Fish passage through turbines, conduits, and spillway gates
Summary
As rivers become more fully developed for hydroelectric power, greater numbers of fish will be passed thru turbines or special conduits. Survival at well-designed low head power plant installations has been computed by tests to be 90-95 percent and, at the best designed high head installations, 85 percent. Passage through a well-designed spillway is assumed to be equal to (and generally thought better than) that through turbines; however, this varies depending on the type of spillway. Specially designed conduits with high velocities are now being tested in the field. Special chutes have been tested and found to have a high degree of efficiency of passage. Similar survival percentages are not available for any type of screening.