Data, Tools, and Publications for Water Power Research
HydroSource is a National Energy-Water digital platform designed to help the hydropower community make data-driven decisions.
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Featured Resources
Explore curated highlights across HydroSource. Pick a category to see featured datasets, maps, tools, publications, or news.
Dataset
National Hydropower Fish Passage Database
Fish passage facilities are used to mitigate impacts of hydropower dams to migratory fish…
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Dataset
Existing Hydropower Assets (EHA) Plant Database, 2025
The Existing Hydropower Assets (EHA) Plant Database is a geospatially comprehensive point-level dataset containing locations…
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Dataset
Technical Potential for Hydropower Capacity at Non-powered Dams
In the last decade, retrofits of existing nonpowered dams (NPDs) have made up the…
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Map
The Interactive National Hydropower Map
Abstract The Interactive National Hydropower Map displays the geospatial distribution and characteristics of U.S. operational hydropower…
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Map
HydroSource Story Map: A story on US Hydropower Data for Basin-Scale Applications
Abstract The HydroSource Story Map present a high-level overview of ORNL’s HydroSource data products that can…
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Map
Lifecycle of US Hydropower Facilities
The lifecycle of a hydropower project involves several stages, from initial planning/resource assessment through…
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Tool
HydroSource Data Explorer
The HydroSource Data Explorer (HDE) is a web based geospatial application that allows users…
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Tool
An Environmental Decision Support Toolkit (EDS) for Streamlining Hydropower Licensing
The EDS Toolkit is a science-based tool for hydropower stakeholder collaboration designed to: The EDS Toolkit…
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Tool
Hydropower Fish Passage Webmap
The National Fish Passage Webmap application provides an environment that allows users to visualize…
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Publication
Baseline Cost Model for Hydropower: Documentation (2025)
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Publication
U.S. Hydropower Market Report (2025 update)
This slide deck complements the fourth complete edition of the U.S. Hydropower Market Report…
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Publication
A census of fish passage facilities at US hydropower developments across the conterminous United States
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News
HydroSource Releases AI-Enhanced Database of Environmental Mitigation Measures for Hydropower Licenses
Environmental mitigation measures are a critical step in the hydropower licensing process, addressing facilities’…
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News
Updated Hydropower Cost Model Expands Capabilities for Early-Stage Planning and Analysis
Understanding project costs is one of the earliest and most important steps in hydropower…
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News
Reservoir Sedimentation and Storage Capacity Analysis Supported by New HydroSource Datasets
Sediment accumulation behind dams is a widespread challenge for reservoirs across the United States.…
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Built for the water power community
HydroSource is developed and maintained by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Our goal is to make hydropower data easier to find, use, and trust — for researchers, analysts, and anyone working on water power in the United States.
Learn about HydroSourceHow People Use HydroSource
HydroSource supports policy leaders, government teams, academia, and hydropower operators with trusted data for planning and decision-making.
Policy Leaders
“I had a huge data set of plant coordinates which I was able to verify through HydroSource data - I wouldn’t have been able to do that elsewhere.”
“HydroSource allows me to expedite my data gathering. My experiences with the HydroSource team have been pleasant and productive, in fact, they followed up a month later with another data set that may have been applicable to my needs.”
Academia
“Without HydroSource’s computational intensity, our findings wouldn’t have provided the same level of scientific insight.”
“Without HydroSource provided us with particularly valuable, trusted, high quality data .”
“HydroSource data saved us effort and time and we were able to avoid data duplication.”
Hydropower Operators & Developers
“HydroSource helped our team assess return on investment for upgrading existing assets.”
“We avoided conducting flyovers to assess stream reaches and elevation changes saving our team time.”
“ORNL is a safe place to manage sensitive (project) information.”
Government
“HydroSource is not just a report, it’s valuable data that I can see, analyze, and directly acquire.”
“Without HydroSource data, we wouldn’t know about new hydropower projects and publications that we depend on in order to do our job effectively with the best available research.”
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Browse the full catalog of hydropower datasets, maps, tools, and publications, or visit our learning hub to get oriented quickly.