Session E3: Downstream Migration
Location
Groningen, The Netherlands
Event Website
http://fishpassage.umass.edu/
Start Date
22-6-2015 4:45 PM
End Date
22-6-2015 5:00 PM
Description
Abstract:
With the growing numbers of fish migration along the river Rhine and its tributaries, it became clear that not only the upstream, but also the downstream migration must be secured. The effects of hydropower installations are becoming more and more visible. Partly this is because there are more fish that can be damaged, partly because the policies on renewable energy increased the number of hydropower installations. In 2013, the Rhine Ministers stated that for juvenile Salmon or adult Eel, the downstream migration in the turbine areas is critical because of the great danger of injuries, particularly in cases of successive hydropower plants. The Ministers asked the ICPR to intensively work on the joint determination of innovative techniques of downstream migration at transverse structures. Regarding hydropower, in the Rhine system, the Kaplan turbine seems to be the dominant type used, especially along the main stream of the river. Other types used are the Francis and the Banki-Mitchell turbine. Currently, the number of ‘microhydropower’ installations is growing. Switzerland has excluded installations >1MW from public funding, because smaller installations have a negative cost-benefit performance when it comes to financial and environmental costs compared to the power benefits. For smaller installations (<50m3) screens seem to be an adequate solution to protect fish against the passage of turbines. The results of investigations in various installations in the Rhine system suggest that the bar width of the screen should be around 10 mm. The function control at the installation in Kostheim (built in 2011, screen 20 mm) showed a very high mortality. For bigger installations, more research is urgently needed.
Session E3: Downstream Migration
Groningen, The Netherlands
Abstract:
With the growing numbers of fish migration along the river Rhine and its tributaries, it became clear that not only the upstream, but also the downstream migration must be secured. The effects of hydropower installations are becoming more and more visible. Partly this is because there are more fish that can be damaged, partly because the policies on renewable energy increased the number of hydropower installations. In 2013, the Rhine Ministers stated that for juvenile Salmon or adult Eel, the downstream migration in the turbine areas is critical because of the great danger of injuries, particularly in cases of successive hydropower plants. The Ministers asked the ICPR to intensively work on the joint determination of innovative techniques of downstream migration at transverse structures. Regarding hydropower, in the Rhine system, the Kaplan turbine seems to be the dominant type used, especially along the main stream of the river. Other types used are the Francis and the Banki-Mitchell turbine. Currently, the number of ‘microhydropower’ installations is growing. Switzerland has excluded installations >1MW from public funding, because smaller installations have a negative cost-benefit performance when it comes to financial and environmental costs compared to the power benefits. For smaller installations (<50m3) screens seem to be an adequate solution to protect fish against the passage of turbines. The results of investigations in various installations in the Rhine system suggest that the bar width of the screen should be around 10 mm. The function control at the installation in Kostheim (built in 2011, screen 20 mm) showed a very high mortality. For bigger installations, more research is urgently needed.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2015/June22/61