Our members have worked on numerous projects assessing impacts of hydropower operations and facilities on fisheries and evaluating the effectiveness of proposed mitigation. Our members' project experience in the area comprises study design, mathematical modeling and statistical analysis, behavioral studies, data interpretation, and NEPA compliance. Projects have addressed resident and anadromous fishes in river systems of the East, West, and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

Restoration of American Shad on the Susquehanna River

The Maryland Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) within the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is the lead state agency for participation in FERC hydropower licensing procedures. Under Versar's prime contract with PPRP, technical support was provided relating to hydroelectric facilities on the Susquehanna River. The major issue was restoration of American shad (Alosa sapidissima). Study plans, population models, and reports made by the licensees were critically reviewed, and new statistical analyses and model runs were conducted to evaluate proposals made by the licensees and to support Maryland DNR on related technical issues. Technical support was also provided for negotiations related to design, construction, and operation of fish passage facilities. The project required regular attendance at meetings of the Susquehanna River Technical Committee and Susquehanna River Anadromous Fish Restoration Committee. Technical issues included turbine mortality, projected rates of population growth and the schedule for construction of upstream dam passage facilities, estimation of fallback rates, estimation of the relative effectiveness of alternative methods for guiding fish to downstream passage routes, effectiveness of alternative locations of entrances to fishways, and design and interpretation of radio telemetry studies. Technical support was also provided for the design, analysis, and interpretation of licensee-funded studies of the timing, location, and magnitude of spills needed to pass juvenile shad. Technical support was provided for a draft settlement agreement developed by state and federal agencies and the licensees for construction of upstream passage facilities at the three dams upstream of Conowingo. This support included evaluation of a licensee-sponsored shad population model for the Susquehanna, modification of the model, and sensitivity analysis. The resulting settlement agreement set the stage for a coordinated passage restoration program encompassing the entire Susquehanna River basin, beginning at Conowingo dam.

This project is also described under the following project categories:
Population Modeling and Stock Assessment
Fish Behavior

Gas Bubble Disease and Attainment of Dissolved Oxygen Criteria Below Conowingo Dam

Under Versar's prime contract with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Power Plant Research Program, an assessment was made of the effectiveness of turbine venting for meeting Maryland's dissolved oxygen criteria while avoiding gas bubble disease (GBD) in resident fish below the Conowingo hydroelectric station. The assessment was made based on a review of current literature on GBD, experimental data collected below Conowingo, and the facility's operational plan and decision criteria for turbine venting.

This project is also described under the following project category:
Water Quality Standards and Criteria

Effects of Altered Flow Regime on Striped Bass in the Roanoke River

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Roanoke River experienced a marked decline in abundance during the 1970's and 1980's. This decline has been variously attributed to altered water flow and commercial and recreational harvest, among other factors. The flow regime in the reach used for spawning by striped bass has been altered by operation of the Roanoke Rapids dam for flood control and peaking hydroelectric generation. Under a contract held by Versar in support of the City of Virginia Beach, possible flow effects were examined in the context of alternative hypotheses for the decline - most notably, recreational and commercial exploitation. Spectral analysis and various parametric and non-parametric statistical methods were used to characterize changes in flow and examine relationships with egg viability, juvenile indices, and recruitment. Virtual population analyses, catch-curve analyses, and catch-per-unit-effort analyses, and other stock assessment techniques were used to evaluate the role that recreational and commercial harvest may have played in the decline.

This project is also described under the following project category:
Population Modeling and Stock Assessment

Entrainment at the Proposed River Mountain (Arkansas) Pump Storage Facility

Under Versar's FERC support subcontract with Stone and Webster Environmental Services, the potential magnitude of gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense) entrainment at the proposed pump storage facility at River Mountain, Arkansas, was estimated using the empirical transport model (ETM; Boreman et al. 1978, 1981). The modeling effort incorporated attributes of the project design, distribution of shad in the existing, lower reservoir, and shad life history characteristics. The analysis was conducted and interpreted in the context of other major, existing sources of entrainment in the lower reservoir. The model results were also interpreted in terms of potential population- and ecosystem-level effects of the proposed facility.

IFIM Analyses at the Deep Creek Hydroelectric Project

Under Versar's support contract with the Maryland DNR Power Plant Research Program, Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) analyses were conducted to quantify the effects of changes in permit conditions at the Deep Creek hydroelectric project on downstream fishery resources in the Youghiogheny River. The changes included modifications to the existing rule curve, whitewater releases, and temperature control. The assessment included analyses of integrated, weighted usable area under alternative operational scenarios that were based on competing demands for stable water levels in the reservoir, temperature control in the tailwater, high, predictable flows for whitewater boating, and fish habitat.

Passage of Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River Basin

Under Versar's FERC support subcontract with Stone and Webster Environmental Services, the likelihood of successful restoration of the Penobscot River stock of Atlantic salmon was examined under existing conditions, with the addition of a new dam in the lower part of the basin, with upgrades and expansions at selected existing facilities, and under various mitigation scenarios. Quantitative estimates of the likelihood of successful restoration were made using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's ASAL Atlantic salmon population model (Rago and Goodyear 1985). The project critically reviewed the ASAL work conducted by a working group comprising the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Atlantic Salmon Restoration Scientific Committee, the Penobscot Indian Nation, and the applicant, as well as ASAL work conducted independently by the applicant. New analyses were also conducted to examine uncertainties in model parameters and the relative effectiveness of alternative mitigation scenarios. The basin-scale assessment used a risk-reduction framework to evaluate the development proposal and alternative mitigative measures, including trap and truck, dam decommissioning, dam removal, long-term stocking, and harvest restrictions. The ASAL model was used to project the expected run sizes over the license term and the likelihood of full utilization of nursery habitat in each of several river segments within the Penobscot basin. Spreadsheet models were also constructed and used to estimate the relative, basin-wide benefits to salmon restoration accruing from alternative dam removals and decommissioning.

This project is also described under the following project categories:
Watershed- and Regional-Scale Ecological Risk Assessment
Population Modeling and Stock Assessment

Downstream Passage for Mid-Columbia Salmon and Steelhead Smolts

Under Versar's FERC support subcontract with Stone and Webster Environmental Services, alternatives to provide safe downstream passage for mid-Columbia salmon and steelhead smolts were quantitatively examined using spreadsheet models. Fish passage alternatives examined for the Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams included an enhanced spill program, mechanical bypass facilities, collection and barging, and surface collectors.

Cooperative Consultation Process for Relicensing of the St. Lawrence/ FDR Power Project

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is engaged in a Cooperative Consultation Process for relicensing of its St. Lawrence/FDR Power Project on the St. Lawrence River near Massena, New York. NYPA is utilizing third-party contractor provisions to ensure timely completion of the Environmental Impact Statement and relicensing process. Under Environmental Resources Management's third-party contracting agreement with NYPA, Dr. Jacobson is supporting FERC and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the Cooperative Consultation Process and will serve as the lead author of the Environmental Impact Statement.

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