Runoff | Feb. ’23

Welcome back to the Runoff, the hydropower blog that is excited to welcome its audio sibling into the world–more on that later. Each month, we capture the region’s most important hydropower news and give you our take on it, along with some more lighthearted and interesting segments along the way.

Hydropower round-up

Northwest hydropower gets an official podcast

On January 27th, Northwest RiverPartners announced the first episode of Dam!, a new podcast covering energy and environmental topics tied to the region’s hydropower system. New episodes will be available every other Friday across popular podcast platforms and will feature conversations with interesting and unique guests.

The premier episode “What’s this Dam! podcast about?” includes the host, Austin Rohr, alongside Northwest RiverPartners executive director, Kurt Miller, as the primary guest. Listeners are introduced to the organization, the staff behind it, and a deeper dive into what to expect from future episodes.

Next week’s episode will feature Erik Steimle of Rye Development to discuss the details regarding pumped storage projects and their role in the transition to a decarbonized grid.

Our Take:

• We’re very excited about this one, and we hope you will be too! Make sure you don’t miss out on any episodes by subscribing on your preferred podcast listening app and turn on notifications. While you’re at it, rate/like Dam! and leave us a positive review (honestly, of course) so we can reach more people!
• If you think you know someone who should absolutely be a guest on the pod, send us your suggestion via info@nwriverpartners.org and we’ll be happy to consider them.

Download the infamous USACE calendar

The fine folks over at the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crafted a hilarious cat calendar for 2023. It didn’t take long before people took notice, and the calendar quickly made national headlines.

Luckily for you, the calendar is 100% free and available for download right here. It’s already February, so get on this now and start planning your year right!

If you’re an avid reader of Runoff, the section following the round-up is typically reserved for your submissions, but we still haven’t gotten any. So, here’s how it works; regular readers and RiverPartners’ members alike can send us hydropower jokes, memes, or awesome photos to info@nwriverpartners.org.

Your great content will be featured right here in a future segment where you’ll get a shout-out for your contribution. As a bonus, we may even send you some goodies in return…

Hydro headlines

Hydropower could help developing nations decarbonize . . . with minimal environmental impact

Africa and Asia have 85 percent of the world’s affordable hydropower, and it is possible to develop the resource while treading lightly, a new analysis shows

Anthropocene

Opinion: Storms in California could mean more hydropower and less risk of summer rolling blackouts

Nuclear power is getting a new look from President Biden and Gov. Newsom as a way to address the climate emergency. Hydropower should as well.

San Diego Union-Tribune

4 ways to store renewable energy that don’t involve batteries

Energy storage is increasingly important as the world depends more on renewables. Here are four clever ways we can store renewable energy without batteries.

World Economic Forum

Congress, Biden give go-ahead to Howard Hanson Dam fish passage project

$878 million facility to improve salmon runs, habitat

Kent Reporter