Fish Passage system for medium and high head dams

The environmental acceptability of many existing and proposed medium and high head dams and hydropower projects depends on successful fish passage. Many long-established hydropower and irrigation dams are now being demolished, in large part because of the shortcomings of legacy fish passage schemes, or lack thereof. Many more operating hydropower projects, as well as their associated river navigation, irrigation, and recreational ancillary benefits, remain at risk of dam removal. Fish passing turbines have been recently developed and successfully demonstrated, but would be of no use at dams already decommissioned. For many dams, the only available locations for conventional fish ladders are subject to erosion, sedimentation, flood damage, or unaffordable construction costs. Trap and truck operations have been successful but are expensive to operate. Mechanical fish lifts have worked where site geometry allows for a straight vertical or inclined lift of a tank. The system developed by Whooshh™ Innovations has overcome many of these limitations and is successful in transporting fish of uniform sizes over dams. Despite these fish passage advances, the political pressure for removal of power generating dams remains, as does the need for further fish passage Improvements. In particular, there remains a need for fish transport systems with the same durability and flood damage resistance that is expected of hydropower equipment in general. It is hoped that the approach described herein helps fulfill this need.