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- Conventional Hydro
Development of a Chimeric Biopesticide for the Treatment of Zebra and Quagga Mussels
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kevin Kelly
Currently, no approved treatments of zebra and quagga mussels provide effective eradication strategies in open water. There are currently no biopesticides utilizing immunotoxin technology for the remediation of aquatic nuisance species. Engineered toxin body (ETB) and Immunotoxin technologies are well validated in human health applications and can be utilized for environmental application. Production of such biopesticides in commercial micro-algae production vectors offer a low cost, high yield solution. This approach lowers the risk of unintended harm to native ecologies, lowers production cost, and requires a lower effective dose than previously approved biopesticides.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Development of field sampling protocol standards for environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring of dreissenid mussels
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Sherri Pucherelli
The goal of this research is to evaluate field-based protocol standards and guidelines for dreissenid mussel eDNA surveillance that generate repeatable and reproducible results in a range of challenge conditions. Federal, state and tribal managers in the West are hesitant to use environmental DNA (eDNA) surveillance of dreissenid mussels to inform decision making until there are standardized protocols for eDNA field collection and lab analysis that generate repeatable and reproducible results. Given the need to prevent dreissenid mussel spread to the Columbia River Basin, the Western Regional Panel, the Western Governors' Association's Biosecurity and Invasive Species Initiative, and the DOI Safeguarding the West Initiative have all identified development and evaluation of eDNA dreissenid mussel field and lab protocols as an urgent need. In FY18, Reclamation assisted with a USGS led study that evaluated eDNA lab protocols. For FY19-20, we propose to evaluate field sampling approaches that best match with anticipated field conditions (e.g., water turbidity) and with the lab analytical approaches identified in our FY18 research effort.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Development of short-range forecasts of weather-driven channel losses and gains to support Reclamation water management
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Hong Nguyen-DeCorse
How does short term weather variability influence losses and gains on the lower Colorado River? Can statistical post-processing and blending of different weather forecast models improve the 1-5 day precipitation forecast, especially for high impact events, such as convective situations during summer months? Does improved weather forecast skill at the grid cell level translate into improvement of loss/gain forecasting skill on the 1-5 day time scale for the Lower Colorado?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Economic evaluation of activities associated with invasive mussel management
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jolene Trujillo
What is the cost effectiveness of prevention and control mussel management strategies? In the case of invasive mussels, prevention efforts to contain their spread rely on watercraft inspections and decontamination (WID). This effort is costly and is subject to concerns regarding efficacy. Once an infestation occurs, control of mussels to mitigate infrastructure impacts rely on reactive techniques to reduce interior mussel biofouling at hydropower or water delivery facilities. These efforts are also costly with regard to the O&M of the facility and the water and power users of that facility. This project aims to understand the cost effectiveness of these two types of management activities (prevention and control) in order to better utilize limited funds for quagga mussels management.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
- Conventional Hydro
Effect of Electric Fish Barriers on Corrosion and Cathodic Protection
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daryl Little
The goal of this study is to examine the interaction between an electric fish barrier and cathodic protection system. Also, although pulsed cathodic protection is not normally utilized on submerged structures this study will examine whether a pulsed DC electric fish barrier can also be used to protect structures near the fish barrier.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Effect of Substrate Roughness, Slope, and Body Size on Climbing Behavior and Performance of Juvenile American Eels (Anguilla rastrata)
Lead Companies
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Lead Researcher (s)
- Zahra Anwar
The effect of ramp slope and substrate grain size on the passage of juvenile American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) over indoor ramps was tested from May – August 2016. Two size classes of fish (300 glass eels 50 – 70 mm and 300 elvers 90-114 mm), five substrates varying in coarseness (Substrate 1: 0.18-0.25 mm grain size, Substrate 2: 0.25-0.60 mm grain size, Substrate 3; 0.60-1.00 mm grain size, Substrate 4: 1.00 – 2.00 mm grain size, Substrate 5: 2.00-4.00 mm grain size), and three ramp slopes (25, 35 and 45 degrees) were explored. Individual fish were placed at the bottom of a ramp and given 30 minutes to ascend 0.5 m. Movements over the substrate were recorded with video footage and digitized. Fish length, fish weight, water temperature, and days the fish were held in captivity before being tested were also recorded and analyzed. Results indicated that substrate had a highly significant effect on glass and elver climbing performance, and slope had an effect on elver performance but not glass eel performance. The roughest substrate yielded the highest proportion of eels ascending the entire length of the ramp and the highest climbing speed in each parameter category. Further testing with more grain sizes and longer ramp lengths are required, and mass manufacturing processes for this substrate need to be explored.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2017
- Marine Energy
- Conventional Hydro
Environmental Decision Support: Science-Based Tools for Hydropower Stakeholder Collaboration
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Esther Parish (parishes@ornl.gov)
Addressing environmental impacts while balancing multiple uses for water has been a longstanding challenge for hydropower, particularly when there is lack of access to information necessary to support decision-making. Therefore, ORNL has been working with a cross-section of hydropower stakeholders represented by members of the project’s Mission Advisory Board (MAB) and Science Advisory Board (SAB) to develop and refine an Environmental Decision Support (EDS) toolkit that can help interested users to prepare for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing negotiations by identifying what existing information and data are available to support environmental impact assessments, which issues have project nexus, and which environmental issues might require more discussion and/or additional research. The final EDS toolkit will include a science-based River Function Indicator (RFI) Questionnaire tool and user guide, a set of key river function and terminology definitions, the database of environmental metrics that was used to develop the list of 42 RFIs in 6 categories, and a retrospective analysis of environmental studies requested and implemented during 29 nonfederal hydropower licensing processes. The EDS toolkit will be made available to the public through DOE's HydroSource website to help stakeholders identify the key metrics of environmental sustainability for their hydropower projects so that they can work together to develop strategies that avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts to the riverine ecosystem.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Environmental DNA (eDNA) applications in hydropower fish passageways
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kristine Moody (moodykn@ornl.gov)
In this project, ORNL builds on their previous work examining the utility of eDNA for hydropower biological monitoring to assess the feasibility of using environmental DNA (eDNA) and RNA (eRNA) for monitoring fish passageways. eDNA and eRNA are DNA and RNA that is shed by organisms living in an ecosystem that can be found in environmental samples such as water, air, and soil and can allow for identification and relative abundance of species (eDNA) and life stage/age and whether a species is currently present in an ecosystem (eRNA). Compared with conventional biological survey methods, surveys conducted using eDNA and eRNA found in water samples can provide more complete and accurate accounts of species at lower costs and with lower personnel hazards. If eDNA and eRNA are found to be useful for monitoring fish passageways, ORNL will use the results for drafting guidance for how, when, and where the use of eDNA/eRNA to monitor fish passageways is indicated. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org