Swedish Bypassed River Reaches Register SBRRR
The Swedish Bypassed River Reaches Register (SBRRR) is a dataset containing descriptive information about 968 unique bypassed river reaches located at Swedish diversion hydropower stations. These are formerly natural river reaches currently more or less devoid of water due to hydropower operations. The dataset contains information about the intrinsic hydrogeographical characteristics (i.e. prior to hydropower development) of these reaches such as channel slope, altitude, natural flow regime, catchment geology and soil characteristics, etc. The dataset also contains information about the size of the bypassed reaches (length, area), current management practices in terms of allocation of water as minimum discharge and any other implemented restoration measures (e.g. fishways, habitat enhancement) and additional pressures on the aquatic ecosystem of the bypassed reach (i.e. anthropogenic land use in the catchment area). The datafile itself consists of 57 columns and 968 rows.
Segersten, J., Jansson, R., Degerman, E., Donadi, S., Widén, Å., Malm-Renöfält, B., McKie, B.G. (2026). Silenced Rapids and Waterfalls: Habitat Loss and Management of Bypassed Reaches in the Regulated Rivers of Sweden. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040752 Segersten, J., Jansson, R., Degerman, E., Donadi, S., Widén, Å., Malm‐Renöfält, B. & McKie, B. G. (2026). Silenced rapids and waterfalls: Habitat loss and management of bypassed reaches in the regulated rivers of Sweden. Water Resources Research, 62, e2025WR040752. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040752
Department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental studies
Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment
Department of Ecology, Environment, and Geoscience
Ecorelease: a tool for calculating ecologically functional minimum flows
This work was funded by the project EKOSPILL, awarded to Roland Jansson by the Swedish Energy Agency (grant number 46435-1).
Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Flora and/or fauna in natural environment.
Environmental resources, protection and conservation.
Inland water features, drainage systems and their characteristics.
The free renewable source of energy provided by falling water that drives the turbines. Hydropower is the most important of the regenerable energy sources because of its highest efficiency at the energy conversion. There are two types of hydroelectric power plants: a) run-of-river power plants for the use of affluent water; b) storage power plants (power stations with reservoir) where the influx can be regulated with the help of a reservoir. Mostly greater differences in altitudes are being used, like mountain creeks. Power stations with reservoirs are generally marked by barrages with earth fill dam or concrete dams. Though hydropower generally can be called environmentally acceptable, there exist also some problems: a) change of groundwater level and fill up of the river bed with rubble. b) Risk of dam breaks. c) Great demand for land space for the reservoir. d) Diminution, but partly also increase of value of recreation areas. As the hydropowers of the world are limited, the world energy demand however is rising, finally the share of hydropower will decrease.
Destruction of wildlife habitats by increasing pressure for land by fast-growing human populations, pollution and over-exploitation. Whole species or populations of plants and animals have disappeared causing a loss of genetic resource that is not only regrettable from an aesthetic or philosophical point of view but also threatens man's food supply. Habitat loss takes several forms: outright loss of areas used by wild species; degradation, for example, from vegetation removal and erosion, which deprive native species of food, shelter, and breeding areas; and fragmentation, when native species are squeezed onto small patches of undisturbed land surrounded by areas cleared for agriculture and other purposes.
Energy resources including hydrocarbons, hydropower, bio-energy, solar, wind, etc., where relevant including depth/height information on the extent of the resource.
Geographical areas characterised by specific ecological conditions, processes, structure, and (life support) functions that physically support the organisms that live there. Includes terrestrial and aquatic areas distinguished by geographical, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural.