Despite a growing understanding of its impacts, hydropower remains a principal source of renewable energy around the world. While the tide is turning against large hydropower projects because of their documented effects on biodiversity, agriculture, communities, and greenhouse gas emissions, small hydropower projects (SHP) are still considered by most governments and funding entities to have few or no detrimental impacts. Subsequently, SHP has been promoted as a viable energy strategy, particularly in developing countries. The myth of SHP's small impact has been perpetuated in part because most SHP projects do not require an environmental impact assessment, obscuring impacts from stakeholders and decision makers. In this paper, we underscore the need for a formal environmental review process for SHP projects. In addition, we highlight specific impacts that are uniquely exacerbated by climate change (in this study, changes to precipitation and temperature), which are often overlooked even when environmental impacts are considered. We identified four significant SHP project impacts: (1) barriers to migration, (2) hydrological stress, (3) alteration of downstream conditions, and (4) degradation of the surrounding ecosystem, and examined how they might be affected by a changing climate. In each instance, we determined that the shifts of temperature and precipitation expected under climate change were likely to increase negative impacts. Without a standard, rigorous process for evaluating SHP projects and assessing their interactions with climate change, projects run the risk of harming ecosystems and communities and stranding investors. v AcknowledgementsIf I had the time and space to appropriately acknowledge everyone who has assisted or supported me somewhere along my academic and professional journey, I would need another two years and could produce another manuscript's worth of writing. It is all very emotional and overwhelming to think about now but I will try my best to push through it. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Karina Nielsen. From the very first conversation, it became clear that Karina and I were kindred spirits in a way. Both of us hailing from the northeast USA with big dreams and an unwavering confidence in ourselves that is characteristic of those who call the region home. Like Karina, I came from humble beginnings and I just knew a journey to the West Coast was one that was as equally terrifying as it was promising. We came in search of our true selves and opportunity, but I believe I speak for us both when I say we found so much more than we could have imagined or hoped for. From Karina, I learned the values of perseverance, aiming high, and to have faith in yourself and your vision even when others may not be able to see what you see. This instilled in me an ability to reject traditional approaches for the sake of conformity, to push boundaries where I felt necessary, and to trust in my own abilities and to define my life and what success looks like for myself. Many tim...