Efficient Solution for Fish Movement at Locks

1ST DATA SET FOR NON-SALMON SPECIES MOVEMENT & PASSAGE NEAR DAM

Facilitating fish movement through locks and dams is an important element in robust ecological management. ERDC and university partners have been pioneering the collection of high-resolution fish movement data for fish species that have not been extensively studied but have an increasingly recognized role in ecosystem. By studying low-use locks and dams, their goal is to understand how to attract and pass fish through existing navigation locks. Although these low-use structures have limited commercial navigation operations, they increasingly serve a range of other users, such as municipal and industrial entities that take advantage of dam pools for water supply, recreation and commerce. This makes these structures convenient locations to implement water quality and ecosystem management activities, including invasive species management.

PROBLEM: Thanks to its Northwestern Division’s knowledge of salmon management, the Corps is considered a world leader in the management of fish and fish passage at infrastructure. However, fish movement is less understood at Corps locks and dams elsewhere in the country. The knowledge gap has contributed to cost and schedule overruns because of large uncertainties in design and operations. Furthermore, there are no tools that can effectively bridge gaps between accepted Corps design and operations at locks and dams and new ecosystem considerations.

SOLUTION: ERDC and university partners are developing the first Corps data set of fish movement below a lock and dam at the scale of the existing infrastructure. Researchers are tagging and modeling multiple fish species across a range of river and operational conditions to address how fish interact with Corps dams. This data set will be coupled with detailed laboratory, hydraulic and genetic modeling to capture population-level impacts and develop recommendations for mitigation.

IMPACT: The project has developed the first fine-scale movement data set for non-salmon species at the temporal and spatial resolution needed to understand movement and passage near a dam. New genetic and behavioral models, coupled to high-resolution positional and behavior models are providing, for the first time, testable hypotheses on how fish movement is enhanced or degraded near dams. Long-term application will develop actionable recommendations for Corps-wide uncertainties involving aging locks and dams. The Corps has partnered with an independently developed project by the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure that addresses the same data gaps, thus providing unique leveraging opportunities.