A fish-eye view of riverine hydropower systems: the current understanding of the biological response to turbine passage

Pracheil, Brenda M.; DeRolph, Christopher R.; Schramm, Michael P.; Bevelhimer, Mark S.

doi:10.1007/s11160-015-9416-8

Cited by 113 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Research on turbine passage mortality and injury has been extensive (see Pracheil, DeRolph, et al., for a review, which includes both potadromous and anadromous populations). Nonetheless, we know much less about the numbers of potadromous fish that actually experience entrainment or passage through hydropower turbines (Silva et al., ).…”

Section: Review Of Evidence For Involuntary Turbine Entrainment and Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Turbine passage mortality has the potential to reduce recruitment from above the dam and thus negatively impact downstream populations (Winkle & Kadvany, ). High mortality associated with turbine passage has the potential to limit or even halt downstream movement (Cada, ; Pracheil, DeRolph, et al., ). However, turbine passage mortality estimates have been largely based on experimental turbine introductions or turbine passage simulations.…”

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even in situations where mortality is reported as very high (e.g., 90%, Maiolie & Elam, ), we cannot be sure that this mortality has an impact on downstream passage of potadromous fish without knowledge of the actual numbers of fish entrained/passing. Moreover, adult turbine passage mortality is often <30% (Pracheil, DeRolph, et al., ). In such cases, it is hard to draw conclusions about the overall impacts of hydropower on downstream movement, without estimates of passage attempts or evidence of downstream impacts.…”

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Turbine passage survivors, which can often exceed 90% (Pracheil, DeRolph, et al., ), have the potential to contribute to downstream populations. For example, paddle fish, tube‐nosed goby ( Proterorhinus semilunari, Gobiidae) and white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus , Acipenseridae) on the Missouri, Danube and Snake rivers, respectively, have been shown to be subsidizing downstream populations, through downstream passage/entrainment through turbines (Jager, ; Janáč et al., ; Pracheil, Mestl, et al., ).…”

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Turbine entrainment and passage of potadromous fish through hydropower dams: Developing conceptual frameworks and metrics for moving beyond turbine passage mortality

et al. 2019

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Potadromous fishes are vulnerable to involuntary entrainment through hydropower turbines. However, turbines can also provide a downstream passage route for potadromous fish. Here, we review evidence for turbine entrainment and passage in potadromous fish, and evaluate the effects of these processes on upstream and downstream populations. We develop conceptual frameworks and metrics to quantify vulnerability to turbine entrainment removals, and to quantify the efficiency of turbines as a downstream passage route. We highlight factors that influence these processes and provide case‐studies demonstrating their applicability. We found that juvenile potadromous fish are being entrained through turbines at rates high enough to impact upstream populations. Given that juvenile passage survival is often high, we argue that turbines provide an important downstream passage route for potadromous fish. We show that entrainment vulnerability is likely a function of interactions between in‐reservoir fish behaviour, habitat configuration and operations and thus not well captured by passage mortality estimates. Similarly, we show that while passage mortality can limit downstream passage efficiency, passage success is also dependent on reservoir and forebay navigation, along with survival and fitness in the downstream river. We advocate for a shift in focus away from estimates of passage mortality and injury, which have previously accounted for the majority of turbine passage research. Instead, we recommend an approach that focusses on quantification of the factors that influence downstream passage efficiency and entrainment vulnerability. Moreover, we highlight the need to better understand the broader scale impacts of these events on upstream and downstream populations.

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Section: Review Of Evidence For Involuntary Turbine Entrainment and Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Review Of Evidence For Turbine Passage and Impacts On Downstmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Turbine entrainment and passage of potadromous fish through hydropower dams: Developing conceptual frameworks and metrics for moving beyond turbine passage mortality

et al. 2019

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“…Surprisingly, survival of eels was higher and less variable (range 90.0–98.0%; mean 95.1%) in passage through Francis turbines than through propeller‐type turbines (range 66.0– 93.0%; mean 80.7%). This finding is in contrast to that reported for deep bodied fish taxa (Pracheil et al ., ; Winchell et al ., ) but similar to study results for Anguilla species reviewed in EPRI (). For non‐anguillids, reported passage survival is generally lower and variable and injury rates higher in passage through Francis turbines than through propeller turbines (Winchell et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passage survival of European and American eels at Francis and propeller turbines

Heisey¹,

Mathur²,

Phipps³

et al. 2019

Journal of Fish Biology

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We present the magnitude of losses of European eel Anguilla anguilla and American eel A. rostrata in passage through propeller and Francis turbines at hydroelectric projects. Survival and injury rates and types were turbine type related. Overall, eel survival was higher (mean ± 90% CI = 95.1 ± 5.3%,) and injury rate lower (12.5 ± 10.5) at Francis than propeller turbines (survival = 80.7 ± 6.4%; injury rate = 25.7 ± 7.9%). The common injury type at Francis turbines was bruises and at propeller turbines was severance. Blade shape and thickness of the leading edge of the blades (rounded, thick buckets of Francis turbines v. flatter, sharper edged blades in propeller turbines); eel entry routes into the turbines; their flexible, cylindrical body shape and orientation probably contributed to these differences. Relationship between survival and injury and turbine characteristics was turbine specific. For Francis turbines, one negative correlation (r = −0.986, P < 0.01) between survival and runner speed was found and two positive correlations between injury rates and fish length (r = 0.740, P < 0.10) and number of blades (r = 0.835, P < 0.05) were noted for propeller turbines. Several severely injured eels remained active 48 h after turbine passage suggesting caution is warranted when using telemetric movement for estimating eel survival. We conclude there is a need to (a) better understand travel paths and approach orientation of eels through turbines; (b) determine where only eel passage is of concern at hydropower plants that have both turbine types and therefore preferential operation of Francis turbines may be considered; (c) inform hydropower plant operators where turbine replacement is being considered and downstream eel passage is of concern that replacement by Francis or bulb turbines may prove beneficial for eel passage.

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Bidirectional connectivity in fishways: A mitigation for impacts on fish migration of small hydropower facilities

Bravo‐Córdoba

García‐Vega

Fuentes‐Pérez

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Most freshwater fish need to move freely through rivers to complete their life cycles. Thus, river barriers (e.g. dams, culverts and gauging stations) may delay, hinder or even block their longitudinal movements, affecting fish conservation.The most widespread solution to allow upstream fish migration are fishways, whereas downstream migration is basically facilitated through spillways, turbines or specific solutions such as bypass systems.2. So far, studies and scientific discussions concerning bidirectional movements through fishways are scarce and focused on large dams and reservoirs, mainly with large migratory species such as salmonids, rather than smaller facilities and lesser known species.3. This study investigated bidirectional movements through a small run-of-the-river hydropower plant with a pool-and-orifice type fishway, using the Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei), a potamodromous cyprinid, as the target species. Passive integrated transponder and radio tracking data were collected over 4 years and combined to characterize upstream and downstream movements. The study focused primarily on fish movements through the fishway, but also estimated the multiple associated routes of passage.4. The results show diverse fish movements with inter-and intra-annual variability, with several individuals performing bidirectional movements and even some fish returning over the years. The documented movements and observations indicate that fishways can serveas an effective bidirectional migration corridor for fish, potentially enhancing the conservation efforts for potamodromous species. This study supports the decision to use fishways as an overall mitigation tool to reduce the impact of small hydropower facilities on fish.

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A fish-eye view of riverine hydropower systems: the current understanding of the biological response to turbine passage

Cited by 113 publications

References 24 publications

Turbine entrainment and passage of potadromous fish through hydropower dams: Developing conceptual frameworks and metrics for moving beyond turbine passage mortality

Turbine entrainment and passage of potadromous fish through hydropower dams: Developing conceptual frameworks and metrics for moving beyond turbine passage mortality

Passage survival of European and American eels at Francis and propeller turbines

Bidirectional connectivity in fishways: A mitigation for impacts on fish migration of small hydropower facilities

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