Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
3332745 
Journal Article 
HIGH-HEAD DAMS AFFECT DOWNSTREAM FISH PASSAGE TIMING AND SURVIVAL IN THE MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER 
Keefer, ML; Taylor, GA; Garletts, DF; Helms, CK; Gauthier, GA; Pierce, TM; Caudill, CC 
2013 
1 
River Research and Applications
ISSN: 1535-1459
EISSN: 1535-1467 
29 
4 
483-492 
WOS:000318026000006 
Many high-head dams in Oregon's Willamette River basin were constructed without fish passage facilities for downstream migrants. Instead, fish pass dams via hydroelectric turbines, surface spillways or deep-water regulating outlets. The availability of these routes varies seasonally with dam operations and reservoir depth, which can fluctuate by tens of meters. To assess how dam and reservoir operations affect fish movement timing and survival, we used rotary screw traps below three Willamette basin dams and at two riverine sites above reservoirs. Traps were operated 2950days over 8years, and >195000 fish were collected. Samples above reservoirs were primarily native salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.), daces (Rhinichthys spp.) and sculpins (Cottus spp.), while those below dams were often dominated by non-native Centrarchidae. Capture rates at riverine sites were highest from late winter to early summer, coincident with juvenile Chinook salmon emigration. Conversely, collection below dams was largely restricted to late fall and winter when reservoirs were drawn down to annual lows and discharge was high. We hypothesize that winter operations facilitated fish access to dam turbines and regulating outlets, whereas springsummer operations entrapped fish in reservoirs and restricted volitional downstream passage. Total fish mortality was 2% at riverine sites and was 3669% below dams. Estimates were highest for non-native species and juvenile Chinook salmon. Fatal injuries were consistent with traumas related to pressure, shear and contact and there were size-related and morphology-related risk differences. Mitigation opportunities include fish bypass system development, retrofits for existing routes and seasonally appropriate reservoir draw down to allow fish passage. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 
entrainment; high-head dam; reservoir entrapment; turbine mortality; Willamette River