Effects of a New Fishway on Discontinuity of the Arkansas River Fish Community

A fishway and recreational boat pass alongside a run-of-the-river dam on the Arkansas River in Wichita, Kansas was completed in 2010 with the goal of allowing passage of small-bodied fishes. Sampling of the river and fishway in 2015 and 2016 was conducted seasonally and compared to historic samples upstream and downstream of the dam. Contemporary communities upstream and downstream of the fishway were distinguishable in both species composition and abundance. The fishway community most resembled downstream communities, but had greater abundance of Lepomis spp. Emerald Shiner Notropis atherinoides, a species not reported from upstream of the dam since before 1990, was commonly collected upstream of the fishway. Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags were used to mark and release individuals within the fishway to quantify fishes abilities to move through the fishway. Whereas most species were able to move upstream through baffles, the net movement of the majority (68 and 88%) of individuals was downstream from the release point over an 8 hour period. Experimental manipulation of water velocity in the fishway will be conducted during the summer of 2016, and the subsequent response of fish movement determined with PIT tagged fish and antennas to determine an optimum velocity for passage.