Relative cost and precision of hydroacoustic and net sampling at hydroelectric facilities

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:220154

Wells, A W; Matousek, J A; Metzger, S G ^[1]

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1. Lawler, Matusky & Skelly Engineers, Pearl River, NY (United States); and others

Estimating the number of fish passing through a hydroelectric facility is often an important aspect of hydroelectric project relicensing. The number of fish per unit volume, and ultimately the total number of fish entrained, is usually obtained from hydroacoustic methods or tailrace nets. Data collected at several small hydroelectric projects in Michigan gave us the opportunity to compare the sampling precision of these two methods. This comparison can be useful in formulating future sampling programs as the degree of sampling precision relates directly to the sampling effort and program cost. Individual hydroacoustic samples covered small volumes of water. This resulted in a high degree of variability among samples and a less precise estimate of total entrainment for a given number of samples. In contrast, net samples filtered greater volumes of water and had lower variability among samples. To examine the trade-off between precision and program cost, we computed the 95% confidence interval for the annual estimated entrainment and cost of the associated sampling program. The results suggested that the most cost-effective sampling method depends on the desired precision of the entrainment estimate. For low precision estimates, hydroacoustic sampling was most advantageous. Net sampling would be advantageous when precise entrainment estimates are required and when species composition must be obtained.

• OSTI ID: 220154
• Report Number(s): CONF-9507190--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
ACOUSTICS
ENTRAINMENT
FISHES
HYDRAULIC TURBINES
HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
LICENSING
MICHIGAN
SAMPLING