Richard R. Whitney

Fish Behavior in Relation to Passage through Hydropower Turbines: A Review

Abstract We evaluated the literature on fish behavior as it relates to passage of fish near or through hydropower turbines. Our goal was to foster compatibility of engineered systems with the normal behavior patterns of fish species and life stages such that passage into turbines and injury in passage are minimized. In particular, we focused on aspects of fish behavior that could be used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of fish trajectories through turbine systems. Salmon smolts approaching dams are generally surface oriented and follow flow. They can be diverted from turbines by spills or bypasses, with varying degrees of effectiveness. Smolts typically become disoriented in dam forebays. Those smolts drawn into turbine intakes orient vertically to the ceilings but are horizontally distributed more evenly, except as they are affected by intake-specific turbulence and vortices. Smolts often enter intakes while oriented with their heads upstream, but they may change orientation in the flow f...

Return to the River: Scientific Issues in the Restoration of Salmonid Fishes in the Columbia River

Abstract The Columbia River once was one of the most productive river basins for anadromous salmonids on the West Coast of North America; however, its current runs total less than 10% of historic levels. The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) of the Northwest Power Planning Council reviewed regional salmon management actions described in the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and concluded that the current program is unlikely to recover declining salmon and steelhead stocks. Adoption of a salmon life history ecosystem concept as a guiding foundation is needed to recover depressed stocks. Increasing natural ecosystem processes and functions should rebuild salmon populations to more abundant, productive, and stable levels. Elements of a salmon recovery program that increase these normative conditions include restoration of habitat for all life history stages (including migrations), reduction of mortality sources (including harvesters), planning of hydropower mitigation measures in the context of...

Age and Length of Steelhead Smolts from the Mid-Columbia River Basin, Washington

Abstract Steelhead Onchorhynchus mykiss exhibit a wide range of life histories within and among stocks. Varying degrees of anadromy, length of freshwater life before emigration to the sea, and age at first maturity have been observed. Steelhead in the mid-Columbia River basin are at least partially descended from fish that were relocated to the major tributaries of the mid-Columbia River when Grand Coulee Dam was built. These fish do not spawn in the main-stem Columbia River and are strictly tributary spawners. Rearing conditions in these tributaries can be harsh. Researchers have observed a wide range of lengths and ages of juvenile O. mykiss (steelhead and nonanadromous rainbow trout) in these tributaries. This led to a need to document the age at migration of fish that were clearly smolts, as demonstrated by their downstream migration. Over 970 otoliths were collected from naturally produced steelhead smolts in 1988 and 1989 to determine the age at migration. Ages ranged from 1 to 7 years at Rock Islan...

6 – Hydroelectric System Development: Effects on Juvenile and Adult Migration

This chapter focuses on mainstem flows as they might affect juvenile migration through both riverine and reservoir reaches and in the vicinity of dams. Hydropower production has changed riverine habitats; however, the basic needs of the fish remain the same. There are several relevant details of the life history requirements of juvenile salmonid fishes. It must be recognized that there are different life history patterns that interact with mainstem flows in different ways. Emigration is not a passive riding of currents straight to the sea and high-quality mainstem habitat is necessary for the resting and feeding stages. Juvenile salmonids are generally surface oriented when moving downstream, and they probably use the complex unsteady and turbulent flow of river environments as migration guides and assists, rather than relying upon either mass water movement or their swimming abilities alone. Simplification of a relationship between flow and survival that centers on average water velocities and travel times for juveniles in the hydropower system is probably inappropriate for the full range of life history types of salmon, nor does it provide a holistic view of the measures needed for recovery and reestablishment of salmonid populations. The chapter analyses several alternative hypotheses or premises about the possible effects of flow on travel time and survival of juvenile salmonids.

Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Fish and Wildlife Restoration Projects in the Columbia River Basin: Lessons Learned and Suggestions for Large-Scale Monitoring Programs

Abstract The year 2006 marked two milestones in the Columbia River Basin and the Pacific Northwest regions efforts to rebuild its once great salmon and steelhead runs—the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the 10th anniversary of an amendment to the Northwest Power Act that formalized scientific peer review of the councils Fish and Wildlife Program and its varied individual projects. The authors of this article served as peer reviewers in the last decade. Restoration efforts in the Columbia River constitute a massive long-term attempt at fisheries and ecosystem restoration. In this article we examine some of the lessons we learned in reviewing the research, monitoring, and evaluation efforts of projects and their effects on advancing knowledge (i.e., adaptive management) in the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, one of the most ambitious and expensive long-term ecological restoration programs in the United States.

13 – Return to the River: Strategies for Salmon Restoration in the Columbia River Basin

Returning the river to a more natural state runs counter to the management philosophy that has guided salmon restoration in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) for much of the 20th century. For this reason, restoration or improvement of the ecological conditions will require an examination of the values that underlie Columbia River management. However, the conceptual foundation provides a scientific basis for that debate. In the recent past, failure of the scientific community to resolve key restoration issues was often used to justify maintaining the status quo and avoid the necessary public debate over the social and economic costs of salmon recovery. However, expecting scientists to agree on each of the key questions is an unrealistic assumption. The healthy exercise of scientific debate should not be used as an excuse to hold progress hostage to the unattainable goal of a perfect scientific consensus. If the region is genuine in its desire to restore Pacific salmon in the Columbia Basin, continuing the status quo is not an option. The first step in developing a scientifically-sound restoration program for salmon is to clearly articulate the conditions needed for salmon relative to the regions salmon recovery goals. The next step is to determine what changes in the federal hydropower system and other uses of the river are needed to achieve these conditions. The next step is the difficult job of debating the cost and benefits of salmon restoration. Significant changes will require painful decisions, perhaps even congressionally mandated alteration of federal hydrosystem project operations. Other lesser changes might limit; however, not eliminate, the regions ability to use the Columbia River as a navigation corridor and to supply some irrigation needs.

3 – Developing a New Conceptual Foundation for Salmon Conservation

This chapter synthesizes relatively recent knowledge pertinent to the conservation of salmonid populations. Ecosystems supporting salmonid species are dynamic rather than static systems, experiencing changes in state or structure that are driven by biological and physical processes operating at a variety of spatial scales. These natural processes create spatially and temporally diverse habitats with a high degree of connectivity among habitat patches. Habitat variation in space and time creates a template for development of diverse life histories and complexes of locally adapted populations that may be genetically and demographically linked by movement of individuals among populations. Life history and population diversity, both being distinguishing features of salmonid species, are essential for sustaining productivity of the salmonid species within a geographic region. Salmonid conservation should be directed at protection and restoration of both the physical processes that create diverse habitats and the biological processes that allow individuals, populations, and population complexes to persist in those habitats. A dynamic view of the ecosystems also suggests that restoration should not be directed at attempting to maintain the ecosystems in a particular state defined by a specific set of performance attributes or standards.

7 – Mitigation of Salmon Losses Due to Hydroelectric Development

This chapter describes the adverse effects of development and operation on anadromous fishes and discusses mitigation measures that have been undertaken to restore the fish. The effort to restore populations of anadromous salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin is perhaps one of the most ambitious environmental undertakings in modern times and is a response to the development of the basin for hydroelectric power, irrigation, and flood control. Early efforts to mitigate the effects of hydrosystem development on salmon and steelhead abundance focused primarily on engineered or mechanical fixes, rather than solutions centered on salmon behavior and ecology. The primary mitigation response to the development of the Columbia and Snake River hydroelectric system has been investments in passage technology to decrease adult and juvenile mortalities associated with upstream and downstream migrations and development of a widespread system of hatcheries designed to produce fish to offset the losses in production that occurred through blockage, inundation, and degradation of habitat. This approach remains relevant, although recent mitigation efforts are increasingly incorporating fish behavior and normative ecological conditions into the proposed solutions. While this approach relies on substantial engineering and planning, it also takes advantage of the normal behavior of juvenile salmon to orient themselves within the surface waters during their downstream migrations and; therefore, provides more normal passage conditions for outmigrating juvenile salmon than passage through the turbine intakes and the bypass systems.