Numerical study of an innovative fish ladder design for perched culverts

Duguay, Jason; Lacey, Jay

doi:10.1139/cjce-2014-0436

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Thus, to assess the effects of hydrodynamics on the fish behavior, numerical modelling (the 3D CFD model FLOW-3D ® ) was used in this study to characterize influential hydrodynamic variables, such as velocity magnitude, TKE, and water depths, present in each configuration tested, in order to identify areas of high velocity and turbulence gradients that might have affected the fish movements. Over the last few years, 3D CFD models have proved to be a practical and robust tool to characterize hydrodynamics on several hydraulic structures, being widely used for the assessment of fish passages (e.g., studies on functioning over a wide range of discharges, prediction of suitable conditions for fish), optimization of designs, and evaluation of different retrofitting solutions [52][53][54][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. However, given that uncertainty in CFD modelling for environmental fluid mechanics in complex flow fields, like the flow field in the vicinity of a macro-scale roughness (e.g., wake region), can arise from a very wide range of sources, care should be taken when performing a numerical model study [65].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method is used to represent obstacles through fractional areas and volumes in the fixed orthogonal grid. Flow Science [50] presents additional details regarding the theoretical and numerical fundamentals of FLOW-3D ® , which has been used in recent years to characterize flow hydrodynamics in ecohydraulics and fishway research (e.g., [52][53][54]).…”

Section: Hydrodynamic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Retrofitted Ramped Weirs to Improve Passage of Potamodromous Fish

Amaral

Quaresma

Branco

et al. 2019

Water

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The addition of substrates to small instream obstacles, like low-head ramped weirs, has been considered a useful management solution to retrofit those structures and enhance fish passage. Substrate dimensions and spatial arrangement, together with discharge, and consequently water depths, appear as important factors for the creation of hydrodynamic conditions that may facilitate the successful passage of fish, though related studies are scarce to support decision-making. This study assessed the influence of discharge (Q) and different retrofitting designs (RD) on the upstream passage performance of a potamodromous cyprinid, the Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei). Different substrates (small boulders, large boulders, cobbles) and spatial arrangements (aligned, offset) were tested. Numerical modelling was performed to characterize the hydrodynamics. Results indicate that Q and RD influenced the upstream negotiation of ramped weirs. Cobbles randomly distributed along the ramp (Nature design) was the most successful configuration, recording the highest number of upstream passages. Low velocities along the ramp, and low turbulence downstream, were registered in this configuration, indicating that the use of natural substrate may help to increase the permeability of ramped weirs to fish movements. The outcomes from this work can help engineers and biologists to design more appropriate passage structures for low-head instream obstacles.2 of 18 after assessment, could not be removed, have undergone rehabilitation works to include ramps in their designs (e.g., [11,12]). This design reconfiguration enables water to pass over the ramp, not generating a waterfall [5,10], a condition that may afford a more holistic negotiation by fish [5,13]. Nevertheless, fish swimming abilities, which are closely related to fish guilds and body size [14][15][16][17], and hydrodynamic conditions, such as water depth, discharge, and turbulence present over the ramp and in the vicinity of the structure [5,[18][19][20], are key factors that influence the permeability of such structures to fish movements.The addition of substrates to instream obstacles and fish transposition devices, commonly referred to as retrofitting, has been considered a useful management solution to enhance upstream fish passage [5,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The placement of substrates in culverts to mimic natural stream conditions and facilitate fish passage has been successfully implemented since the early 1970s [29]. In low-head ramped weirs, natural substrates like pebbles, cobbles, or boulders, are frequently used as retrofitting solutions to increase the bed roughness, and consequently promote energy dissipation, creating localized zones of low-velocity and turbulence [23][24][25]30] that may be used by fish as resting areas during the upstream negotiation of ramps [20,27,[31][32][33]. These low velocities may be especially important to species of weaker swimming capabilities, such as potamodromous cyprinids [5,21,22]. Substrate dimensions and spatial arrang...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hydrodynamic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Retrofitted Ramped Weirs to Improve Passage of Potamodromous Fish

Amaral

Quaresma

Branco

et al. 2019

Water

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“…The building of barriers inhibiting connectivity without mitigation measures presents a serious threat to population dynamics (Duguay & Lacey ; Pracheil et al. ) that can lead to a decline in genetic diversity and likely to extirpations.…”

Section: Discusssionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The building of barriers inhibiting connectivity without mitigation measures presents a serious threat to population dynamics (Duguay & Lacey 2015;Pracheil et al 2015) that can lead to a decline in genetic diversity and likely to extirpations. Connectivity can also be indirectly affected by the building of wall dams and run-of-the river hydropower plants because of changes (increases or decreases) in water level due to regulation of water flow.…”

Section: Multitemporal Data and The Study Of A Threatened Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past, present, and future of a freshwater fish metapopulation in a threatened landscape

Vera-Escalona

Senthivasan

Habit

et al. 2018

Conservation Biology

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It is well documented that hydropower plants can affect the dynamics of fish populations through landscape alterations and the creation of new barriers. Less emphasis has been placed on the examination of the genetic consequences for fish populations of the construction of dams. The relatively few studies that focus on genetics often do not consider colonization history and even fewer tend to use this information for conservation purposes. As a case study, we used a 3-pronged approach to study the influence of historical processes, contemporary landscape features, and potential future anthropogenic changes in landscape on the genetic diversity of a fish metapopulation. Our goal was to identify the metapopulation's main attributes, detect priority areas for conservation, and assess the consequences of the construction of hydropower plants for the persistence of the metapopulation. We used microsatellite markers and coalescent approaches to examine historical colonization processes, traditional population genetics, and simulations of future populations under alternate scenarios of population size reduction and gene flow. Historical gene flow appeared to have declined relatively recently and contemporary populations appeared highly susceptible to changes in landscape. Gene flow is critical for population persistence. We found that hydropower plants could lead to a rapid reduction in number of alleles and to population extirpation 50-80 years after their construction. More generally, our 3-pronged approach for the analyses of empirical genetic data can provide policy makers with information on the potential impacts of landscape changes and thus lead to more robust conservation efforts.

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“…Recent analysis now estimates that these smaller barriers have a greater cumulative impact on fish populations due to their high abundance within freshwater systems (Januchowski-Hartley et al 2013). This recognition has fuelled the requirement for remediation strategies that work to improve fish passage through culverts (Duguay and Lacey 2016, Rodgers et al 2017, Goodrich et al 2018. Culverts were originally designed to maximise hydraulic capacity with little to no regard for fish passage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilising the boundary layer to help restore the connectivity of fish habitats and populations

Watson

Goodrich

Cramp

et al. 2018

Preprint

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SignificanceHabitat fragmentation is a significant contributor to the worldwide decline of freshwater ecosystem health, the most pervasive cause of which is culverts. Culverts act as a barrier to fish movement, impacting feeding, predator avoidance, spawning, and community structures. Here we show that a common remediation strategy that involves baffles, is detrimental to the successful passage of small bodied and juvenile fish at high velocities. To remedy this widespread problem, we present a novel remediation design that benefits a range of small-bodied species and juvenile fish at the same high velocities, regardless of morphology or ecological niche. The application of this remediation design may be expanded to any smooth surfaced anthropogenic structure, to improve fish passage and restore ecosystem functionality. AbstractCulverts are a major cause of habitat fragmentation in freshwater ecosystems, are a barrier to fish movement, and are regarded as a significant contributor in the decline of freshwater fish populations globally. To try to address this, various culvert remediation designs have been implemented, including the installation of vertical baffles and the provision of naturalistic (rock) substrates. While remediation strategies generally aim to reduce the velocity of water flowing through the structure, there is often resistance to their use because the resultant reduction in culvert discharge can negatively impact upstream flooding while also resulting in debris clogging and increased culvert maintenance costs. In addition, baffles markedly increase water turbulence that may be detrimental to passage by some fish species or size classes. Here we present some novel remediation designs that exploit the reduced water velocity in boundary layers along the culvert wall to enhance fish passage without significantly compromising discharge capacity. These longitudinal designs produce an expanded reduced velocity zone along the culvert margins that generate minimal turbulence. We show that these novel designs are significantly advantageous to the swimming endurance and traversability for six small-bodied Australian fish species. We also provide data on how and why some culvert baffle designs may impede small-bodied fish passage. This data scales with increasing water velocity, encompassing inter-specific differences in swimming capacity. These results have broad implications for fish community structure and the requirement of juvenile cohort of large-bodied commercially important species where baffles have been implemented to facilitate fish passage.

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Numerical study of an innovative fish ladder design for perched culverts

Cited by 14 publications

References 23 publications

Assessment of Retrofitted Ramped Weirs to Improve Passage of Potamodromous Fish

Assessment of Retrofitted Ramped Weirs to Improve Passage of Potamodromous Fish

Past, present, and future of a freshwater fish metapopulation in a threatened landscape

Utilising the boundary layer to help restore the connectivity of fish habitats and populations

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