Fish Weir

[Drifter]

Bill,

The March 99 issue of River Magazine has an article called "Dam Good News" by John Doty. Mr. Doty states that " ...a TVA team of engineers and biologists, with a desire to 'mitigate' the loss of the Little Tennessee's trout fishery, began quietly working to solve DO (dissolved oxygen) and water flow problems."

These folk have come up with several workable solutions to overcome these problems. They include baffles on turbine blades, weirs, and "soaker" type hoses which discharge air into the water.

The TVA team has designed and built a "labyrinth" weir on the South Fork of the Holston River. The zig-zag construction creates an artificial waterfall which aerates the water over the top during generation and "measures out" the water downstream when generation ceases. Studies indicate that natural reproduction of Brown and Rainbow trout have more than doubled in the past six years as a result.

My question is this:

Would a similar labyrinth dam or weir be beneficial to the Hooch in the vicinity of Bowman's Island? I believe that the added oxygen and stabilized water level would improve the biom****of the river, ie more caddis, mayflies, stoneflies. This in turn would give the fish more to eat, increasing their growth rates and survivability.

I pose this question on the eve of the Primer because I want to make my feelings known to the representatives of the Corp of Engineers, should they be at the Primer.

If you think a weir or baffles on the turbine blades would be beneficial, please let us know. I think it would help if everyone on the Board politely questioned the Corp reps to get their views.

Thanks in advance,

Drifter

[Loren]

Drifter,

Biological Treatment Systems like sewage treatment plants often discharge their outfall over "Steps" which create small waterfalls like the wier and work well to add DO to the wastewater.

Loren

[NightOwl]

The area jst downstream of the dam at lake Jackson has a similiar zig-zag that creates even discharge and also creates more surface area/oxygen/steadyflows and I have heard that the fishing is only getting better and better and better...of course it's ba$s and not trout - but the idea is the same.

Owl http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[Tommy Hunter]

As y'all know, I'm all for any thing that makes the fishing better. Just a word of caution. As an engineer with Gwinnett County Public Utilities I have had the unfortunate priviledge of dealing with the Corps of Engineers on many occassions. Getting them to listen to any kind of suggestions is hard enough--getting them to do anything is almost impossible. Good luck. Let me know if I can help.

Tommy

[Drifter]

Tommy,

I too, have heard the rumors about the Corps being a little on the stubborn side, slow to change. Anyhow, I'm going to hand them a copy of the Doty article which outlines in detail, the recent successful steps that TVA has taken to improve stream habitat.

Maybe when they read about the praise and accolades their peers at TVA have won, they will take a look. I'm assuming they will be at the Primer as a public relations move. If this is the case, I'm gonna show them some specific examples as to how they can improve their image and gain some support. Anyhow, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If every one of us has a conversation with their reps regarding the Corps responsibility in protecting the river, maybe they will take a look.

Drifter

[Bill Couch]

Drifter,
Chris Scalli pressed the Corps to look hard the DO problem. The DNR saw an opportunity and wrote a letter supporting the concept. The Corps agreed to look in conjunction with their refurbish of the generators at Buford Dam. Originally they considered a number of techniques, many of them very expensive (wiers included). I "feel" they have settled on auto-venting turbines. This is a step in the right direction. I would love to discuss further at the primer.

Bill

[Ted]

The weir structure below Jackson on the Ocmulgee was put in by Georgia Power as a part of FERC licensing at the Lloyd Shoals hydro project (Lake Jackson's GPC generation project). The idea was to increase dissolved oxygen levels in the river below the tailrace. Jackson, like other hydro projects (Buford..etc..) had some issues associated with hypolymnetic water discharges (low D.O...). Shoal ba$$, along with other species, live in the stretch of river below the dam. This brings up another request for help (see Marben PFA post on warmwater forum). I am looking for interested angelers to share information on their shoal ba$$ fishing experiences on that stretch of the Ocmulgee. e-mail response is fine. It is for a DNR project. Thanks in advance.

[SHAWN]

Well, NightOwl took the words right out of my mouth. There are weirs below Jackson lake. Drifter, you pose an excelent point to p****on. If you can find them, I can can find them, and maby the rest of us can find them to strengthen your action.
Shawn

[Flyguy]

Ted...You really need to talk with "Hooker" on this subject. He does quit a bit of fishing below the dam on the Ocmulgee river. I have been there with him a few times and it is a great place to fish.



Flyguy