Modelling the downstream longitudinal effects of frequent hydropeaking on the spawning potential and stranding susceptibility of salmonids

Burman, Anton; Hedger, Richard D.; Hellström, J. Gunnar I.; Andersson, Anders G.; Sundt-Hansen, Line Elisabeth Breivik

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148999

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In another study, with a view to supporting the Paris agreement on increasing power production through renewable resources, the ecological impact of increased frequency of hydropeaking events and variations in the dewatering rate were studied (Fig. 19b & c) for a river in Sweden (Burman et al, 2021). This was done with a view to understanding exible operation range and the associated susceptibility of the salmonid population.…”

Section: Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scope, Effects and Mitigation of Hydropeaking: A Case Study of Lundesokna, Gaula River

Devi

Ganapathy

Chang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Lundesokna river which is a tributary of the unregulated Gaula River, is exposed to the problem of hydropeaking caused by the hydropower plant. River Gaula is also one of the best Atlantic Salmon fishing rivers in Norway. The main objective of the paper is to quantify the impact of hydropeaking in Lundesokna-Gaula confluence and along the lengths of River Lundesokna on salmon population. As a first step, the characteristics of hydropeaking such as peaking discharge, base flow, standard amplitude, peak retention, flashness and rate of change are estimated. Then the seasonality of hydropeaking behaviour is quantified by detecting hydropeaking events using Hydropeaking Event Detection Algorithm (HEDA) (Li & Pasternack, 2021) algorithm. For the individual peaking event and seasonal average peak-base flows the hydraulic model was set-up. The hydraulic characteristics of hydropeaking events at various zones of the Lundesokna River, such as various ramping areas, ramping rate were estimated. Additionally, the eco-hydraulic indicators such as potential spawning area, spawning habitat and fish stranding indices were estimated at various zones of the Lundesokna River. The key highlights of the analysis that has been conducted for Lundesokna are as follows: (i) 15 min temporal resolution was found out to be optimal in capturing the hydropeaking events, (ii) base-peak flow differences were prominent in Winter season, (iii) confluence reported lower ramping rates due to moderation by the unregulated flows in Gaula, (iv) irrespective of the increase in flows in Lundesokna (up to a flow similar to that in Gaula), confluence’s spawning potential will not be much affected; however other sites in Lundesokna might get affected, therefore site-specific mitigation strategies need to be practiced, (v) when Gaula is at low flows, hydropeaking flows at Lundesokna should be maintained accordingly to reduce the stranding risk. We also propose an environmental flow informed comprehensive framework for drafting operational guidelines and site-specific mitigation measures can be undertaken to ensure effective conservation of the salmon population.

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Section: Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scope, Effects and Mitigation of Hydropeaking: A Case Study of Lundesokna, Gaula River

Devi

Ganapathy

Chang

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, small‐scale fish stranding data can be challenging to upscale to the level of the riverscape. Some studies modelled the variation in wetted area and dewatering ramping rate to gauge fish stranding areas (Juárez et al, 2019; Larrieu & Pasternack, 2021; Sauterleute et al, 2016) and estimate the risk of stranded fish with little or no fish stranding data collected from the specific study site (Burman et al, 2021; Casas‐Mulet et al, 2016; Hauer et al, 2014; Sauterleute et al, 2016; Tuhtan et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model to estimate fish stranding risk downstream from a hydropeaking hydroelectric station

et al. 2023

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Fish stranding is of global concern with increasing hydropower operations using hydropeaking to respond to fluctuating energy demand. Determining the effects hydropeaking has on fish communities is challenging because fish stranding is dependent on riverscape features, such as topography, bathymetry and substrate. By using a combination of physical habitat assessments, hydrodynamic modelling and empirical data on fish stranding, we estimated the number of fish stranding over a 5-month period for three model years in a large Prairie river. More specifically, we modelled how many fish potentially stranded during the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 across a 16 km study reached downstream from E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station on the Saskatchewan River, Canada. Fish stranding densities calculated from data collected through remote photography and transect monitoring in 2021 were applied to the daily area subject to drying determined by the River2D hydrodynamic model. The cumulative area subject to change was 90.05, 53.02 and 80.74 km 2 for years 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively, from June to October. The highest number of stranded fish was estimated for the year 2021, where estimates ranged from 89,800 to 1,638,000 individuals based on remote photography and transect monitoring fish stranding densities, respectively, 157 to 2,856 fish stranded per hectare. Our approach of estimating fish stranding on a large scale allows for a greater understanding of the impact hydropeaking has on fish communities and can be applied to other riverscapes threatened by hydropeaking.

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“…The hydrodynamics of hydropeaking has been researched broadly in recent years. For instance, hydropeakings' effect on the dewatering of beaches was investigated using two‐dimensional (2D) modelling (Burman, Hedger, Hellström, Andersson, & Sundt‐Hansen, 2021; Juárez, Adeva‐Bustos, Alfredsen, & Dønnum, 2019). Additionally, the magnitude of downstream vertical ramping velocities due to hydropeaking was investigated through 1D modelling in several river reaches in Austria (Hauer, Holzapfel, Leitner, & Graf, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent work shows the need to further investigate the influence on the downstream reach for high‐frequency hydropeaking. The risk of dewatering for potential salmonid spawning habitat was reduced for high‐frequency hydropeaking (Burman et al, 2021). Furthermore, the magnitude of the water level variation reduced as the hydropeaking frequency increased (Burman, Andersson, Hellström, & Angele, 2020), indicating that very high‐frequency hydropeaking might reduce dewatering in the downstream parts of the reach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic classification of hydropeaking stages in a river reach

Burman

Andersson

Hellström

2023

River Research & Apps

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Hydropower is an important tool in the struggle for low-emission power production.In the Nordic countries, hydropower operating conditions are expected to change and work more in conjunction with intermittent power production. This in turn might increase the amount of hydropeaking events in the reaches downstream of hydropower plants. The current work investigates the influence of highly flexible, highfrequency hydropeaking on the hydrodynamics in the downstream reach. By quantifying four different dynamic stages in the study reach, the influence of the hydropeaking frequencies was investigated in the bypass reach of the Stornorrfors hydropower plant in the river Umeälven in northern Sweden. The hydrodynamics in the study reach were numerically modelled using the open source solver Delft3D.Eight different highly flexible future hydropeaking scenarios, varying from 12 to 60 flow changes per day, were considered. A method for identifying four hydropeaking stages-dewatering, dynamic, alternating and uniform -was introduced. The hydropeaking frequency directly decided the stage in most of the study reach.Furthermore, a Fourier analysis showed a significant difference between the stages and their corresponding power spectra. The classification of stages put forward in this work provides a novel, simple method to investigate the hydrodynamics due to hydropeaking in a river reach.

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Modelling the downstream longitudinal effects of frequent hydropeaking on the spawning potential and stranding susceptibility of salmonids

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

Scope, Effects and Mitigation of Hydropeaking: A Case Study of Lundesokna, Gaula River

Scope, Effects and Mitigation of Hydropeaking: A Case Study of Lundesokna, Gaula River

Applying a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model to estimate fish stranding risk downstream from a hydropeaking hydroelectric station

Hydraulic classification of hydropeaking stages in a river reach

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