The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office is pleased to announce the winners of the Make a Splash Photo Contest.

Winners were announced and displayed at Waterpower Week, which was held in Washington, D.C., April 1–3, 2019. Contest winners were selected for photos depicting water power in the United States in the following categories:

  1. Overall Hydropower
  2. Overall Marine Energy
  3. Recreational Hydropower
  4. Community/Local Hydropower
  5. Jobs/Economic Development of Water Power
  6. Research and Development of New Water Power Technologies

Nineteen winning photographs were selected from 12 photographers. Six first place winners were chosen in the above categories, as well as four second place winners, five third place winners, and four judge’s choice winners.

First place winners in the Overall Hydropower and Overall Marine Energy categories will be awarded a $2,000 cash prize. First place winners in the remaining categories will be awarded $1,000. Second place winners in all categories will receive $750, and third place will receive $500. Judge’s choice winners are recognized, but will not receive cash prizes. Winners who are current federal employees or contractors working on a federal site are ineligible to receive cash prizes.

Winning entries and other photographs entered in the contest will be featured on the Water Power Technologies Office website, exhibited at DOE headquarters, and displayed in other Office material.

The following are the winning photos and photographers in each category:

Overall Hydropower

Make a Splash Photo Contest: Overall Hydropower

1/6 1st Place
Sunrise at the Bonneville Dam near Portland, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Kaup
2/6 2nd Place
Diablo Dam beneath Pyramid Peak in North Cascades National Recreation Area, Washington.
Photo courtesy of Pablo McLoud
3/6 3rd Place (Three-way tie)
Rainbow over the Rocky Reach Dam in Washington State.
Photo courtesy of Katelynn English
4/6 3rd Place (Three-way tie)
The Hoover Dam in Nevada.
Photo courtesy of Brandi Foster
5/6 3rd Place (Three-way tie)
Rock Island Dam on the Columbia River in Washington State.
Photo courtesy of Karl Specht
6/6 Judge's Choice
Morning at the Bonneville Dam near Portland, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Kaup

Overall Marine Energy

Make a Splash Photo Contest: Overall Marine Energy

1/3 1st Place
Installing a Verdant Power tidal turbine for testing at the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project in the East Channel of the East River in New York, New York.
Photo courtesy of Verdant Power
2/3 2nd Place
The University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory tests the MiniWEC, a small wave energy converter test platform, on Lake Washington, Seattle.
Photo courtesy of Curtis Rusch
3/3 3rd Place
Testing of Northwest Energy Innovations Azura wave power technology at the Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) in Hawai’i.
Photo courtesy of Brian Polagye

Recreational Hydropower

Make a Splash Photo Contest: Recreational Hydropower

1/3 1st Place
Kayaking in the spillway below the Ocoee Hydropower Dam in Tennessee.
Photo courtesy of Diane Kirkland
2/3 2nd Place
Salmon fishing in front of Wanapum Dam on Columbia River, Washington.
Photo courtesy of Dave Dempsey
3/3 Judge's Choice
Early morning rowing on the Tennessee River near Knoxville, Tennessee. This body of water is part of the Tennessee Valley Authority hydropower system.
Photo courtesy of Diane Kirkland

Community/Local Hydropower

Make the Splash Photo Contest: Community/Local Hydropower

1/2 1st Place
The Freedom Falls Hydropower Project in Freedom, Maine, featuring a Natel Energy Natel Energy Free-Jet hydroEngine turbine.
Photo courtesy of Andy Baumgartner
2/2 Judge's Choice
The Monroe low head hydro project in Madras, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Andy Baumgartner

Jobs/Economic Development of Water Power

Research and Development of New Water Power Technologies

Make a Splash Photo Contest: Research and Development of New Water Power Technologies

1/3 1st Place
Natel Energy’s Linear Pelton hydroEngine, a linear free jet single stage impulse turbine, spins at the Natel Energy headquarters in Alameda, California.
Photo courtesy of Andy Baumgartner
2/3 2nd Place
Researchers tag wild run spring Chinook salmon with a passive integrated transponder (PIT), which will track migration through the Clackamas River Hydroelectric Project near Estacada, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Margaret David
3/3 3rd Place
A researcher from the University of Washington prepares the RivRaft drifting hydrophone array, an underwater listening system used to monitor and mitigate potential interaction of marine energy technologies with fish. The RivRaft was deployed to monitor the Ocean Renewable Power Company’s RivGen hydrokinetic turbine in Igiugig, Alaksa.
Photo courtesy of Curtis Rusch