an uncommon (yet necessary) union integrating engineering and fisheries biology
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An Uncommon (yet necessary) Union Integrating Engineering and Fisheries Biology. Chris Myrick Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology [email protected]. Instream flows Components of a successful program Importance of flow Importance of 4-dimensional connectivity - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
An Uncommon (yet necessary) UnionIntegrating Engineering and Fisheries Biology
Chris MyrickFish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
Lecture Outline• Instream flows
– Components of a successful program
– Importance of flow– Importance of 4-
dimensional connectivity
• 4-dimensional Connectivity– What happens if you
disconnect?– Examples– Can “disconnecting” be
useful?
• Introduction to fish movement– Velocity control– Fish swimming velocity
ranges• Measurement
– Fish jumping• Measurement
• Fish passage options– Fishway types
• Desired features
• Conclusions
Instream Flow & The Natural Flow Paradigm
“The main principle…is that flow regime is the dominant variable in determining the form and function of a river.”
Annear et al. 2004
“Managers…must recognize the importance of inter- and intra-annual flow variability [to] enable critical ecological processes”
Annear et al. 2004
Components of a Successful Instream Flow Program
• Policy components– Legal– Institutional– Public involvement
• Riverine components– Hydrology– Biology– Geomorphology– Water quality– Connectivity
Ecosystem Components
Four-Dimensional Connectivity
• Connectivity: flows, exchange, and pathways that move organisms, energy, and material through a river system
• Connectivity is complex and interrelated• River connectivity has four dimensions
– Longitudinal– Vertical– Lateral– Temporal (time)
• Let’s focus on disruption of longitudinal connectivity from an ecological standpoint
Why Connectivity Matters
• Because stream fish have evolved in dynamic environments, they take advantage of, and depend on, a variety of habitats
Spawning habitat with incubation of eggs
Refugia from harsh environmental conditions (e.g., extreme temperatures or flows) with unfavorable growth conditions
Mosaic of feeding habitat(s) with favorable
growth conditions
Movement to spawn
Movement to refuge
Movement to feed
Movement to spawnMovement to
feed
Adapted from Schlosser and Angermeier 1995
hab 1 hab 2
hab 3
Why Connectivity Matters• Restore/maintain biophysical linkages + ecological
connectivity• Allow up- and downstream movements of migrating
fishes, other organisms, energy, matter– Fragmentation can lead to local extinctions & ecosystem
dysfunction
Riverine Fishes
Dams (big ones)
Waterfalls
Dams (even little ones)
Culverts
Flood-control Structures
More Flood-Control Structures!
Beneficial losses of connectivity?
• Yes…in a few cases• Prevent upstream movement of invasive species• Prevent loss of fish to water diversions or
hydroelectric turbines
Fish Swimming - Wave Propagation
Velocity Control
• Increase frequency of undulations
• Increase amplitude of undulation
• Increase surface area acting (pushing) against the water
Factors Affecting Swimming Velocity
• Species– sedentary vs. active
• Size– Large vs. small
• Water temperature– Warm vs. cool
• Water quality– Pollutants– Dissolved oxygen levels– Etc.
Fish Swimming Velocities
• Prolonged (> 1 hour)• Sustained (1 h to 1
minute)• Burst (< 1 minute)• Measured using
swimming flumes (fish treadmills)
Velocity vs. Endurance
Example of Swimming Experiments
How else do fish negotiate fishways?
What can swimming studies tell us?
• Fishway length and allowable velocities– Peake’s Equation
• vf = water velocity in fishway• vs = water velocity of swimming trial (fish swimming velocity)
• Evs = endurance at velocity vs
• d = maximum fishway length• Remember, a fish moving upstream must exceed downstream
velocity
€
vf=vs−d×Evs−1( )Peake’s Equation
0
10
20
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60
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0 10 20 30 40Maximum Fishway Length (m)
Fishway Water Velocity (cm/s)
Burst Prolonged Sustained
Brassy Minnow Example
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 10 20 30 40Maximum Fishway Length (m)
Fishway Water Velocity (cm/s)
Burst Prolonged Sustained
A Common Misconception!
A Situation To Avoid
Measuring Jumping Ability• CSU has pioneered recent
work in this area– Relies on the use of artificial
waterfalls with variable pool depths and weir heights
– Mandi was one of the developers of this technique
• Species jumped to date:– Brook trout– Rio Grande cutthroat trout– Colorado R. cutthroat trout– Fathead minnows– Brassy minnows– Common shiners– Arkansas darters
Fish Jumping Experiment
QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Typical Fish Jumping Results
10 cm20 cm30 cm40 cm50 cm60 cm70 cm
80 cm90 cm
10 cm20 cm30 cm40 cm50 cm60 cm
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
Proportion Successful
Waterfall Height (cm) Pool Depth (cm)
Pool & Weir Fishway
Pool, Weir, & Orifice Fishways
Pool, Weir, and Orifice Fishways
John Day Dam fish ladder
Denil Fishways
Vertical Slot Fishways
Vertical Slot Fishways
Rock-Ramp & Nature-like Fishways
Rock Ramp & Nature-like Fishways
And the winners are…
• Rock-ramp fishways• Vertical slot fishways• Why?
– Operate over a wide range of flows
– Allow fish to pass without requiring jumping
– Are suitable for a wide range of species w/∆ swimming abilities
What Makes A Good Fishway?• Provide velocity refuges
• Access to all levels of water column
• Work over a wide range of flows
• Provides enough attraction flows
• Works for a wide range of fish sizes
• Allow structure to continue hydraulic/engineered function
What About Fish Barriers?
• Create a situation that exceeds a fish’s performance or physically limits the fish’s movements
• Drop-structures (waterfalls)
• Screens• Velocity barriers
Useful Tools
• Instream flow techniques manuals
• Fish Xing 3.0 Software– Fish passage through
culverts
• Coursework in fisheries biology– Fish Ecology– Fish Physiology– Ichthyology
Take-Home Messages
• We should (must) incorporate fishways in all potential obstacles
• Effective fishways must work for most/all species and a wide range of sizes
• Effective fishways have:– good attraction flows– velocity refuges– ideal entrance configurations
• Engineers and biologists must learn to communicate!
Take-Home Messages cont…
• Effective environmental engineers– Have a basic understanding of fish biology and
fisheries management (FW300, FW400, FW401, FW405/605, etc.)
– Consult with fisheries biologists during design, implementation and monitoring phases of projects
• Effective fish biologists– Have a basic understanding of environmental
engineering (CE413, G652, CE522, CE544, etc.)– Consult with engineers during design,
implementation and monitoring phases of projects