Landowners, farms and water districts adding small hydro

Where would the turbine take its water?

Free check of which FERC path fits your micro hydro: a qualifying conduit notice, the small hydro exemption, or a declaration for a stream.

Free to read
No sign-up until the draft
Hands off to the right door

ePlan fills in

Stream or canal
Watershed and flows
Elevation drop (head)
Federal land
Wetlands

How it works

Micro hydro permit path check, from one answer

Enter the water source, head and flow, and whether you'll tie to the grid.
ePlan maps the stream or canal and checks the conduit, exemption and declaration paths.
Placing fill in a stream for the intake? Start a nationwide permit PCN draft.

What you get

Micro hydro permit path check and 2 more documents

The check is free. The paperwork after it is drafted at the Pre-Construction Notification door.

The first draft

Micro hydro permit path check (free)

Site, water source and owner
Head, flow and capacity
Qualifying conduit test
Small hydro exemption or declaration of intention
State water right questions
Stream work that needs a Corps permit

Next · 2

FERC notice of intent for a qualifying conduit (18 CFR 4.401)

Introductory statement
Non-federal conduit and its water use
Not licensed or exempted on or before Aug 9, 2013
Project drawings
Verification

Next · 3

Nationwide Permit 17 pre-construction notification

Project and FERC authorization
Fill in streams or wetlands
Avoidance and minimization
Species and historic properties

From public data

What ePlan fills in, and from where

Streams and canalsUSGS National Hydrography Dataset
Watershed and flowsUSGS StreamStats
Elevation drop (head)USGS 3D Elevation Program
Federal landUSGS PAD-US
WetlandsUSFWS National Wetlands Inventory

15 days

is how long FERC has to make an initial call on a qualifying conduit notice; if no one contests it within 30 days of public notice, it qualifies
Source: 16 U.S.C. 823a(a)(2)

Ready for the paperwork?

Draft the Army Corps pre-construction notification (ENG Form 6082) for a dock, bank repair or small crossing. Wetlands and species checked. Free to read.

Pre-Construction Notification →

Questions

Micro Hydro Permit Check: what people ask

Does small hydro on an irrigation canal need a FERC license?

Often not. A qualifying conduit facility, up to 40 MW using a non-federal canal, pipeline or ditch built for farm, city or industrial water, files a notice of intent instead. FERC makes an initial determination within 15 days; if no one contests within 30 days of public notice, it qualifies.

Source: law.cornell.edu

What goes in the notice of intent?

An introductory statement in FERC's format, a statement that the project uses a non-federally owned conduit, a statement that it wasn't licensed or exempted on or before August 9, 2013, project drawings, any preliminary permit number, and a verification.

Source: ecfr.gov

Do I need an Army Corps permit too?

If you place fill in a stream or wetland, likely. Nationwide Permit 17 covers fill for hydropower projects under 10,000 kW at existing reservoirs licensed by FERC, or with a FERC exemption, and needs a pre-construction notification. The 2026 nationwide permits run to March 15, 2031.

Source: govinfo.gov