Using the Eulerian Lagrangian Agent Method (ELAM) for forecasting fish passage on the Mississippi River

Planning for warmwater fish passage is challenging because of the wide range of fish species being considered and the limited engineering design guidance.  The biological response to different fish passage designs was studied at Lock and Dam 22 on the Mississippi River using the Eulerian Lagrangian Agent Method (ELAM).  This method simulated fish movements by combining Adaptive Hydraulics (ADH) computational fluid dynamics model outputs and computer generated fish behavior patterns.  The ELAM created an environment where virtual fish were allowed to swim in response to the fine - scale hydrodynamics and choose their destination.  Two scenarios were developed, one with and one without the proposed fish ladder, and these results were compared to data collected in the field.  These findings were valuable in confirming the location of the fishway and provided a useful visualization of how the project is expected to function once constructed.  Future work will focus on utilizing ELAM modeling techniques in the planning activities at other locations in the Mississippi River and developing behavior models for smaller sized fish.  This will allow refinement of other fish passage designs, maximizing effectiveness while reducing costs.