The HyPeak research network is organising a webinar series around the topic of hydropeaking. The webinars will take place every second month to share relevant knowledge about hydropeaking issues and foster knowledge exchange and discussions. Attendance is free of charge.

Registration: Please register here at least one day before each webinar.

The zoom-link to the webinar will be shared with you after your registration.

The 1st webinar of this series will take place on 9 Februrary 2022, 16:30-18:30 CET.

Programme

Moderator: Jo H. Halleraker (NTNU)

16:30 Updates from the HyPeak research network by core group (M. Alp, M. Noack, M. C. Bruno, R. Casas-Mulet & I. Boavida)

You will get to know more about: HyPeak survey, RRA special issue on innovation in hydropeaking research, new membership and further plans.

16:45 “Hydropeaking research and mitigation in Austria – status and future perspectives seen from a hydrologist” by Dipl. Ing. Franz Greimel, Inst of Hydrobiology and water management at BOKU (Austria)

Relevant links and further information:

• Greimel et al (2016). A method to detect and characterize sub-daily flow fluctuations. Hydrol. Process. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10773
• Greimel et al (2018). Hydropeaking Impacts and Mitigation. In Riverine Ecosystem Management: (editors S. Schmutz and J. Sansimir), Aquatic Ecology Series 8, Springer. DOI; 10.1007/978-3-319-73250-3_5
• CV and publication of Franz Greimel (BOKU) https://boku.ac.at/en/personen/person/3C48FE5EB192E42C

17:30 What fish wants – last chance for Tyrol’s Inn River.

A film-documentary about hydropeaking and other challenges for the grayling and other species in the river Inn (Tyrol, Austria) made by filmmaker Christoph J. Walder (EcoTone)

A 58 minute film about What Fish Want. This documentary film examines the life and behaviour of the fish in the Inn River (Austria). It also explores the reasons for the dramatic disappearance of vast numbers of the river‘s inhabitants. The film documents the largely unknown but significant effects of hydropower on the underwater world and accompanies conservationists and fishermen in their attempt to make the Inn a diverse and liveable river again.

Further webinar dates

30^th March 2022, 17:00 – 18:00 (CEST) – “Sustainable Hydropeaking Management”

8^th June 2022, 17:00 – 18:00 (CEST) – “Effects of Hydropeaking on bio-physical Processes”

About HyPeak

The HyPeak research network was established in 2020 to encourage integrated interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge to address the complex challenges of hydropeaking in a changing world with an increasing flexible energy demand. Hydro4U partner BOKU is a member of this network.

HyPeak’s vision is to bring together a reference group of experts to support evidence-based legislation at different levels (from national to international) and to enhance the value of the interaction between hydropeaking research and policy.

You will find more information about the HyPeak network on the follwing webpages, where also the presentations from the webinars will be uploaded:

• HyPeak: Hydropeaking Research Network | Groups | LinkedIn
• HYPEAK: HYDROPEAKING RESEARCH NETWORK | Roser Casas-Mulet | 2 updates | Research Project (researchgate.net)
• HyPeakNetwork (@hy_peak) / Twitter

In a time where sustainable development and management of the globe’s resources is more important than ever, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) draws upon 150 years of international research and management expertise. Within Hydro4U, BOKU plays a key role in finding sustainable hydropower development solutions in Central Asia’s multidisciplinary and complex environment.

A team of highly motivated researchers from two BOKU institutes – the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research (IWA) and the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management (IHG) – with profound experience in integrative river basin planning and environmental research is involved in several project tasks. Working with state-of-the-art tools at different spatial scales, the BOKU team will explore the sustainable small-scale hydropower potential and develop decision support tools for the detection of potential sites. BOKU scientists will also conduct extensive field measurements to provide invaluable baseline data for installing the two demo hydropower facilities.

The successful start of BOKU’s project activities – together with its project partners hydrosolutions GmbH (HSOL), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the “Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers” National Research University (TIIAME NRU), and SJE Ecohydraulic Engineering – resulted in a unique geodatabase, currently consisting of over 40 usable spatially relevant data sets assigned to six thematic sectors. This Hydro4U database provides a key starting point and a central element for research questions and project tasks of multiple work packages dealing with the analysis and replication of unexploited small-scale hydropower potential as well as the Water-Food-Energy-Climate nexus. Motivated by this project deliverable’s success, the BOKU team now delves into methodological and conceptional research questions, sustainability assessments and is looking forward to furthering exchange within the project team and the stakeholders, jointly developing sustainable solutions for small-scale hydropower  in Central Asia.

Authors: Beatrice Wagner, Helmut Habersack – BOKU IWA | Daniel S. Hayes – BOKU IHG

Partner Description: BOKU
Website: https://boku.ac.at/en/
Twitter: @BOKUvienna, @BOKU_IHG

SJE Ecohydraulic Engineering GmbH celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2021. Founded in 2001, the company works at the interface between river hydraulics and river ecology. Since then, SJE has been involved in various research projects, while at the same time developing new technologies, in particular modelling tools for eco-hydraulic studies, and applying these new tools to environmental impact assessment, especially with regard to hydropower plants.

In Hydro4U, SJE and its associated partner KJ Consult are responsible for the planning of sustainable small-scale hydropower (SHP) at several demonstration and planning sites. The design and operation strategies of the planned hydropower plant (HPP) will be optimised in order to minimise environmental impacts. Main aspects considered are e.g.

• riverine habitats upstream and downstream of the HPP sites and potential compensatory measures to support river ecology,
• environmental flows to be released to ensure good ecological conditions for aquatic organisms in all seasons,
• the optimised operation of turbines to prevent rapid flow changes and
• the design of upstream and downstream migration facilities integrating telemetry studies and innovative modelling (using tools developed in the H2020 project FIThydro).

To reach the goal of implementing environmentally friendly hydropower, SJE closely cooperates with local experts (Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers, Uzbekistan) as well as with renowned European partners (BOKU Vienna, Austria and EVINBO Brussels, Belgium) integrating knowledge in fish ecology, water quality, sampling and tracking technologies, environmental hydraulics and hydrology. The fish species caught by the local fish ecology expert in the area of the potential HPP sites that could serve as indicators for river ecology are snow trout (Schizothorax sp., first picture) and a genus of stone loach (Nemacheilus sp., second picture). Their habitat requirements serve as input for habitat investigations, carried out using the SJE software CASiMiR (www.casimir-software.de) for environmental flow setting.

Authors: Matthias Schneider, SJE Ecohydraulic Engineering GmbH

Photo credits: Bakhtiyor Karimov, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers