96-15
Four Years of Acoustic Telemetry Studies of Juvenile Salmonid Passage and Survival Improvements at John Day Dam, Columbia River
Mark Weiland
,
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Gene R. Ploskey
,
Ecology Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Battelle, North Bonneville, WA
James Hughes
,
North Bonneville Field Station, PNNL, North Bonneville, WA
Zhiqun (Daniel) Deng
,
Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
B.L. LaMarche
,
PNNL, Portland, OR
E.Y. Choi
,
PNNL, Portland, OR
M.B. Eppard
,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District, Portland, OR
Abstract: The 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (FCRPS BiOp) and the 2008 Columbia River Fish Accords include performance standards for passage and survival of out-migrating juvenile salmonids at FCRPS dams. The BiOp requires 96% survival for yearling Chinook salmon and steelhead in spring and 93% survival for subyearling Chinook salmon in summer and an estimated standard error (SE) ≤ 1.5%, with no slippage in passage metrics (forebay residence time, tailrace egress time, and spill passage efficiency). Criteria need to be achieved in two consecutive years of compliance testing. At John Day Dam in recent years the US Army Corp of Engineers-Portland District (USACE-NWP) has made structural and operational improvements to increase juvenile salmonid survival and associated passage metrics during passage. Operational and structural changes have included installation of two Top Spill Weirs (TSWs) at the spillway, installation of avian wire arrays in the dam tailrace, modification the flow deflector in spill bay 20 (closest to the powerhouse), and testing dam operations at two spill treatment levels (30% and 40% spill).
Between 2008 and 2011, yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon and steelhead were implanted with Juvenile Salmonid Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) micro-acoustic transmitters and PIT tags to evaluate these improvements. These tagged juvenile salmonids were tracked, in 3-dimensions using JSATS cabled arrays in the forebay of John Day dam and were detected on autonomous arrays deployed in downstream river reaches. Routes of passage and survival estimates at John Day Dam have provided necessary information to the USACE-NWP to make structural and operational improvements to John Day Dam to increase chances of meeting compliance testing standards. The changes made since 2008 have increased survival of juvenile salmonids passing at John Day Dam.
