Fish Passage

Many existing upstream and downstream fish passage structure designs (fishways, culverts, screens, downstream bypasses, etc.) function poorly or only for a narrow range of species or environmental conditions. Agencies currently seek improved or new designs that pass a broader range of species with increased efficiency and reliability, under a wider range of hydraulic operating conditions, and at less cost. The LSC-Conte Laboratory takes an innovative multidisciplinary approach to meeting the goal of improving passage structure performance based on integrating engineering design and hydraulics with behavioral experimentation to develop passage structures with known, measurable performance that have high effectiveness and reliability in field applications. Research focuses on evaluation of fish behavior and passage performance in full-scale structures in a unique hydraulics research facility purpose-designed to test fish passage structures.  This 18,000 sq. ft. facility allows testing of complex hydraulic structures and devices (e.g., technical and nature-like fishways, screens, hydropower turbines), and houses three major hydraulic flumes, each over 125 feet long, with up to 350 cfs of flow. The facility and staff expertise enables design and quantitative hydraulic and biological evaluation of structures in a controlled and well-instrumented laboratory environment.