SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1986
STP29020S

Laboratory Simulation of Fish Passage Through a Heated-Water Discharge

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The Pacific Northwest Laboratory conducted laboratory simulations of fish passage through a heated-water discharge to assess the potential for direct and indirect mortalities to Columbia River fish. Laboratory simulations provided better data for assessment than was available in the published literature and was more specific to the assessment criteria than was possible with data collected from in-plume exposures of fish or field monitoring of fish populations near the outfall.

Laboratory simulation of fish passage was conducted with chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), steelhead (Salmo gairdneri), and northern squawfish (Pytchocheilus oregonensis). Simulations were conducted in aquaria plumbed to receive and discharge heated water that simulated the thermal conditions a fish would encounter swimming downstream through the plume. The rate of exchange for the water and the initial temperature were varied to simulate conditions through different portions of the plume and for different river flows. Fish that survived passage through the plume were subjected to predators or to an infectious disease organism to test for the possibility of indirect mortality from thermal stress.

Fish were able to survive passage through a plume where the initial increase in water temperature was 16°C above ambient. The maximum ambient water temperature tested was 18.3°C, which is the maximum temperature expected near the discharge. The fish that survived the thermal stress were not susceptible to increased predation or disease.

Author Information

Neitzel, DA
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA
Poston, TM
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA
Page, TL
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA
Abernethy, CS
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA
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Details
Developed by Committee: E47
Pages: 122–134
DOI: 10.1520/STP29020S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4986-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0489-1