The Akosombo and Kpong Dam Reoperation Project is well under-way.  From March 7-11, a team from NHI, including colleagues from the University of Stuttgart, embarked on a reconnaissance trip to Ghana.  The trip was highly productive and the team was successful in collecting original river profile data and sediment probes from the Lower Volta River between the mouth and Kpong Dam.  This information will be utilized to better understand the current sediment loads and fluvial-geomorphology, and develop a target restoration hydrograph under re-operation scenarios for this river section.

On-the-ground ecological benefits are emerging after recent implementation of the Marsh Creek Watershed restoration efforts which began over 10 years ago when NHI secured a million dollars from the California Natural Resources Agency's River Parkways Grant Program to restore historic floodplain habitat for fish and other aquatic and bird species along Marsh Creek in the City of Oakley's Creekside Park. 

NHI, Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed, American Rivers and the Contra Costa County Flood Control District completed construction of the Marsh Creek Fish Ladder in the fall of 2011. The fish ladder allows salmon to pass over a concrete barrier and access an additional 7 miles of better spawning habitat upstream. The City of Oakley finished construction on the project in the winter of 2012.  

On November 30, 2012 a rain storm caused Marsh Creek to rise and flood the newly created floodplain. Watch a video of Marsh Creek's new floodplain at Floodplain Video. In January 2013, the City installed a new pedestrian bridge connecting the Marsh Creek Regional Trail to the new park. In January, a Chinook salmon was seen swimming upstream of the barrier for the first time in 50 years. See the article in the Contra Costa Times  A video shows the Chinook salmon jumping out of the water in Marsh Creek: Salmon Jumping Video. A second video shows the salmon swimming up Marsh Creek: Salmon Swimming Video.  

In 2010 Thailand suffered one of the most extreme droughts in recent times.  In 2011 it experienced the worst flood event since records have been kept in the Chao Praya river system that drains the interior of the country and flows through Bangkok.  800 lives were lost and $47 billion in property damage occurred.  NHI is organizing an investigation of the potential to improve flood management, buffer droughts, and restore the fishery of this river by reoperating the two large reservoirs in conjunction with groundwater storage in the aquifers that underlay the irrigation schemes supplied by these dams.  This collaboration will be with the Royal Irrigation Department and the Department of Water Resources of Thailand and will also draw upon the expertise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.