26 research outputs found
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A trap-and-haul fishway for multi-species upstream fish passage at a challenging site
Australia’s first trap-and-haul fishway was built on the Nerang River in southeast Queensland during enlargement of the Hinze Dam. In gaining government approval for the project, the constructing alliance (HDA) concluded that providing upstream fish passage would have significant environmental benefits by conserving upstream native fish communities and encouraging recruitment into the reservoir’s recreational fishery. But downstream passage, other than modifications to protect fish emigrating during spill events, could not be justified. Severely constrained outflows from the dam and the impacts of downstream urban development contrast starkly with upstream habitat conditions.
North American design approaches were adapted to suit the river’s fishes and streamflows. Challenges for fish passage at the site included the marked restriction of downstream river flows and the location of the flow-release point 300m from the spillway. A barrier weir was built to prevent upstream migrants bypassing the fishway entrance during spillway flows. HDA developed a trap-and-haul system to collect migrating fish at the weir and transport them by tanker to multiple upstream release areas. This system provides flexibility to accommodate varying fish biomass; ability to operate over a range of flows up to 20-year ARI events; facilities for sorting, data collection and removal of pest species; and capacity to limit predation mortalities. Fishway performance studies led to redesign of the entrance vee-trap and other modifications. To 2017, 55,590 fish from 27 large and small-bodied species used the fishway, together with 8 turtles. Fish of three pest species were identified in the sorting facility and removed to prevent their entry to the reservoir.
This paper covers the project life cycle for Australia’s first trap-and-haul fishway including the basis for selecting the fishway type, design and construction. Fishway performance studies and results from ongoing operation, including the lessons learned and the improvements made, are also discussed
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Session B6: Seeking Better Fishways: the Pump Fishway Program
Abstract:
A surprising hiatus affects fish research and management. Those of us working in fish passage strive to move fish past barriers. Aquaculturists, on the other hand, move fish around fish farms safely and effectively. Marrying these two approaches presents an exciting opportunity for fishway development. Millions of fish-passage barriers remain in rivers globally, together with many under-performing and costly fishway investments, resulting in declining biodiversity and production of freshwater fish. Better approaches to fishway design are urgently needed to aid in halting this worldwide loss of connectivity.
Multidisciplinary work at UNSW Australia aims to refine and test a pump fishway. This novel concept integrates technologies from fish passage and aquaculture to improve fishway performance and reduce costs. Fishways knowledge is being combined with pumping techniques routinely used in aquaculture to safely transport large biomasses of fish from across a broad size range. The pump fishway uses a helical fishway section to provide sufficient elevation for fish to be gravitated into a transfer chamber, which is then pressurized with water piped from the reservoir. This flow carries fish up a rising transfer pipe and a small auxiliary pump finally delivers fish into the reservoir.
A pump fishway offers many potential benefits: effective upstream passage for migrant fish communities; lightweight, modular construction with few moving parts; applicability to diverse sites and barriers \u3e1.5 m high; energy-independence using hydraulic power from the reservoir to drive the system; continuous operation with brief transfer cycles; and potential barge-mounted use providing mobility, flood protection and fewer constraints due to tailwater levels. Large savings on capital and operating costs are predicted. Research and development are planned to optimise and validate the pump fishway design, using physical and computational hydraulic modelling and animal trials with wild, migrating fish
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Australia’s first trap-and-haul fishway: Nerang River, Queensland
Australia’s first trap-and-haul fishway was built on the Nerang River in southeast Queensland during enlargement of the Hinze Dam. In gaining government approval for the project, the constructing alliance (HDA) concluded that providing upstream fish passage would have significant environmental benefits by conserving upstream native fish communities and encouraging recruitment into the reservoir’s recreational fishery. But downstream passage, other than modifications to protect fish emigrating during spill events, could not be justified. Severely constrained outflows from the dam and the impacts of downstream urban development contrast starkly with upstream habitat conditions.
North American design approaches were adapted to suit the river’s fishes and streamflows. Challenges for fish passage at the site included the marked restriction of downstream river flows and the location of the flow-release point 300m from the spillway. A barrier weir was built to prevent upstream migrants bypassing the fishway entrance during spillway flows. HDA developed a trap-and-haul system to collect migrating fish at the weir and transport them by tanker to multiple upstream release areas. This system provides flexibility to accommodate varying fish biomass; ability to operate over a range of flows up to 20-year ARI events; facilities for sorting, data collection and removal of pest species; and capacity to limit predation mortalities. Fishway performance studies led to redesign of the entrance vee-trap and other modifications. To 2017, 55,590 fish from 27 large and small-bodied species used the fishway, together with 8 turtles. Fish of three pest species were identified in the sorting facility and removed to prevent their entry to the reservoir.
This paper covers the project life cycle for Australia’s first trap-and-haul fishway including the basis for selecting the fishway type, design and construction. Fishway performance studies and results from ongoing operation, including the lessons learned and the improvements made, are also discussed
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Proof of concept for an innovative pump fishway design to move fish upstream over dams
Reversing worldwide declines in freshwater fish while making sustainable use of water resources will require effective and economical fishways to restore fish migrations. Mitigation of barrier effects at dams and weirs is too often impeded by poor fishway performance and high costs, so that many fish migrations continue to be obstructed. Improved and less-costly designs are urgently needed. Our innovative pump fishway concept combines fish-behaviour insights, proved fishways techniques and aquaculture’s pumping methods for safe upstream transport of living fish. We ran a series of experimental trials using several scale-model fishway designs with young, hatchery-bred fish. Our horizontal-cylinder design successfully combined volitional-passage functions of existing fishways with non-volitional transport in a conduit carrying pumped water. Several key principles of fish behaviour in fishways led to design improvements: disturbed fish often seek refuge at depth; fishes’ escape reactions strongly motivate swimming into flows; and curved structures aid passage by reducing delays. Replicated trials finally produced an average of 98% successful passage, within brief cycling periods. The pump fishway concept offers potential for effective upstream fish passage at new and existing sites \u3e~2m high, with low construction and maintenance costs and highly adaptable operation in variable flow regimes. Development beyond the concept-trial phase is now a priority
Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function CACNA1B Mutations in Progressive Epilepsy-Dyskinesia.
The occurrence of non-epileptic hyperkinetic movements in the context of developmental epileptic encephalopathies is an increasingly recognized phenomenon. Identification of causative mutations provides an important insight into common pathogenic mechanisms that cause both seizures and abnormal motor control. We report bi-allelic loss-of-function CACNA1B variants in six children from three unrelated families whose affected members present with a complex and progressive neurological syndrome. All affected individuals presented with epileptic encephalopathy, severe neurodevelopmental delay (often with regression), and a hyperkinetic movement disorder. Additional neurological features included postnatal microcephaly and hypotonia. Five children died in childhood or adolescence (mean age of death: 9 years), mainly as a result of secondary respiratory complications. CACNA1B encodes the pore-forming subunit of the pre-synaptic neuronal voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.2/N-type, crucial for SNARE-mediated neurotransmission, particularly in the early postnatal period. Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in CACNA1B are predicted to cause disruption of Ca2+ influx, leading to impaired synaptic neurotransmission. The resultant effect on neuronal function is likely to be important in the development of involuntary movements and epilepsy. Overall, our findings provide further evidence for the key role of Cav2.2 in normal human neurodevelopment.MAK is funded by an NIHR Research Professorship and receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Charity, and Rosetrees Trust. E.M. received funding from the Rosetrees Trust (CD-A53) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. K.G. received funding from Temple Street Foundation. A.M. is funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Biomedical Research Centre. F.L.R. and D.G. are funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. K.C. and A.S.J. are funded by NIHR Bioresource for Rare Diseases. The DDD Study presents independent research commissioned by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (grant number HICF-1009-003), a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (grant number WT098051). We acknowledge support from the UK Department of Health via the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. This research was also supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. J.H.C. is in receipt of an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The research team acknowledges the support of the NIHR through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, Department of Health, or Wellcome Trust. E.R.M. acknowledges support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, an NIHR Senior Investigator Award, and the University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of E.R.M. from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. I.E.S. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Program Grant and Practitioner Fellowship)
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Session A6- Use of nature-like fishways for passage at high head dams
Given the relatively flat design slopes typically associated with nature-like fishways, these are typically only considered to be viable passage options for low head dams. In addition to the shallow slopes, the typical intake configuration only allows operation of these types of fish ways over a limited range of water surface elevations. These characteristics often rule out the use of a nature-like fish way for storage reservoirs or other impoundments where the water surface can fluctuate over a wide range of elevations. As nature-like fishways can provide other benefits such as rearing habitat while also being relatively simple to operate, it can often times be advantageous to find an approach that extends the applicability of this design beyond that normally considered . This paper ·will present information on two projects where nature-like fishways were utilized to provide fish passage at relatively high head dams with fluctuating water surface elevations and how these conditions were overcome
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Concurrent Sessions C: Fish Screening At Water Diversions I - Screening Large Irrigation Diversions, Lessons Learned From Screens That Have Worked and Not Worked as Planned
Screening water diversions located on natural channels is and important link in sustaining a native fishery. Migratory species can be especially vulnerable to unscreened diversions as they often move long distances yearly exposing them to multiple diversions. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fish screen criteria has become the standard for screening both anadromous and non-anadromous fish in the western United States. Both designing and maintaining a large fish screen to meet hydraulic criteria can be challenging. This paper covers a number of case studies and research that highlight important lessons learned in the design, operation and maintenance of larger fish screens. Case studies will be used to illustrate many important design issues on screen layout, orientation to channel flow, achieving flow conditions that assist with debris management, dealing with biofouling and use of isolation gates. Post-construction corrective measures that can be implemented when screen flow conditions don’t quite turn out as planned are also presented. Screens located in California, Nevada and Colorado are discussed
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Concurrent Sessions A: Emerging Engineering Solutions for Downstream Fish Passage at Big Dams - Downstream Fish Passage For Cle Elum Dam
Throughout the Pacific Northwest region there is a renewed effort to provide upstream and downstream passage at main stem storage reservoirs to access high value resident and anadromous salmonid habitat previously accessible prior to dam construction. Storage reservoirs present many unique challenges to fish passage. The most obvious challenge is dam height, with many dams being from 100 ft to upwards of 500 ft high. Second, storage reservoirs are operated to store and release water seasonally creating reservoir water surface fluctuations of 10’s or 100’s of feet in a year. To date most high dams where downstream fish passage has been established are for hydropower generation facilities with minimal fluctuation in pool elevation. Generally fish passage structures at these facilities consist of manned surface collectors, and trap and haul methods that require high operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is actively pursuing the development and construction of downstream passage on a number of its storage reservoirs using new concepts that will allow fish to self-guide into a structure that carries them around the dam and into the downstream river channel; thus, significantly reducing associated O&M costs. One such project is underway at Cle Elum Dam near Cle Elum, Washington. This ecologically and culturally significant fish passage project would restore access to approximately 7.5 square miles of lacustrine (lake) habitat and 29.4 river miles (RM) of riverine habitat—inaccessible for approximately the last 100 years—for anadromous and resident salmonids. This project is being planned for Cle Elum Dam in the Yakima RiverBasin. This collaborative project involves the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the Yakama Nation. This project has two components—fish passage facilities design, with Reclamation taking the lead, and a fish reintroduction program developed by the Yakama Nation with assistance from WDFW. In 1907, Reclamation constructed a temporary rock-filled crib dam on the outlet of historic Lake Cle Elum to provide an additional 26,000 acre-feet of irrigation water storage. This was followed by completion of Cle Elum Dam in 1933 at RM 8.2 on the Cle Elum River, which increased storage capacity to 436,900 acre-feet. The Cle Elum River enters the Yakima River at RM 185.6, which flows into the Columbia River at RM 333. It is a zoned earthfill dam with a structural height of 165 feet and a crest length of 1,800 feet. Its maximum pool elevation is 2,240 feet and the spillway crest is at elevation 2,223 feet. Neither facility was constructed with allowance for upstream and downstream fish passage, resulting in the extirpation of anadromous salmon and steelhead populations in the upper Cle Elum subbasin. Historically, tens of thousands of sockeye, coho, and spring Chinook salmon and steelhead returned annually to spawn in Lake Cle Elum and its upstream tributaries. The annual return of salmon was an important source of marine-derived nutrients that helped maintain ecosystem health in the upper Cle Elum River subbasin. Fishing encampments were established by people of the Yakama Nation at both the inlet and outlet of the Lake and it was here that the Yakama people harvested and dried primarily sockeye salmon to sustain them during the winter months and to trade with coastal tribes in the Puget Sound region. In 2012, a drop-pool intake structure, for providing juvenile downstream passage at Cle Elum Dam, was tested by Reclamation’s Hydraulic Investigations and laboratory Services group. A physical model was constructed in the Denver Laboratory using a 1:10 geometric scale. The laboratory investigations demonstrated there were significant fish safety issues with the design. This design concept was based on keeping within NOAA’s criteria for facilitydesign1, which limited the maximum vertical drop to 10 ft and maximum flow velocity to 25 ft/s. However there is some evidence to suggest that under certain conditions fish survival may be good at higher velocities, as long as fish passing through the system are contained within the body of flow so they are not exposed to high shear stresses as they enter the downstream river channel. As a result, new downstream passage criteria and design concepts are now being considered for Cle Elum Dam. Numerical and physical modeling of these concepts is planned by Reclamation to determine the feasibility of these designs and to determine which designs are most conducive and adaptable to a wide range of future dam sites. The long term restoration plan calls for implementing lessons learned and proven methods rising from the Cle Elum project to other main stem dams on the Yakima Project