Life Stage-Specific Hydropeaking Flow Rules

• Published in: Sustainability
• Main Authors: Daniel S. Hayes, Miguel Moreira, Isabel Boavida, Melanie Haslauer, Günther Unfer, Bernhard Zeiringer, Franz Greimel, Stefan Auer, Teresa Ferreira, Stefan Schmutz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019
• Subjects: sustainable hydropower; sub-daily flow fluctuations; peak-load energy production; pulsed flows; environmental flow; biologically sensitive periods; salmonids; Salmo salar; Salmo trutta; Thymallus thymallus; Environmental effects of industries and plants; TD194-195; Renewable energy sources; TJ807-830; Environmental sciences; GE1-350
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061547; https://doaj.org/article/2d5b9c6547414e81929fea5d6825077c

Peak-operating hydropower plants are usually the energy grid’s backbone by providing flexible energy production. At the same time, hydropeaking operations are considered one of the most adverse impacts on rivers, whereby aquatic organisms and their life-history stages can be affected in many ways. Therefore, we propose specific seasonal regulations to protect ecologically sensitive life cycle stages. By reviewing hydropeaking literature, we establish a framework for hydrological mitigation based on life-history stages of salmonid fish and their relationship with key parameters of the hydrograph. During migration and spawning, flows should be kept relatively stable, and a flow cap should be implemented to prevent the dewatering of spawning grounds during intragravel life stages. While eggs may be comparably tolerant to dewatering, post-hatch stages are very vulnerable, which calls for minimizing or eliminating the duration of drawdown situations and providing adequate minimum flows. Especially emerging fry are extremely sensitive to flow fluctuations. As fish then grow in size, they become less vulnerable. Therefore, an ‘emergence window’, where stringent thresholds on ramping rates are enforced, is proposed. Furthermore, time of day, morphology, and temperature changes must be considered as they may interact with hydropeaking. We conclude that the presented mitigation framework can aid the environmental enhancement of hydropeaking rivers while maintaining flexible energy production.