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A guideline to restore anadromous fish runs in selected tributaries of the NY/NJ harbor watershed


Source:
Volume: American Littoral Society, March 1993
Year: 1993

Abstract

The obstacles to the spawning success of anadromous fish which were documented in a preceding report, "Impediments to the Spawning Success of Anadromous Fish in Tributaries of the NY/NJ Harbor Watershed" [American Littoral Society, September 1992], have been reviewed. The tributaries most conducive to supporting anadromous fish spawning have been selected on the basis of examining the parameters which affect spawning success, including seasonal temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, presence of pollution and debris, bottom consistency, and the current support or history of supporting a run. This supplementary management guideline gives outlined plans to restore anadromous spawning runs to nine Harbor tributaries.
On each of the nine tributaries selected for anadromous run restoration, the main factor which adversely affects anadromous spawning has been identified as the problem to be resolved, and the most effective solution and method needed to restore a run has been matched. The agenda needed to ensure run restoration differs for each tributary system, due to the variation in conditions. For each system, a series of necessary steps lead up to an ultimate goal, resulting in the restoration of an anadromous fish spawning run.
Tributaries physically blocked by dam impediments require bypass' this can best be achieved through the installation, maintenance, and operation of a fish bypass structure. Bypass through the use of a fish ladder is recommended for the large structural impediments known as Swimming River/Monmouth Reservoir Dam, Shadow Lake Dam, Dundee Dam, and Oradell Reservoir dam. Bypass using a small fish bypass structure is suggested for the smaller impediments know as Richmond Creek Dam and Wolfe's Pond Dam.
On other waterways, such as the Second River and Saddle River tributaries and the section of the Hackensack River which is located in the Hackensack Meadowlands, unique programs have been created to optimize the present of future habitat to support anadromous fish spawning.
The purpose of this report is to unite the agencies, dam owners, and other important parties, to become cooperatively involved in anadromous fish run restoration. The exact steps needed have been created and are included in this report to hasten the process.


Author(s)

Durkas, S.J.


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An evaluation of the biolgical need for fishways at hydroelectric projects on the Oswego River, NY, with emphasis on the Oswego


Source:
Volume: Admin Report 97-01 22pp.
Year: 1997

Abstract

This document is a review of literature regarding riverine fish movement, and an evaluation as to whether or not unrestricted passage would benefit fish populations within the Oswego River. Information presented within this report will be used to determine if providing effective (safe, timely, convenient) fishways at Oswego Falls and other hydroelectric projects on the Oswego River is biologically justified. Topics include: Physical and environmental development of the Oswego River; Oswego fish community; Oswego water quality; Biological need for fish passage; Riverine fish an long distance movements; Restriceted movement of fish within the Oswego River; Benefits of providing fish passage within the Oswego River.


Author(s)

Fish and Wildlife service, U.S.


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USFWS


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American Rivers produced abstract


Protecting Fish


Source:
Volume: October 1994 pp72-76
Year: 1994

Abstract

The United States Department of Energy's Hydropower Program has recently completed a study of fish passage and protection mitigation practices at conventional hydroelectric projects. The study used 16 projects as case studies to provide detailed illustrations of mitigation practices, allowing a better understanding of the resource and economic requirements, and the ramifications of mitigation choices. The study also surveyed fish passage and protection mitigation practices at 1,825 hydroelectric plants regulated by FERC to determine the frequencies of occurrence, temporal trends and regional practices based on FERC regions. Facilities with upstream mitigation employed fish ladders (62% of facilities), trapping and hauling (11%), fish lifts (5%), and other methods (35%). Some facilities used multiple forms of mitigation, this accounts for the percentage total greater than 100%. Downstream mitigation is used in some form at 13% of the 1,825 sites studied. Mitigation costs varied greatly, depending on the size of the facility and extent of mitigation. Fish ladder capital costs rang from $1000- $34.6million with an average cost of $7.4million per fish ladder. The costs of fish passage and protection measures can have significant effects on the economics of a project. However, forecasting the need for fish passage mitigation is complicated due to many site-specific concerns. Specific mitigation needs are often met with specific technologies including fish lifts, trapping and hauling systems, or fish ladders. In any case, mitigation determinations should be made with an eye toward biological needs as well as economic feasibility.


Author(s)

Francfort, J., Rinehart, B.


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American Rivers produced abstract


Counting on Fish Protection

Category: Engineering

Source:
Volume: Jan/Feb 1995 pp31-36
Year: 1995

Abstract

The number of salmon migrating up US rivers has declined significantly in recent years, bringing hydro plants under increased scrutiny. Indeed, fish protection has become the biggest issue in hydro plant relicensing, and utilities across the country are under pressure to step up their fish protection efforts. Currently, much of the regulatory emphasis is focused on downstream passage technologies. EPRI's laboratory and field tests have identified the most promising of these technologies. However, the effectiveness of each approach varies according to the site and the fish species and life stage.


Author(s)

Lamarre, L.


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The importance of defining technical issues in inter-agency environmental negotiations


Source:
Volume: n/a
Year: 1995

Abstract

We studied the role of technical clarity in successful multi-party negotiations. Our investigations involved in-depth interviews with individuals who were the principal participants in six consultations conducted under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) hydroelectric power project licensing process. Technical clarity was especially important in the cases we studied because they concerned questions that were science-based. The principal issues in the six cases were fish passage, instream flow for fish habitat, and entrainment of fish in hydropower turbines. We concluded that technical clarity was one of the most critical elements in these conflicts. The most successful negotiations were marked by a shared understanding of technical issues among the parties.


Author(s)

Lamb, B.L., Burkardt, N., Taylor, J.G.


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Fish passage: the process


Source:
Volume: March 21-23, 1995
Year: 1995

Abstract

The Maryland Fish Passage Program's purpose is to restore migratory species to at or near historic levels. There are four major program elements: remove or bypass blockages, reintroduce target species, bio-monitor and educate. The Program has become increasingly more complex since its inception. Much more is known technically than was known several years ago. Funding has become more difficult to obtain, and legal and policy issues are much more complicated that in the early days of the program. As larger blockage sites are remedied, the Program is increasingly turning its attention to smaller blockages, which are the focus of this workshop. Small blockages are far more numerous than the larger ones, and collectively, they close many more miles of historic spawning habitat to migratory fishes and other aquatic animals than do the larger blockages.
Currently, there are forty-four sites on the five year fish passage project priority list. The list is dynamic. There are additions and deletions as new information is learned about specific stream blockage structures and as funding levels change.
In order to consolidate and unify data related to the many blockages, a fish passage database containing nearly 1,000 blockage sites and 47 fields has been developed and is available upon request.
There are similar issues to contend with at privately owned blockage sites. On occasion it is even difficult to determine the ownership of a blockage. Individuals in Florida, Tennessee and California were contacted to find out who actually owns one priority site. Another site is owned by foreign investors who live in Hong Kong and were located in Australia.


Author(s)

Leasner , L.


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Chapter 9: Dams and mitigation of their effects


Source:
Volume: Nat'l Acad. Press, Washington, DC
Year: 1996

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of dam construction and operation in the Columbia River Basin on salmon populations. While the hydrograph of the Columbia River has been significantly impacted by dams, the seasonality of regulated flow on the Snake River has been less affected. The Snake River storage has been used for agricultural diversion while the Columbia has been for electrical generation. The reservoir system has effects on flow velocities, water chemistry (nitrogen supersaturation), habitat availability and reliability, and stream temperatures. Dams block about one third of the Columbia River watershed to access by anadromous fish.
Effects of Dams on Salmon;
Fish kills occur as a result of several characteristics of dams. Bruising, descailing, and stress caused by by-pass facilities; susceptibility to prey following delivery from by-pass to outfall; estuary damage; effects on the homing ability of fish; limited success in fish use of by-pass facilities. The effect of migration speed on smolt survival is uncertain but assumed to have an impact. More research is necessary.
Mitigation of Dam's Effects on Salmon:
Seven measures for mitigation of dams' effects on salmon are discussed
1. Fish passage facilities 2. Predator control 3. Transportation 4. Spill 5. Flow augmentation 6. Reservoir drawdown 7. Dam removal.


Author(s)

National Research Council , NRC


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Fragmentation of river systems: the genetic effects of dams on bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Clark Fork River syst


Source:
Volume: Vol. 10, pp. 1153-1164
Year: 2001

Abstract

Migratory bull trout (
Salvelinus confluentus
) historically spawned in tributaries of the
Clark Fork River, Montana and inhabited Lake Pend Oreille as subadult and adult fish.
However, in 1952 Cabinet Gorge Dam was constructed without fish passage facilities disrupting
the connectivity of this system. Since the construction of this dam, bull trout populations
in upstream tributaries have been in decline. Each year adult bull trout return to
the base of Cabinet Gorge Dam when most migratory bull trout begin their spawning
migration. However, the origin of these fish is uncertain. We used eight microsatellite loci
to compare bull trout collected at the base of Cabinet Gorge Dam to fish sampled from both
above and further downstream from the dam. Our data indicate that Cabinet Gorge bull
trout are most likely individuals that hatched in above-dam tributaries, reared in Lake Pend
Oreille, and could not return to their natal tributaries to spawn. This suggests that the risk
of outbreeding depression associated with passing adults over dams in the Clark Fork system
is minimal compared to the potential genetic and demographic benefits to populations
located above the dams.


Author(s)

Neraas , L.P. , Spruell , P.


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Dam owners have to coddle fish


Source:
Volume: Vol. 231(3) 22-25
Year: 1993

Abstract

Fish and hydroelectric dams are striving to coexist across the country. With conservation groups as well as state and federal agencies pressing for severe controls on water releases, hydropower production has been cut substantially in many cases. At the same time, dam operators have undertaken some sophisticated construction programs to meet the challenge. To date, many strategies employed on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have been both costly and ineffective. The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to address its problems partly with extensive model studies. But, they have found that "the more you learn, the more complicated it gets." Together the failures of the Corps, as well as other federal agencies have caused the power utilities to call for reductions in spending for all fish programs, which they say are ineffective.


Author(s)

Soast , A. , King , H.


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Notes

American Rivers produced abstract


Cost Effective Recovery Strategies for Snake River Chinook Salmon


Source:
Volume:
Year: 2006

Abstract

Formulation of recovery plans for endangered salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin of North America is a complex, controversial resource-management issue. This report presents an integrated assessment model to analyze the biological-economic tradeoffs in recovery of Snake River spring/summer-run chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

The authors find that the removal of an estuarine predator, the Caspian tern (Sterna caspia), and elimination of adult salmon harvest are recovery measures that markedly increase long-term population-growth rates regardless of transport effectiveness. Dam breaching significantly increases growth rates under the best available estimate of transport effectiveness. The authors also conclude that recovery strategies in the cost-effective set depend on assumptions about transport effectiveness. Tern removal and harvest elimination are generally cost effective. At the best estimate of transport effectiveness, strategies that discontinue smolt transportation or breach dams are prevalent in the cost-effective set. In contrast, strategies that maximize transportation are prevalent in the cost-effective set if transport effectiveness is relatively high.

This paper links biology and economics through an integrated model thus providing a valuable tool for science-based policy and management.

The paper can be downloaded from Michael R. Moore's website at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/micmoore/working_papers


Author(s)

David L. Halsing and Michael R. Moore


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