and enhanced dataset that improves on both the proxy information and temporal downscaling methodology adopted in RectifHyd. In addition to providing updated estimates of historical monthly generation for 590 plants with >10 MW nameplate capacity from 1980 through 2019, RectifHydPlus adds a hydrological control dataset that isolates the influence of historical water availability on generation. The new hydrological control dataset is suited to applications seeking to represent the capabilities of the contemporary fleet subject to historical interannual variability in climate. RectifHydPlus also includes a forty-year, daily-resolution, spill-adjusted water release time series for each dam, allowing users to aggregate generation estimates to the desired temporal resolution.

From Desert Wasteland to Agricultural Wonderland: The Story of Water and Power

Imperial Irrigation District (IID) | October 3rd, 1977

Hydro-Electric Development in California

Scientific American | August 2nd, 1913

A glance at a map of California similar to that accompanying this article, on which is portrayed the veritable network of long-distance transmission lines that mark th

A glance at a map of California similar to that accompanying this article, on which is portrayed the veritable network of long-distance transmission lines that mark the course of hydro-electric development from end to end of the State, might convey to one not acquainted with actual conditions, the impression that there is but little left undeveloped of the sources of water-power with which this wonderland of the West abounded when first adventurous man started out in his now far-reaching enterprise among the head-waters of our mountain streams. This impression has, indeed, been circulated widely by those who in pursuit of a. policy of so-called conservation would hinder the development of California/s natural resources, and so, her progress and advancement. What foundation it has in fact may be gathered from certain statistics to hand. Mr. M.O. Leighton, Chief Hydrographer of the United States Geological Survey at Washington, in an article on “Water-power in the United States," published in the May number, 1909, of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, writes: “The “water power plants in the United States make productive use of only 5,500,000 horse-power, less than one fortieth of that ultimately available.” The report of the United States Geological Survey upon California, published March, 1912, gives the following figures for our State: Potential horse-power development on a basis of 90 per cent efiiciency; minimum 4,109,000, estimated maximum 9,382,000; on a basis of 75 per cent efficiency, minimum 3,424,000, estimated maximum 7,818,000.

Hydropower capacity factors trending down in the United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 27th, 2024

Impacts of California’s Ongoing Drought: Hydroelectricity Generation

Pacific Institute | March 17th, 2015

California’s hottest and driest drought in recorded history is shifting the sources of energy for electricity with adverse economic and environmental consequences. The

California’s hottest and driest drought in recorded history is shifting the sources of energy for electricity with adverse economic and environmental consequences. The Pacific Institute, an internationally-renowned independent think tank focused on water issues, released a report that reveals diminished river flows have resulted in less hydroelectricity, more expensive electricity, and increased production of greenhouse gas emissions. “This severe drought has many negative consequences. One of them that receives little attention is how the drought has fundamentally changed the way our electricity is produced,” said the report’s author, Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick. “We hope this report prompts a lively debate on how to factor in a changing climate when we plan for electricity generation,” he added. Under normal conditions, electricity for the state’s millions of users is produced from a blend of many sources, with natural gas and hydropower being the top two. Since the drought has reduced the state’s river flows that power hundreds of hydropower stations, natural gas has become a more prominent player in the mix. This is an expensive change. According to the Institute’s report, between October 2011 and October 2014, California’s ratepayers spent $1.4 billion more for electricity than in average years because of the drought-induced shift from hydropower to natural gas. In an average year, hydropower provides 18 percent of the electricity needed for agriculture, industry, and our homes. Comparatively, in this three-year drought period, hydropower comprised less than 12 percent of total California electricity generation. A longer view reveals an even more startling economic impact: factoring in the dry years from 2007-2009, the total additional energy cost to the state’s electricity users during the six years of recent drought was $2.4 billion. This further reliance on natural gas for the state’s electricity production also has environmental costs. Hydropower produces few or no air contaminants, whereas burning natural gas emits many pollutants, including climate-changing greenhouse gases. During the 2011- 2014 drought period, burning more natural gas to compensate for limited hydropower led to an eight-percent increase in emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants from California power plants. If the current drought persists, water flowing to drive hydroelectric turbines will continue to shrink and expensive and polluting natural gas will become even more of a factor in the electricity production game.

Impacts of California’s Ongoing Drought: Hydroelectricity Generation 2015 Update

Pacific Institute | February 1st, 2016

The Pacific Institute has released a comprehensive assessment of the costs to California of lost hydroelectricity during the four years of drought from October 2011 to th

The Pacific Institute has released a comprehensive assessment of the costs to California of lost hydroelectricity during the four years of drought from October 2011 to the end of September 2015 (the official California “water year” runs from October 1 to September 30). Under normal conditions, electricity for the state’s millions of users is produced from a blend of many sources, with natural gas and hydropower being the top two. Since the drought has reduced the state’s river flows that power hundreds of hydropower stations, natural gas has become a more prominent player in the mix. This is an expensive change. According to the Institute’s new report, the four years of drought led to an increase in electricity costs of more than $2.0 billion. The additional combustion of fossil fuels for electric generation also led to a 10 percent increase in the release of carbon dioxide from California power plants. “The impacts of the California drought – which is the driest and the hottest in 120 years of instrumental records and one of the worst in history – has had widespread  impacts on all water users, including farmers, industries, cities, and natural ecosystems,” said the report’s author, Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick. “And in fact, all California ratepayers are affected by the drought as they pay for electricity that is both dirtier and more expensive than in non-drought years.” In addition, the report notes that the ability to expand California’s hydroelectric capacity is limited, as there are few undammed rivers, little unallocated water, and growing environmental, economic, and political constraints to adding new hydropower capacity.