Detailed project information for Study Plan Number 09056

Branch :	Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory
Study Plan Number :	09056
Study Title :	Behavior, Passage, and Guidance of Downstream Migrant Fishes in Hydroelectric Forebay Environments
Starting Date :	06/15/2001
Completion Date :	09/30/2009
Principal Investigator(s) :	Haro, Alexander
Primary PI :	Haro, Alexander
Telephone Number :	(413) 863-3806
Email Address :	haro@usgs.gov
SIS Number :
Primary Program Element :
Second Program Element :
Status :	Active
Abstract :	BACKGROUND Currently, the state of knowledge regarding downstream migratory behavior and hydroelectric turbine entrainment and mortality of many fish species such as eels and sturgeon is limited. There are few facilities that employ guidance devices for these migrants and little is known about their behavioral response to and effectiveness of these and more conventional bypass systems. There is a documented need for a better understanding of downstream migratory behavior of these species and their response to existing hydraulic and structural environments of forebays and intakes. Determination of these behavioral, environmental, hydraulic, and operational relationships is critical in developing appropriate and effective downstream passage technologies for these and other fishes. Several questions about passage that are critical to issues of protection: 1) Where do eels, sturgeon, and other species pass through screens or bar racks (i.e., deep vs. shallow), 2) Do fish search forebay areas enough to encounter bypass entrances at least once, 3) How does station lighting affect distribution and searching behavior, and 4) How do station flows (both total flow and variations in the flow field) influence swimming and search paths? The capability to track telemetered individuals in three dimensions, within the entire forebay area, in real time, with fairly high resolution (e.g., 1-2 m), provides the technical means to answer most of the remaining critical questions. Similar field and laboratory studies are beginning to characterize other aspects of eel downstream migratory behavior and passage. An ongoing study of silver-phase eels near the Moses-Saunders Dam on the St. Lawrence River is beginning to yield information on large-scale patterns of movement, entrainment, and mortality (McGrath et al. 2000). Limited telemetry studies at dams on the Shenandoah River indicate that patterns and routes of eel passage are variable and may be related to flow conditions (RMC 1995). Observations of passage behavior of eels and their reaction to bar racks and louvers in a controlled flume have indicated that guidance efficiency of these traditional structures for this species may be low (Alden Research Laboratory, unpublished data). Additionally, results from laboratory studies of guidance efficiency of bar racks have not always been realized in the field, where eels have shown a stronger avoidance reaction to full-scale bar racks (Adam and Schwevers 1997; U. Dumont, Floecksmuhele, pers. comm). Although eels show strong avoidance of light, trials with light barriers for guiding eels in both laboratory and field applications have produced mixed results (Hadderingh et al. 1999; J. Boubée, National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand, pers. comm). To address some of these questions regarding eel passage and protection, we began a program in 1995 to evaluate downstream passage of silver-phase eels at a small hydroelectric facility, Cabot Station (51 MW), on the mainstem Connecticut River in Massachusetts (Haro and Castro-Santos 1996, 1997, Haro et al. 1999, 2000). We selected Cabot Station because of its manageable spatial scale, typical intake configuration, and the presence of a surface bypass. Over the past five years, we have employed radio and acoustic telemetry, as well as hydroacoustics, to observe and characterize eel behaviors in the Cabot Station forebay. Several consistent patterns of behavior have been noted from the results of these studies, including: 1) migrant eels do not appear to be surface-oriented, and may search an entire forebay area and full range of depths for a downstream exit, 2) eels will use a surface bypass to a limited extent, and 3) delays in downstream migration of eels incurred by hydroelectric dams can be significant (Haro et al. 2000). Our past studies have allowed us to either track individual eels with low spatial resolution (telemetry) or obtain “snapshots” of unknown eel-sized targets with high spatial resolution (hydroacoustics). We propose to employ some recent developments in acoustic telemetry technology to address these questions, and also to verify or test performance of structures and fish behaviors noted in the laboratory (e.g., results of angled bar rack tests by Alden Laboratory), and field (earlier CAFRC results and Moses-Saunders Dam studies). OBJECTIVES 1) Characterize movements of adult, migratory-phase American eels, juvenile sturgeon, or other species in open forebays of small- to moderately-sized hydroelectric facilities, with high spatial and temporal resolution. 2) Determine behavioral patterns of these species that might be exploited to improve or develop structural designs or operational strategies for downstream passage mitigation. HYPOTHESIS TO BE TESTED There are no formal hypotheses to be tested for this study; however, we will analyze data in such a way as to determine whether behavior of the target species in forebay environments deviates from a “null hypothesis” of random distribution and movement, or whether downstream migrants behave as passive drifters.
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