Monitoring Trout Response to Instream Flow

Run‐of‐river hydropower reduces streamflow between diversion and powerhouse, potentially impacting fish. Hydropower license conditions include instream flows to protect fish, but monitoring instream flow effectiveness to protect fish is rarely reported. Monitoring a trout population before construct...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fisheries 2021-05, Vol.46 (5), p.220-228
Main Authors: Campbell, Ron, Hilgert, Phil, Binkley, Keith, Beecher, Hal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Environmental monitoring
Fish
Fish populations
Freshwater fishes
Hydroelectric power
Incubation period
Individual rearing
Instream flow
Monitoring
Spawning
Stream discharge
Stream flow
Trout
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Summary:Run‐of‐river hydropower reduces streamflow between diversion and powerhouse, potentially impacting fish. Hydropower license conditions include instream flows to protect fish, but monitoring instream flow effectiveness to protect fish is rarely reported. Monitoring a trout population before construction (baseline) and during operation of a small hydropower project with instream flows for spawning and incubation, summer rearing, and winter rearing based on a Physical Habitat Simulation System in the state of Washington indicated the instream flow protected the trout. The monitoring plan included decision points based on monitoring results. Increasing or stable population trends would trigger locking in an instream flow for the remainder of the license, while declines would trigger incremental increases in the instream flow, followed by additional monitoring and decision points. Three years of monitoring following beginning of the project indicated an apparent increase in the trout population over baseline, suggesting that the instream flow was protective, triggering finalization of instream flows. An additional year of monitoring conducted after several more years of project operation was consistent with the finding of the first 3 years of operation.
ISSN:0363-2415
1548-8446
1548-8675
DOI:10.1002/fsh.10578