Design, Installation and Preliminary Results for an Anchored, Floating Fish Exclusion Barrier for a Maximum 650 Cfs (292,000 gpm) at a Reservoir Dam in Kansas

Kansas Division of Fisheries determined that a floating, anchored fish exclusion barrier, if effective, would provide the most economical system to prevent the loss of approximately 3 to 6 million fish per year through an agricultural withdrawal from the Lovewell Reservoir in northeastern Kansas. Working together with the US Bureau of Reclamation installed this fish-saving barrier net system in April of 2012 to protect and increase the game fish population in Lovewell Reservoir, a lake popular for recreational activities, including angling.

The design process considered the myriad of key factors including: potential issues with elevated loading on the barrier, flow through rates for the intake, water currents, velocity and direction, debris types and amounts, deployment and recovery constraints, determination of mesh sizes and materials, magnitude of the barrier- length, water depth, and other uses of the area.  The resultant design, mesh size, materials, safety aspects are described. Initial installation, seasonal removal, and second season installation are described and preliminary results, as observed by irrigators receiving the water, by sampling in the discharge canal and observations of fish standing stocks are also presented for the initial season and start of season two.