Sustainable governance of river basins with Hydropower production

The SusWater project has focused on water management in regulated rivers influenced by hydropower production. The project is highly interdisciplinary and has used different approaches and methods to analyse how we can establish a more unified water management that integrates economic, social and environmental considerations. Knowledge is fragmented. This creates challenges for better understanding and acceptance both locally and nationally, while at the same time meeting international energy and environmental policy commitments. In this context, the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the EU Water Framework Directive, implemented through national laws and regulations, are instrumental. Norway is committed to developing comprehensive water management across municipal and county boundaries, in line with catchments as specified in the EU Water Directive. This is made in Norway through the water regulations. At the same time, Norway is committed to stimulate increased consumption of renewable energy in line with the EU's Renewable Energy Directive, which also stimulates increased renewable electricity production. EU directives can create political and administrative challenges for energy and environmental policy in general, and in particular coordination related to certain economic activities such as hydropower production. At the same time, the Norwegian Water Regulations Act for the revision of terms in time-limited hydropower licenses opens issues that can challenge energy and environmental considerations. Challenges related to how these different considerations can be better handled, maintained and united are central. With these references, SusWater has highlighted various aspects of Norwegian water management in regulated rivers, while also including references to relevant management practices in Sweden and Austria. One of the goals in the project has been to develop a decision support tool. This has been demanding, but the project has through its interdisciplinary approach highlighted various dimensions, conditions and challenges that can improve water management. Norwegian administrative practice must be knowledge-based and the project has, through various academic deliverables, provided better insight into the current challenges and such a good basis for better and more unified solutions that can create general acceptance for the specific water management that is exercised in rivers affected by hydropower production. Six questions are structuring the research: 1. What are the current regulatory challenges of implementing the EU WFD? 2. How to characterise hydrological and morphological changes in rivers due to hydropower? 3. How much water is enough to fulfil specific environmental objectives? 4. What are the use values and representative indicators for the different water use interests at waterbody and river basin scales? 5. How can decision?support methods and procedures be optimised at waterbody and river basin scales? 6. How can we improve governance in river basins with hydropower production?

Det finnes ulike regulatoriske og forvaltningsmessige utfordringene knyttet til styrket vannforvaltning i vassdrag med kraftproduksjon. SusWater har analysert vannplanarbeidet i forbindelse med EUs vanndirektiv, og analysert konsesjoner der det er igangsatt vilkårsrevisjoner. I tillegg har også casestudier i to vannområder gitt bedre innsikt og forståelse for relevante forhold det bør tas hensyn til i videre forvaltningspraksis. SusWater har utviklet indikatorer som beskriver sammenhengen mellom fysiske forhold og ulike aktiviteter og nyttehavere. Ulike verdielementer som kan knyttes til det regulerte vassdraget og hvordan ulike nyttehavere håndterer disse er dokumentert. Dette har gitt en helhetlig oversikt over aktiviteter, brukere og nyttehavere knyttet til økonomiske interesser, økosystemtjenester og sosio-kulturelle forhold. Dette kan brukes videre til å sette klarere miljømål og bedre vannforvaltningen.

With the increasing competition for water resources for multiple uses, there is a strong demand from all stakeholders for more robust and transparent assessment of proposed measures for the benefit of watershed management schemes. There is extensive knowledge that can be applied by decisions makers, but prevailing efforts are not consolidated and refined in a coordinated and cross-thematical way. Knowledge is fragmented. Besides, the dialogue among relevant stakeholders is often weak. As a consequence, regulatory efforts become insufficient and implemented measures suboptimal. The EnergiX call asks specifically for projects dealing with sustainability and resource efficiency. Further, it emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary research that focus on processes, models and tools for planning and trade-offs between various solutions. The SusWater will seek a more comprehensive understanding of relevant factors enabling better solutions for all concerned parties on HP - including the industry, the society and the environment. The project will in line with the EnergiX call improve the scientific knowledge and base for evaluation of measures, contribute to improved decision-making procedures and propose a toolkit for improved governance in water bodies and river basins with HP production. In order to answer the overall research question: how to formulate and implement more comprehensive watershed management schemes (WP5), we need to have a better understanding of regulatory framework (WP1), hydrological conditions (WP2), how to apply deliberative and economic evaluation techniques (WP3) as well as testing the applications by using multicriteria decision analysis (WP4. A case study approach will be undertaken. The cases will be selected in close dialogue with the industrial partners. They will function as an organizing device to secure stringent science enabling better comparisons, dialogue and robust scientific findings.