AN 

### INVENTORYOF SELECTED I/ FISH SCREENS 

### INCALIFORNIPr

t

Brian D. Quelvog Bay-Delta Fishery Project 

### 4001North Wilson Way

Stockton, 

### CA 95205

AXTRACT

Fish screens have been used to protect fishery resources 

### in California since the turn 

### of the century. This report listsmost screened agricultural diversions in California by location, screen rype, and size of diversion, Also included is a history of fish screens in California and a brief evaluation 

### of themajor types presently in use.



### I/Anadromous Fisheries Branch Administrative Report No, 81-5 Submitted September, 1981.-2-

INTRODUCTION

Fish screens have beenhelping to maintain fisheryresources in California since the turn of the century. A fish screen is simply a device to permit the passage of water,but not fish, from a stream, river, or otherbody of water. Such diversions typically supplywater formunicipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, Agriculture accounts for approximately 

### 80%of the water diversions 

### in California.

In 1977 and 1980, questionnaires were sent to the five inland regions 

### of the Department 

### of Fish and Game (DFG) requesting information on all fish screens which they either constructed ormaintain. 

### This report summarizes the information provided and includes similar informationon fish screens operated by federal, state, and local agencies. Not included are screens located 

### on the coast or those associatedwith industrial diversions such as power plants. Although this is not intended to be an exhaustive listing, 

### it does represent the majority of screened agricultural diversions in California, Of the 91 screens listed,most are 

### in Siskiyou,Trinity, and Tehama counties. Nearly allof these screens were constructed to protect salmon and steelhead resources.

HISTORY 

### OF FISH SCMENSIN CALIFORNIA

Screens to control themovement of fishwere being built well before the turn of the century. Leitritz (1952a) mentions one screenused 

### inNew York in 

### 1865 to prevent fish from escaping a pond.
Fish screen requirements 

### in California were originally set forth in the Penal-Codein 1891. Prior to 1912, there had been little effort to imple-

. ment these requirements;however, the Fish and Game Commissionwas becoming increasingly aware of the need for fish screens and in 1912 created a Department of Screens and Ladders under the Superintendent of-Hatcheries, Although only a staff of two were originally assigned to the new department, over 500 ‘ screenshad been reported 

### in operationby 1919 (CFG 1919). Screening diversions soonbegan to meet with strong resistance although installations continued over the next 

### 8years. Many of the early screens didn‘toperate satisfactorily (Wales 1948; Leitritz1952a) and the diverters were responsible for all the costs of installationandmaintenance,

In 1927, financial responsibility for fish screens began shifting toward the Fish and Game Commissionwith the passage of Assembly Bill 448. This bill required that if the Commissionapproved a fish screenand it subsequently failed, the Commissionwould have to pay for installationof a second screen (CFG 1927).

In 1932, the resistance to fish screens was brought before the court in Peoplevs. Glenn-Colusa IrrigationDistrict. 

### In its decision, the court upheld the right 

### of the Commission,but as a direct result, legislationwas

### -3­

passed the next year to require the Division of Fish and Game to pay half 

### of the original installation costs for fish screens, By 1965, the Fish and Game Code had been amended again tomake the Department responsible for all costs associated with diversions under 250 cubic feet per second (cfs),
As a result of fiscal constraints during the last 20 years and resistance by the water diverters, the Department has not been able to expand the number of screens or even replacemost of the existing installationswhich have eicher worn out or never functioned satisfactorily. Wales (1948) recorded 91 screens operating in Siskiyou,Trinity, and Shasta counties in 1947 and recommended 98 screensbe put on the Klamath drainage alone, Currently, there are only 62 screens in these counties.

In the face 

### of these obstacles, the Department initiated studies 

### in the late 1940's and early 1950's to list and prioritize diversions in California. 

### New screens would be built or old screens upgraded on thebasis of their importance to the salmonand steelhead resources. Concurrently, there was a renewed emphasis on designing screens that were more effective, less expensive to build, and relativelymaintenance free,
Some early screenswere merely a set of parallel bars andwere essentially refinements of a "rack" or "grizzly" (Spencer 1928). Experimentswithmore exotic barriers such as electric screenshad not been fruitful (CFG 1923). By 1928,the simplebars were being replaced by stationary sets of inclined parallel bars with self-cleaning mechanisms or self-propelled rotating drums, In 1947, studies revealed that screenmesh size should be reduced from 6mm 

### (1/4in.) by 76mm (3 in.) to 3 mm (118 in.) by 38 mm (13;in,) and that a bypass from the screenback to the stream is absolutely essential (Wales 19481, Three years later,Wales,Murphey, and Handley (1950) introduced theNurphey Perforated Plate Fish Screen. This self-cleaning screenhad holes of 

### 4mm (5132 in.) on 

### 5 rn (7/32in.) centers which continues to be a standard for fish screens for salmon in California.
Leitritz (1952 a, 

### b) described various types of fishbarriers including the parallel bar screen, rotary drum, and Murphey screens., Since then,numerous modifications have beenmade to the basic screendesigns,

SCREEN TYPES

It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe every screenwhich has been used in California,many of which are custom-made for specific situations.

Y Burns (1966) and Kabef (1977) provide general information on fish screen types in California. The descriptions below are limited to those screens listed in the appendix.



### I. Sloping Perforated Plate Screen
The sloping perforated plate screen is essentially aMurphey screen. Inclined fromupstream to downstream (approximately 30 degl and

### -4­

perpendicular to the streamflow, this screen is mechanically sound and an efficientbarrier to fishif operated within strict limitsof designed flow. However, atother than design flow, fish areimpinged
on the screen and it is also easilyclogged by excessive trash and debris. Due to these limitations, this type of screen is generally used on only smalldiversions,

11. Vertkaf Rotary Drum Screen
This drum screen rotates 

### inthe vertical axis and is one of themost trouble-free screens available, It iscapable of accormnodating,wide fluctuations 

### inwater level. Construction is relatively difficult, and seals around the drum area habitual problem,

111. Horizontal Rotary Drum Screen
This drum screen rotates inthehorizontal axis and isone of thebest self-cleaning screens. As water cannot be allowed to flow over the top of the screens, ithas water levelrestrictions and the seals around the drum arerarely fishproof.

IV. Gabion Fish.Screen
Gabion fish screens (Menchen 

### 1975) areconstructed from perforated plate, rolled into tubes, buried inthegravel of the stream bed, and held in placewithgabions, Installationcosts are low, the design is simple, there areno moving parts, and large areas of screen can be exposed to the flow ina smallarea of stream. Cleaning the screens may be a problem depending on water conditions (Jerome Staley, Fisheries Management Supervisor and Charles Young, Fish Habitat Supervisor 11, Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, pers. coma.>.

V. Perforated'Pipe Screen
These are simply perforated pipes placed on thebottom of the stream orprotruding from thebank out into the flow. Severeproblems with trash accumulation have limited the use of this type of screen (William 

### Wilson, FishHabitat Supervisor I, Calif. Dept, Fish and Game, pers. comm,

### 10

VI, Vertical Diagonal Perforated Plate Screen
Vertical diagonalperforated plate screens are set vertically inthe channel and diagonally across the stream atan angle of less than 20 deg with respect to the flow. Modifications for support structures have gradually reduced installationcosts. These screens canbe made "fish tight" and arerelatively trouble-free, An inclined bar screen

### -5­

is sometimesplaced upstream to aid in trash removal. Either a system of oscillating wiper brushes (on screens less than 

### 20 ft long) or brushes mounted on a single carriage (on screensmore than 20 ft long) may be used for cleaning.

VII, Sloping Diagonal Perforated Plate Screen
These screens are similar to the vertical diagonal perforated plate screenswith the single exception that the screen is sloped toward one side of the stream (approximately 60 deg with respect to the stream bottom). The sloping feature allows gravity and water flow to hold the screens inplace and maintain proper tension on the wiper brushes, cutting construction andmaintenance costs considerably..

VIIL.Louvers
Similar louver systems are used at the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Tracy Fish Collecting Facility and the Department ofWater Resources' John

### E. Skinner Delta Fish ProtectiveFacility. Both utilize 320 ft of louvers spaced 

### 1 

### in, apart and are arranged diagonally across the aqueduct intake channel, Each louver is aligned at 75 deg with respect to the flow. Aswater passes through the louvers, turbulencewaves are created which fishwill normally avoid, Fish guide in front of the louvers before entering abypass which carries them to a second louver and bypass system. Fish are then directed into holding tanks prior to being transported by truck to sites near Antioch and released. Descriptions and evaluations of these facilitieswere accomplished by Bates, Logan, and Pesonen 

### (1960) and Skinner 

### (1974). These studies showed that successful salvage of fish depended on several factors including: fish species and size, approach and bypass velocities, and guiding structures. Subsequent studies have revealed fish losses due topredation and handling (Schaffter 1978; Hall 

### 1980;Hallock inprep,). Although large facilities such as these are very costly to build and maintain, they provide a relatively inexpensive type 

### of screeningper volume of water diverted.



### Iwish to thank JohnRiggs, Charles Young, Jr., JerryWise, William

### Wilson, Jerome Staley,and Robert Rawstron for providing the information on screens which was used 

### in this report, Harold C. Cribbswas very helpful in research

### Iam 

### also grateful to 

### Alan Pickard and ing codes pertaining to fish screens. Dan Odenweller �OK their editorial suggestions and Janet Boranian, Helen 

### Hardy, and Barbara Allen who typed themanuscripts.

### -6-

REFERENCES

Bates, 

### D. W., 0. Logan, and 

### E. A, Pesonen, 1960. Efficiency evaluation, Tracy Fish Collecting Facility, U, S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U, S. Bureau of Reclamation. 

### 81 pp.,
Burns, J. 

### W. 1966, Fish screens.

.pp. 156-161. 

### In: Alex Calhoun (ed.) Inland Fisheries Management. Calif. Dept, ofTish and Game,
California Department of Fish and Game. 1919, Reply to the Eden Resolutionby the executive officer of the Fish and Game Commission. Calif. Fish Game 5(4):184,
1923. Hatchery Notes. Calif. Fish Game 9(4):165.
1927. Summary 

### of changes in Fish and Game laws. Calif. FishGame 13(3):190.
1929. Self-cleaning fish screen. Calif. Fish Game 15(2):142-145.
1933. Fish and Game legislation. Calif. Fish Game 19(4):268,
California Department 

### of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Game. 1973. Evaluation testing program report �or Delta Fish Protective Facility, State Water Facilities, California Aqueduct, North San Joaquin Division, Memorandum Report. 

### 211 pp. Hall, F. A. 1980. Evaluation of downstreammigrant chinook salmon,Uncorhynchus tshawytscha, losses in Clifton Court Forebay,Contra Costa County, California, Calif. Dept. Fish and Game,Anad, Fish. Br. Admin. Rept. 

### No. 

### 80-4. Kabel, 

### S. 1977. What's a fish screen? Outdoor California 38(3):6-7. Leitritz, 

### E. 1952a, Stopping them: the development of fish screens in California. Calif, Fish Game 38(1):53-62,
1952b. A newmechanical fish screen for hatchery ponds, Calif. Fish Game 38(3):405-406, Menchen, R, 

### S, 1975, Perforatedpipe used to screen and trap juvenile salmonids, Prog. Fish, Cult. 37(2):85-89. Schaffter,

### R. G. 1978, 

### An evaluationof juvenileking salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)' loss in 

### Clifton Court Forebay. Calif. Dept. 

### Fish and Game, Anad, Fish. Br. Admin. Rept. 

### No, 78-21. Skinner, J. 

### E. 1974. A functional evaluation of a large louver screen installation and fish facilities research on California water diversionprojects, 

### pp. 225-249. 

### In: L, D. Jensen (ed.) Proceedings of the Second Entrainment and IntakyScreeningWorkshop. Johns Hopkins University Cooling Water Research Project, Report 

### No. 

### 15.-7-

Spencer, 3, 1928. Fish screens inCaliforniairrigationditches. Calif. FishGame 14(3):208-210. Wales, J, 

### H. 1948. California fish screenprogram. Calif. Fish Game 38(2): 

### 45-51.



## ,E, W. Murphey, and J. Handley, 1950. Perforated plate fish screens. Calif. Fish Game 36(4):392-403.

LEXPLANATION

### OF THE 

### FISH SCREENLIST

(APPENDIX)

Screen: The fish screens are listed by Department of Fish and Game region and then alphabetically.bycounty and water.
InstallationDate: Most of the installationdates of the currently operating screens are available,although a few estimates had tobe made.
Period of'operation:. 

### Inmost cases, the period of operation of the screens is based onweather, time of fishmigration, location of the screen, and the water temperature (John Eggs, Fish Habitat Supervisor 11, Calif. Dept, Fish and Game,pers. comm.).
Type:. The various types of screenswere discussed in the previous section.
Diversion: Where two numbers appear, they represent the normal andmaximum A single number represents the best estimate of designed flowdiverted in cfs. diversion,
Bypass: Water bypassing the screens and returning to the stream is described (1) the normal,and (2) themaximum bypass flow (cfs). by two numbers: Singlenumbers represent normal bypass flows. Approach Velocity: screenand may not:reflect the actual velocity at all times, This is a calculatedvelocity of water approaching themm~memmmmmmma m



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