@article {45435, title = {Fish community responses to stream flow alterations and habitat modifications by small hydropower projects in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India}, journal = {Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems}, volume = {28}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, pages = {9792-993}, abstract = {
  1. Small hydropower projects (SHPs) are promoted as environmentally benign alternatives to larger dams; however, the impacts of SHPs have been poorly studied, especially in tropical developing countries, where their growth is being encouraged.
  2. This study assessed the impacts of two SHPs on freshwater fish communities in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India. Two dammed and one undammed tributary of the Netravathi River, having similar stream order, elevation, and surrounding land-use types, were identified as test and control sites respectively. Stream geometry, water chemistry, and fish assemblages were compared across upstream, dewatered, and downstream location categories within and across the three streams.
  3. Flow alterations induced by SHPs affected the dewatered river stretches most severely. Stream wetted width and depths diminished drastically in dammed dewatered segments, and consequently this region was characterized by elevated water temperature and reduced dissolved oxygen.
  4. Fish species composition varied significantly between dammed and undammed sites, across the upstream, dewatered, and downstream location categories. Dammed segments had lower fish species richness, diversity, and endemicity, and were dominated by eurytopic species (adapted to lentic conditions), unlike the control site, which was dominated by rheophilic species (adapted to flowing waters). Regression analyses indicated that fish species richness in dammed streams increased with distance from the dam in the upstream direction.
  5. The SHPs were found to have severe impacts on stream geometry, water chemistry, and aquatic biota, especially in the dry season.
  6. Given the ambitious targets of planned SHP growth, most of which are within ecologically fragile regions, changes in SHP operations and policies are proposed to enable the conservation of river fish diversity. These include mandatory environmental impact assessments, conserving undammed headwater streams in regulated basins, maintaining adequate environmental flows, and implementing other mitigation measures.
}, doi = {10.1002/aqc.2904}, author = {Jumani, Suman and Rao, Shishir and Kelkar, Nachiket} } @article {12204, title = {Big concerns with small projects: Evaluating the socio-ecological impacts of small hydropower projects in India.}, journal = {Ambio}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jan 10}, abstract = {

Although Small Hydropower Projects (SHPs) are encouraged as sources of clean and green energy, there is a paucity of research examining their socio-ecological impacts. We assessed the perceived socio-ecological impacts of 4 SHPs within the Western Ghats in India by conducting semi-structured interviews with local respondents. Primary interview data were sequentially validated with secondary data, and respondent perceptions were subsequently compared against the expected baseline of assured impacts. We evaluated the level of awareness about SHPs, their perceived socio-economic impacts, influence on resource access and impacts on human-elephant interactions. The general level of awareness about SHPs was low, and assurances of local electricity and employment generation remained largely unfulfilled. Additionally most respondents faced numerous unanticipated adverse impacts. We found a strong relationship between SHP construction and increasing levels of human-elephant conflict. Based on the disparity between assured and actual social impacts, we suggest that policies regarding SHPs be suitably revised.

}, issn = {1654-7209}, doi = {10.1007/s13280-016-0855-9}, author = {Jumani, Suman and Rao, Shishir and Machado, Siddarth and Prakash, Anup} }