Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion

Alexander S Flecker¹, Qinru Shi², Rafael M Almeida^{1

3}, Héctor Angarita^{4

5

6}, Jonathan M Gomes-Selman⁷, Roosevelt García-Villacorta^{1

8}, Suresh A Sethi³, Steven A Thomas⁹, N LeRoy Poff^{10

11}, Bruce R Forsberg^{12

13}, Sebastian A Heilpern^{3

14}, Stephen K Hamilton^{15

16}, Jorge D Abad¹⁷, Elizabeth P Anderson¹⁸, Nathan Barros¹⁹, Isabel Carolina Bernal²⁰, Richard Bernstein^{2

21}, Carlos M Cañas²², Olivier Dangles²³, Andrea C Encalada²⁴, Ayan S Fleischmann²⁵, Michael Goulding²⁶, Jonathan Higgins²⁷, Céline Jézéquel²⁸, Erin I Larson^{1

29}, Peter B McIntyre³, John M Melack³⁰, Mariana Montoya²², Thierry Oberdorff²⁸, Rodrigo Paiva²⁵, Guillaume Perez², Brendan H Rappazzo^{2

21}, Scott Steinschneider³¹, Sandra Torres^{32

33}, Mariana Varese²², M Todd Walter³¹, Xiaojian Wu², Yexiang Xue^{2

21

34}, Xavier E Zapata-Ríos^{32

33}, Carla P Gomes^{2

21}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
² Institute for Computational Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
³ Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
⁴ Northern Andes and South Central America Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy, Bogotá 110231, Colombia.
⁵ Stockholm Environment Institute Latin America, Bogotá 110231, Colombia.
⁶ Department of Biology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA.
⁸ Centro Peruano para la Biodiversidad y Conservación, Iquitos 16001, Perú.
⁹ School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
¹¹ Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.
¹² National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus 69060-001, Brazil.
¹³ Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Montpelier, VT 05620, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
¹⁵ W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, USA.
¹⁶ Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA.
¹⁷ Centro de Investigación y Tecnología del Agua, Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Lima 15063, Peru.
¹⁸ Department of Earth and Environment and Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil.
²⁰ Departamento de Geología, Escuela Politecnica Nacional, Quito 170525, Ecuador.
²¹ Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
²² Wildlife Conservation Society Peru, Lima 15048, Peru.
²³ Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université de Montpellier, UMR 5175, CNRS, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, F-34293 Montpellier, France.
²⁴ Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática, Instituto BIOSFERA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito 170150, Ecuador.
²⁵ Institute of Hydraulic Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 91501-970, Brazil.
²⁶ Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY 10460, USA.
²⁷ The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203 USA.
²⁸ UMR EDB (Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique), CNRS 5174, IRD253, UPS, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
²⁹ Institute for Culture and Environment, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
³⁰ Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
³¹ Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
³² Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito 170143, Ecuador.
³³ Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Recursos Hídricos, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito 170143, Ecuador.
³⁴ Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.

PMID: 35175810
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj4017

Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion

Alexander S Flecker et al. Science. 2022.

. 2022 Feb 18;375(6582):753-760.

doi: 10.1126/science.abj4017. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
² Institute for Computational Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
³ Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
⁴ Northern Andes and South Central America Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy, Bogotá 110231, Colombia.
⁵ Stockholm Environment Institute Latin America, Bogotá 110231, Colombia.
⁶ Department of Biology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA.
⁸ Centro Peruano para la Biodiversidad y Conservación, Iquitos 16001, Perú.
⁹ School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
¹¹ Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.
¹² National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus 69060-001, Brazil.
¹³ Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Montpelier, VT 05620, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
¹⁵ W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, USA.
¹⁶ Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA.
¹⁷ Centro de Investigación y Tecnología del Agua, Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Lima 15063, Peru.
¹⁸ Department of Earth and Environment and Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil.
²⁰ Departamento de Geología, Escuela Politecnica Nacional, Quito 170525, Ecuador.
²¹ Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
²² Wildlife Conservation Society Peru, Lima 15048, Peru.
²³ Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université de Montpellier, UMR 5175, CNRS, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, F-34293 Montpellier, France.
²⁴ Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática, Instituto BIOSFERA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito 170150, Ecuador.
²⁵ Institute of Hydraulic Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 91501-970, Brazil.
²⁶ Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY 10460, USA.
²⁷ The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203 USA.
²⁸ UMR EDB (Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique), CNRS 5174, IRD253, UPS, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
²⁹ Institute for Culture and Environment, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
³⁰ Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
³¹ Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
³² Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito 170143, Ecuador.
³³ Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Recursos Hídricos, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito 170143, Ecuador.
³⁴ Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.

PMID: 35175810
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj4017

Abstract

Proposed hydropower dams at more than 350 sites throughout the Amazon require strategic evaluation of trade-offs between the numerous ecosystem services provided by Earth's largest and most biodiverse river basin. These services are spatially variable, hence collective impacts of newly built dams depend strongly on their configuration. We use multiobjective optimization to identify portfolios of sites that simultaneously minimize impacts on river flow, river connectivity, sediment transport, fish diversity, and greenhouse gas emissions while achieving energy production goals. We find that uncoordinated, dam-by-dam hydropower expansion has resulted in forgone ecosystem service benefits. Minimizing further damage from hydropower development requires considering diverse environmental impacts across the entire basin, as well as cooperation among Amazonian nations. Our findings offer a transferable model for the evaluation of hydropower expansion in transboundary basins.

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Optimizing Amazonian dams for nature.
Holtgrieve GW, Arias ME. Holtgrieve GW, et al. Science. 2022 Feb 18;375(6582):714-715. doi: 10.1126/science.abn8311. Epub 2022 Feb 17. Science. 2022. PMID: 35175811

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Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion

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Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion

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Abstract

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