Goosney97.doc, 08/14/98, 2:15 PM

A Efficient Diversion/Bypass System for Atlantic Salmon (Safmo Safar) Smolt and Kelt in

Power Canals. 1997.

R. Goosney

The Grand Falls generating facility in Newfoundland, Canada has updated its salmon

enhancement program with a louver diversion system and a bypass. The update came in

sequence with a new power canal that replaced three penstocks. This study was done to research

the proposed design of a floating louver diversion/bypass for efficiency and compliancy. The

research was completed to show the biological and hydraulic criteria and post construction

monitoring of the proposed design.

The power canal is 450 meters long, 40 meters wide, and on average, 8 meters deep (Goosney

1997). The average velocity is the canal is 0. 7 to 0. 8 m/s (Goosney 1997). The immediate flow

rate will be approximately 224 to 256 m /s. The canal will have the ability to increase to a 333

/s. flow rate (Goosney 1997).

The louver diversion system uses a fence to guide salmon smolt and kelt into the bypass. The

total length of the louver system is 170 meters. The depth of the system changes from 2 meters

in the first 150 meters to full canal depth in the last 20 meters (Goosney 1997). The louver

system will not be a permanent structure, but will instead be designed for removal after the

migration season. For ease of installation and removal, the louvers will be designed to float into

place. Once in the proper location, the louvers will be secured horizontally with structural

columns fixed to the canal bottom. The design secures the louvers to the canal to ensure the

proper ( constant) depth of the panels.

The bypass system is directly downstream of the canal. The canal water flows over a gate into

the bypass flume which passes a collection/assessment facility and then returns to the river. The

bypass is designed for slightly higher velocities at the beginning of the flume, 1.5 m /s., to

prevent fish from migrating back upstream into the canal (Goosney 1997). To reduce the bypass

flow by 80%, or 1.6 m , a Wedge-wire, flat bar screen is oriented horizontally along the bypass

flume (Goosney 1997). The collection facility has an automatic elective flip gate to divert

electronically tagged fish into the collection/assessment facility.

The hydraulic and biological criteria will be studied more extensively before the final design is

chosen. A scale model of the bypass will be analyzed to assess the hydraulic conditions. The

biological criteria is based on previous data. Conservative numbers for potential downstream

migrating wild Atlantic salmon smolt and kelt are 1 to 2 million and 40-50 thousand

respectively (Goosney 1997). The annual migration period is approximately 6 weeks, from the

end of May to mid-July (Goosney 1997). Studies done on the swimming performance of smolt

and kelt resulted in the development of a velocity profile that could attract migrants into the

bypass and allow them to pass through the system with minimal harm. The study also resulted in

design criteria including maximum velocities through the bypass system to minimize

impingement.
Goosney97.doc, 08/14/98, 2:15 PM

The design criteria based on the initial studies included biological aspects, louver diversion

aspects, bypass system aspects, and holding/assessment pool aspects. The biological criteria was

based upon 5000, 16. 5 cm fork length smolt and kelt per hour. The biological findings were a

burst swimming speed of 1.0 to 2. 0 mis, a prolonged swimming speed of 0.7 to 1.0 mis, and a

sustained swimming speed of less than or equal to 0.7 mls. The louver diversion system was

designed at an 18 degree angle, depths of20 meters and full depth (as discussed earlier), 50 mm

bar spacing, a 90 degree bar angle to canal flow, a 0. 8 to 1. 2 mls approach and canal velocity,

and a 87.5 to 88.4 m canal water elevation. The bypass system was designed for a critical depth

of 1.5 m and critical width of 0. 9 m, minimum flow of2.0 m , and minimum velocity of 1.5 mls.

The transportation criteria was as follows; a flow of 0.3 to 0.4 m /s a flume width of 0.6 m, a

velocity of 1.2 mis, and a minimum water depth of 0.3 m. The bleed-off screen criteria was

designed as 2.0 m ls bleed-off capacity, 0.7 mls maximum velocity through the screen, and the

screen could be 50% open. Lastly, the holding pools were designed to hold 5. 0 to 10. 0 kg/m3, to

have a 1. 5 to 2. 0 l/kg offish minimum unit flow, to hold 2800 to 5600 smolts in each of the six

tanks, and to have a total flow of21 0 to 560 1/min per tank (Goosney 1997).

The monitoring aspect of the proposed design is important to establish optimal conditions for the

system. Some of the questions the monitoring will answer are 1) the number of fish deflected by

the louver and passed through the bypass compared to the number of fish entering the canal, 2) the

short-term and long-term impacts, if any, the bypass has on the fish, 3) the hydraulic conditions of

the system under different plant and river conditions, 4) the total production of smolt and kelt

above the Grand Falls Dam, and 5) the behavior of the fish both in the canal and near the louver

system (Goosney 1997). With the design specifications and plans for the power canal, the louver

diversion system, and the bypass system, the owner of the Grand Falls Dam should be able to

protect downstream kelt and salmon smolt from entrainment in the turbines.
1/0 Fp-FP -

A EFFICIENT DIVERSION/BVPASS SYSTEM FOR ATLANTIC SALMON

(SALMO SALAH) SMOLT AND KELT IN POWER CANALS

R. Goosney, P. Eng.

Chief Engineer

Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans

O. Box 5667

St. John's NF AIC 5XI Canada

tel: (709) 772-2842 fax: (709) 772-3578

mail: goosney~athena.nwafc. nf.

Abitibi-Price Inc., owner of the Grand Falls generating facility, has replaced an aging steel

penstock anay with a new power canal to provide water for operating their hyrdo generating system. As a

regulatory requirement, Abitibi-Price is committed to installing and operating a diversionlbypass system

to protect downstream migrating wild Atlantic salmon smolt and kelt from entrainment in the turbine

intake. This poster session discusses the proposed design of a floating louver diversionlbypass, the

biological and hydraulic criteria and post construction monitoring to assess the efficiency of the system

and ensure compliance under the Fisheries Act. The operation and monitoring phase is scheduled to

commence in May 1997 and continue through to mid-July 1997.

The E loits River

The Exploits River has the largest run of wild Atlantic Salmon in North America. Located in

central Newfoundland a.n~da the 11,272 km2 watershed (Figure 1) stretches from its estuaIy in Notre

Dame Bay 237 kIn to the Long Range Mountains in the South West comer of the Province. The river is

the site of a pulp and paper industry owned and operated by Abitibi-Price Inc. There are two power

generating dams located on the lower section of the river at Bishop s FaIls and Grand Falls. The company

uses water from the Exploits in generating hydro power to operate the paper mill at Grand Falls. At the

outflow of Red Indian Lake is a storage dam that regulates the flow of water to optimize the generating

capacity of the hydro generating plants downstream.

In the early 60's the total adult run on the Exploits River was in the range of 1300 Atlantic

salmon. Through the 60' s and early 70's spawning channel technology was used at a facility on Noel

Paul' s Brook, a major tributary, to stock unfed salmon fry to the lower Exploits. During the late 80' s an

intensive salmon enhancement program was implemented. The facility at Noel Paul's Brook was

redesigned to use side discharge deep substrate incubation boxes with a capacity for 10 million salmon

eggs. At peak production, 8.5 million unfed salmon fry were distributed throughout the Exploits River

watershed.

This year the total migration of adult Atlantic salmon has exceeded 33 000 with 14 000 passing the

fishway at Grand Falls. Based on conservative estimates, the potential production of the Exploits River

could be in the order of 80-100.000 salmon.

Dams and Fish Passa e Stroctures

With the advent of salmon enhancement initiatives on the Exploits River, fish passage facilities

were constructed to provide migration at dams and natural obstructions.

BishO s Falis Power Dam: This is a 247 meter long concrete dam with a maximum head of 11 meters.

The maximum generating capacity of the power plant is 14 MW W1der a full flow of216 m /s. In 1958, a

pool and weir fishway was built by DFO to provide adult migration to the main stem and tributaries of the

Exploits River below Grand Falls.
In October 1996, a scale model of the bypass and bleed-off screen will be constructed at Noel

Paul' s Brook to assess the hydraulic conditions that can be expected in the full scale facility. This will

allow design modifications to be implemented prior to final construction of the bypass structure. The

bypass design will allow for the necessary assessment of bypass efficiency which can be removed after

monitoring and assessment has been completed.

BiolomcaJ Criteria

The Exploits River is primarily an Atlantic salmon river with populations of brook trout and

American eel. The potential production of downstream migrants above Grand FaIls based on available

spawning and rearing habitat throughout the upper watershed is conservatively to be in the order of 1-

million wild Atlantic salmon smolt and 40- 000 kelt The timing of this migration centers around a 6

week window from May to mid-July.

The main criteria for developing the louver and bypass design is the swimming capabilities of the

smolt and kelt During downstream migration this year, research into sustained, prolonged and burst

swimming speeds was carried out in Blazaka type swim speed chambers. The fork length for smolt ranged

from 15-25 em and were tested at 7, 14 and 17OC. The fork length for kelt ranged from 48-62 em and

were tested at 7OC. The study indicated that the swimming performance ofkelt was largely a function of

the condition of the fish and was within the swimming capability of smolt This research was conducted

by the University of Waterloo for Abitibi-Price Inc. at the downstream fishway in Bishop s FaIls, Nfld. A

summary of the swimming performance of wild Atlantic salmon smolt and kelt is contained in Figure 4.

The maximum swimming speeds for smolt and kelt were used to develop a velocity profile that would

effectively attract migrants into and through the bypass with minimum impact to the fish. The minimum

swimming speed established the maximum allowable velocity through the bleed-off screen to prevent

impingement of fish on the screen.
Monitorinl!

In establishing the success of diversion and bypass systems it is essential that the proper

monitoring and assessment be conducted to determine the optimal operating conditions of the system and

its impact on the fish. Some studies of primary interest are as follows:-

determine the percent of fish deflected by the louver and through the bypass versus the numbers of

smoltlkelt entering the power canal.

determine the immediate and prolonged impact of the bypass and collection facility on the condition

of smolt and kelt

monitor the hydraulic conditions in the canal, around the louver and through the bypass under

varying turbine operational regimes and water levels.

assess the total production of smolt and kelt above the Grand Falls Dam

determine the behavior of wild Atlantic salmon smolt and kelt in the canal and near the louver at varying

hydraulic conditions.

References

Bates, D. , and R Vmsonhaler, 1957. Use oflouvers for guiding fish. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc.

86(1956):38-57.

Booth, RK., and RS. McKinley. 1996. Swimmingpetformance of post spawning adult and juvenile

Atlantic salmon (Salmo saJar). Report prepared for Acres International Ltd.

Ducharme, L. A. 1972. An application oflouver deflectors for guiding Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

smolts from power turbines. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 29:1397-1404.

Ruggles, C.P. 1980. A review of the downstream migration of Atlantic salmon. Can. Tech. Rep. FISh

Aquat. Sci. No. 952. 39 p.

Ruggles, C.P., D.A. Robinson, and RI. Stria. 1993. The use of floating louvers for guiding Atlantic

salmon (Salmo SaIar) smolts from hydroelectric turbine intakes. Can, Tech. Rep. of Fisheries and Aquatic

Sci. No. 1905: 87-94.
FOREBAY

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Figure 3. PARTIAL PLAN AT R. C. SPILLWAY/FISH DIVERSION SYSTEM
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Swimming Velocity (m/sec

Figure 4. Swimming endurance of wild Atlantic salmon smolts

at A. 7 C, B. 14 C and C. 17 C. Sustained, prolonged

and burst activity is indicated (see text for description).