Comparing Fish Screen Performance to Physical Design Criteria
Fish screens associated with irrigation diversion structures in streams where salmonids are present can perform a vital function by protecting rearing and migrating fishes. Irrigation diversions in the western United States were developed in the late 1800?s and early 1900?s with little regard to how they might affect fish populations. Fish screens were installed on some diversions beginning in the 1930's but were often ineffective. Beginning in the 1980's a ''modern-era'' fish screening program was initiated in the Yakima River basin in Washington State. A systematic phased approach was employed, with federal funding, to replace antiquated screens and to install screens where there had not previously been any. Also during this time, the federal and state agencies responsible for protecting the fish resources developed criteria to guide the design of these facilities. These criteria, developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Fisheries (formerly the National Marine Fisheries Service) and adopted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, dictate the limits of physical metrics such as approach velocity for fish screens facilities. To determine whether the investment in fish screen facilities were paying dividends in terms of the fish protection they were designed and built to achieve, the in-situ evaluation of these facilities was required. Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed methods for evaluating these new fish screen facilities as they came ''on-line'' to document whether the facilities were designed, constructed, operated and maintained to be within the fish passage criteria. Because the fish protection criteria were developed to guide facility engineering and design, researchers had to interpret the criteria in terms of how they would be applied to data from the field to determine whether a specific facility was operated within criteria. PNNL uses a combination of water velocity measurements, visual inspection, and underwater videography to determine whether fish screen sites are within the fish protection criteria. This annual evaluation schedule (most sites are evaluated three times/year) is a vital tool to ensure that the large capital investment (over $75 Million USD) is being operated and maintained to protect fish.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15020851
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-40314; 400480000; TRN: US200521%%293
- Journal Information:
- Fisheries, Vol. 29, Issue 7
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Yakima and Touchet River Basins Phase II Fish Screen Evaluation, 2006-2007 Annual Report.
Yakima Tributary Access and Habitat Program : Action Plan Final Report 2002.