Hydropower licenses often specify where flows must be monitored, the thresholds that must be maintained, and the documentation required to demonstrate compliance. Meeting those requirements becomes more challenging when flow information is incomplete or unavailable.
Some compliance locations have no stream gauge. Others rely on gauges that are difficult to maintain or occasionally fail during the very events operators care about most. Even where monitoring infrastructure exists, operators still need to anticipate changing conditions.
While FERC license conditions are a common example, the same gap shows up anywhere a state or federal water agency requires flow monitoring or reporting. Similar challenges exist under instream flow agreements, water rights administration, and environmental compliance programs, where operators still need to make informed decisions despite gaps in monitoring data.
HydroForecast improves situational awareness and fills those information gaps with streamflow forecasts that support more informed operational and compliance decisions.
See conditions at your compliance locations, even without a gauge
Not every location identified in a FERC license has a long-term gauge record, and installing new monitoring infrastructure is not always practical. Even so, operators are still responsible for understanding conditions at those locations and making operational decisions that support license requirements.
HydroForecast can generate streamflow forecasts at ungauged locations without local observations using a machine learning model trained on hundreds of diverse watersheds. By learning how weather, snowpack, watershed characteristics, and hydrologic conditions interact, the model can estimate streamflow at locations where traditional forecasting approaches would require years of local measurements.
That gives operators better visibility into conditions at tributaries, compliance points, and environmentally sensitive reaches where little or no flow information is available.
An example of this: a utility managing a large storage reservoir uses HydroForecast to support environmental flow requirements at several compliance locations influenced by ungauged tributaries. Rather than relying solely on reservoir inflow forecasts, operators can estimate conditions and better coordinate releases to maintain required flow targets across multiple locations.
→ See how HydroForecast fills information gaps at ungauged locations.
Maintain situational awareness when monitoring infrastructure fails
Stream gauges are an essential part of hydropower operations, but compliance decisions don't stop when gauges go offline. Operators may still need to understand likely river conditions, evaluate operational options, or communicate with regulators and stakeholders while observations are unavailable.
Extreme weather, communication failures, ice, debris, and power interruptions can temporarily disrupt observations, often during the periods when information is needed most. During Hurricane Helene, for example, multiple USGS gauges stopped reporting while flooding was still developing.
HydroForecast doesn't replace those observations. It provides an independent source of streamflow estimates that can help maintain operational context during temporary monitoring outages or data delays.
For many operators, that additional context helps maintain confidence in decisions until monitoring systems return to service.
Plan for uncertainty, not just the most likely outcome
Many compliance decisions must be made hours or days before conditions unfold. Waiting for observations alone may not provide enough time to adjust operations.
Minimum instream flows, maximum release limits, and ramping rate requirements all call for operators to anticipate changing conditions before they happen. Looking at a single forecast value often does not provide enough context to understand compliance risk.
HydroForecast combines probabilistic forecasts with configurable threshold alerts, helping operators evaluate a range of possible flow outcomes and adjust operational plans based on their risk tolerance.
→ Learn how probabilistic forecasts support risk-informed decisions.
Support long-term compliance and stakeholder communication
Demonstrating compliance also requires clear communication with regulators, downstream water users, and other stakeholders. Operators are often expected to communicate planned operations and expected river conditions throughout the life of a project. Having a shared understanding of expected river conditions helps support conversations before operational decisions are made.
Several HydroForecast users share forecast hydrographs directly with external stakeholders, including irrigation districts, municipal water managers, recreation groups, and tribal partners. Sharing a common view of expected river conditions helps keep regulators, water users, and other stakeholders working from the same information.
Get another layer of visibility where your license requires it
Whether the challenge is an ungauged compliance location, temporary monitoring outages, or planning releases under uncertainty, HydroForecast helps operators make more informed compliance decisions by filling critical information gaps.
Talk to our team about how HydroForecast can support your environmental flow and compliance requirements.
