Kleinschmidt completes York Haven fish passage project on the Susquehanna River

Kleinschmidt Associates says construction is complete on the York Haven Nature-Like Fishway Project at the York Haven Hydroelectric Project in Pennsylvania. The project is designed to satisfy a federal license requirement for upstream fish passage while preserving renewable power generation at the 19.6 MW facility.

Why it matters: - The York Haven Nature-Like Fishway creates upstream passage for migratory fish on the Susquehanna River, including American shad and river herring. - The project shows how hydropower operators can meet environmental requirements without stopping renewable electricity production. - The fishway is believed to be the largest Nature-Like Fishway at a hydropower facility in the U.S.

What happened: - Kleinschmidt Associates announced completion of construction on the York Haven Nature-Like Fishway Project at the York Haven Hydroelectric Project in south central Pennsylvania. - The project was developed with York Haven Power Company, LLC and fulfills a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license requirement for upstream fish passage. - The fishway supports continued generation at the 19.6 MW run-of-river hydroelectric plant on the Susquehanna River. - York Haven Power Company honored Kleinschmidt fisheries biologist Chris Frese at the May 27, 2026 ribbon cutting after Frese died of cancer before the fishway was completed.

The details: - The original concept called for a 300-foot-wide in-river fishway that would have required major changes to the existing dam. - Design development and dam safety reviews pushed costs higher. - The river site spans nearly a mile and had to work across a wide range of flow conditions. - The fishway also had to withstand extreme floods, debris, ice loading, environmental permitting requirements and the limits of century-old dam infrastructure. - Federal and state resource agencies approved a redesign that is about 60% narrower than the original plan. - The redesign better matched long-term operational, environmental and dam safety goals. - Unusually low river conditions during construction let the team replace a planned earth-fill cofferdam with a turbidity curtain. - The change preserved water-quality protection requirements and delivered schedule and cost savings. - Kleinschmidt served as the owner's engineer and handled technical oversight and real-time problem-solving during construction. - A company overview is available online. - York Haven Power Company said the project improves river connectivity for volitional movement of migratory and resident aquatic species. - York Haven began commercial operations in 1901. - The facility has 13 horizontal Francis turbines, 4 vertical Kaplan turbines and 3 vertical propeller units. - The plant produces a long-term average of 135,485 MWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power 13,027 homes. - FERC issued a new 40-year license on Dec. 22, 2015, and the Nature-Like Fishway was one of the license requirements.

Between the lines: - The project reflects a broader hydropower challenge: balancing ecological restoration, dam safety and power production at older infrastructure. - The narrower redesign and construction changes suggest adaptive engineering can cut complexity when site conditions change. - The project also gives the industry a high-profile example of a fish passage solution built around existing facilities rather than major dam replacement.

What's next: - The fishway is now positioned to support year-round fish passage on the Susquehanna River. - York Haven Power Company and Kleinschmidt frame the project as a model for future hydropower compliance work. - The completed fishway is likely to be used as a reference point for similar river connectivity projects in the watershed and beyond.