Selecting the best evaluation technique for hydropower facilities

Hydropower facility operators are required to evaluate impacts of their facilities on fish for a variety of licensing and regulatory reasons. It is often challenging for facility operators to determine the most cost effective means to evaluate the metrics for which they are held responsible. We present an evaluation process for examining the technologies and techniques available that can address common hydropower metrics in a scientifically robust and cost effective manner. Our approach begins with examination of the goals of the hydropower operator and their evaluation metrics as well as their required sampling stratifications.  Next, we take an unbiased approach to examine all techniques and technologies available to meet their goals. A fatal flaws analysis is performed on these techniques, eliminating those which are constrained by site specific conditions. Armed with this information, we conduct an alternatives analysis taking into account site specific physical and hydraulic conditions, strengths and weaknesses associated with each technology as it applies to the facility, statistical precision and accuracy, and cost effectiveness.  Results from this analysis can be presented to stakeholders for collaborative discussion. In this presentation we demonstrate this approach as a case study applied to a hydropower facility on the Cowlitz River, WA.