Browsing by Author "Blank, Matthew"

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Flow-Control Plates to Manage Denil Fishways in Irrigation Diversions for Upstream Passage of Arctic Grayling
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2023-06) Plymesser, Kathryn; Blue, Tyler; Kappenman, Kevin M.; Blank, Matthew; Cahoon, Joel; Dockery, David
Small-stream irrigation diversions are key elements of many on-farm irrigation systems but can act as barriers to aquatic species. Denil fishways have been installed at irrigation diversion structures throughout the Big Hole River watershed in Montana to provide upstream passage for a population of Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus. When stream flows are low and irrigation demand is high, irrigators look for ways to maintain adequate diversion, but doing so may reduce the effectiveness of the fishways. In response, agencies and irrigators have proposed flow-control plates placed at the upstream end of fishways. We conducted laboratory-based fishway efficiency experiments with Arctic Grayling placed in an open-channel flume fitted with a Denil fishway and three flow plates. Of the total 200 fish that we used, the fishway entrance attracted 154 fish and we counted these fish as participants. We operated the fishway under varying flow conditions using three flow-control plate treatments and a control to investigate 1) the extent to which each treatment reduced flow compared to the control, and 2) the extent to which each treatment impacted passage success of Arctic Grayling relative to the control. We measured passage success as the ratio of the number of fish that fully ascended the fishway treatment to the number of participant fish attracted to the fishway treatment. One of the three plates, the Denil slot treatment, showed no evidence of reducing either flow or passage success. Another plate, the standard treatment, showed no evidence of reducing flow but moderate evidence of reducing passage success (P = 0.03). The only treatment to significantly reduce water flow rate was the narrowed Denil slot treatment and there was no evidence this treatment reduced passage in comparison to the control. Over all trials, water flow rate through the Denil fishway had a strong positive influence on fish passage success.
Hydraulic Analysis at the Interface of the Yellowstone River and the Huntley, Montana Irrigation Diversion Fish Bypass
(Montana State University, 2021-11) Johnson, Andrew; Cahoon, Joel; Zale, Al; Plymesser, Katey; Blank, Matthew
The nature-like bypass channel built to allow fish to circumvent the Huntley Diversion Dam on the Yellowstone River was constructed in 2015. A project was commissioned in 2019 to determine the effectiveness of the bypass using hydraulic modeling and fish detection techniques. During the course of the study it was observed that there may be a localized zone of high water velocity at the interface between the upstream end of the bypass and the main channel of the river -an area just upstream of the low-head dam. The concern this raises is that some fish that successfully negotiate the bypass channel may be returned directly over the dam due a difficult hydraulic condition at the interface. That observation prompted a more focused hydraulic modeling exercise as reported herein. A detailed 2-D HEC-RAS model was developed to investigate the hydraulic conditions. The model predicts localized water velocities of up to 15 ft/sec. At low river flows there appears to be adequate pathways for fish to avoid this high velocity region, but as river flow increases so does the area in which the velocity is high. From these results it is likely that, during higher river flow periods, the bypass channel may be passable, but fish may struggle to re-enter the river channel successfully. Suggested physical alterations to the site to help overcome this range from the addition of large rip rap to rerouting the upstream end of the bypass channel. Acknowledgement
Swimming performance of sauger (Sander canadensis) in relation to fish passage
(2017-12) Dockery, David R.; McMahon, Thomas E.; Kappenman, Kevin M.; Blank, Matthew
A lack of information on the swimming abilities of sauger (Sander canadensis), a highly migratory species particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation, may inhibit the design of effective passage structures for this species. Passage success, maximum ascent distances, and maximum sprint velocities of sauger were estimated in an open-channel flume over a range of water velocities (51, 78, and 92 cm.s(-1)) and temperatures (10.0, 14.3, and 18.3 degrees C) to assess swimming performance. Passage success was high (91%) over all test velocities, as was the maximum instantaneous burst velocity (219 cm.s(-1)). Water temperature and body size had little effect on swimming performance. Sauger transitioned from steady, sustained swimming to unsteady, burst-glide, or steady burst swimming at 97 cm.s(-1). Sauger were capable of sustained sprints of 124 cm.s(-1) over 15 s duration in a swim chamber. Results suggest passage structures with water velocities less than 97 cm.s(-1) should provide high probability of successful passage of adult sauger, whereas structures with water velocities exceeding 219 cm.s(-1) may be impassable.