Worthington’s Behavioral Fish Guidance Systems
A Worthington fish guidance system at Los Padres Reservoir, near Carmel, California.
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orthington Products is well known as a multidisciplinary designer, manufacturer, and installer of waterway barrier systems made from steel, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or molded plastic. These barriers keep floating debris away from dams, reservoirs, canals, and other structures. Fewer people may know, however, that Worthington also builds custom fish barrier systems to keep fish out of water conveyance structures. In this interview, Worthington President Paul Meeks tells Irrigation Leader about the company’s fish barrier product line.
systems that go to the bottom of a water body or down to a specific depth to prevent fish from going into a structure. Our behavioral fish guidance systems are floating walls positioned upstream of a structure in an area where water flows meet certain conditions. They guide fish to a bypass or a collection area. We study the currents and the fish types in order to decide on the depth and angle of the boom line.
Irrigation Leader: What is the difference between a fish screen and a fish guidance barrier?
Paul Meeks: A distinction should be made between structural materials and flotation materials. The flotation portions are on the surface, and they’re what everyone sees. On Worthington products, they’re usually orange in color. Those sections are usually made of HDPE pipe or molded plastic; sometimes, they’re made of steel. The majority of the structure, however, is underwater. It is generally made of galvanized or stainless steel. We customize it depending on the customer’s preference, using materials including perforated metal, solid panels of ultra-high-molecular-
24 | IRRIGATION LEADER | February 2021
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF WORTHINGTON PRODUCTS.
Paul Meeks: There are different types of fish barriers. One common type is electric fish barriers. There’s a company called Smith-Root that excels in those. They are not physical barriers; instead, they use some type of electronic current or strobe light to keep fish out of a structure. Then there are physical barriers, which are what Worthington produces. Our fish barriers include screening and netting
Irrigation Leader: What types of materials does Worthington use to build its fish barriers?
