PNNL

Abstract

A surface bypass is a downstream migration structure that can help reduce hydropower-induced damage to migrating fish. We reviewed results of laboratory and field studies conducted in North America, Europe, and Australia between 1982 and 2017 concerning surface bypass efficacy. The main challenges in designing efficient surface bypasses were identified to be the simultaneous consideration of hydraulic and geometrical parameters and biological knowledge of fish behavior. Without the combined efforts of engineers and biologists, an efficient bypass design cannot be achieved. Moreover, the use of different criteria for evaluating bypass performance prevents direct comparison of the results of studies and deduction of design criteria. Bypass efficiency is a term that is widely used, but no standard definition of the term exists. Its definition can thus vary among studies. Two groups of definitions were identified: One group uses only those fish that approach or pass the dam whereas the other group includes all marked or tagged fish that are released upstream of a dam regardless of their fate after release. Within these groups, the definitions of bypass efficiency are comparable. Based on this concept, the efficiencies for different fish species at surface bypasses were identified: eels (11% // 10%), Pacific salmon (46% // 19%), steelhead and brown trout (49% // 41%), and Atlantic salmon (72% // 48%). Currently it is not possible to formulate design criteria for a wide range of species because available data are insufficient data. We recommend that in future bypass studies, more comparable standards and performance criteria should be used and both successes and failures should be reported.