Laserfiche WebLink
conducted in the Gunnison River up- and downstream of the Redlands Diversion Dam <br />(RM 35-0.7) and in the Upper Colorado River from the Grand Valley Irrigation Dam <br />to the Utah/Colorado state line (RM 185-131). <br />Description of the Fish Passageway <br />The 107-m long Redlands fish passageway is primarily constructed of <br />concrete and skirts the diversion dam on the east side of the river (Figure 2). <br />It is a non-alternating, vertical slot/orifice design with 49 removable aluminum <br />baffles (weirs). The baffles were designed to be removable so that the hydraulic <br />slope of the ladder and length of the pools could be changed, if desired. In <br />developing the design, it was believed that Colorado pikeminnow would use a 10% <br />sloped fishway, but was not known if a 5% sloped fishway would work better. So <br />gentler slopes could be tested, baffles were made removable. The final bottom <br />slope of the fishway is 3.75%. The width of the vertical slot is 0.5 m and the <br />orifice is 0.3-m wide by 0.5-m high. <br />The maximum combined flow to run the passageway and the 1.1-m diameter <br />bypass pipe which provides attraction flow at the entrance gates is about 100 cfs <br />(25 cfs for the fish passageway and 75 cfs for the bypass). The stage of the <br />river primarily determines the depth of water in the fish passageway; however <br />large amounts of debris, algae, and accumulation of trash on the trash grates can <br />decrease the flow and lower the water depth in the passageway and bypass pipe. <br />The fish passageway is self-regulating, that is, hydraulics within and velocity <br />between the 1.8-m individual pools remain relatively constant regardless of the <br />stage of the river. <br />There are four riverside entrance gates at the bottom of the fish <br />passageway and a fish trapping facility located at the upper end or forebay. At <br />the lower end of the fish trap is a "V"-shaped structure constructed of 2.1-cm <br />diameter aluminum conduit placed vertically (0.9-cm spacing) that serves to guide <br />and direct fish into the trap and deter them from escaping downstream. A free- <br />floating log boom is attached to the concrete walls on both sides by chain and <br />spans the mouth of the forebay. The log boom traps and deflects large floating <br />riverborne debris past the forebay downstream. Two sets of metal trash grates, <br />located within the forebay, trap smaller debris. The first set of four vertical <br />grates has a spacing of 10.2 cm; the second set has a spacing of 1.9 cm. <br />The passageway was primarily designed to allow larger-sized fish to move <br />exclusively upstream; larger fish upstream of the dam that desire to move <br />downstream must do so by "falling back" over the dam. Therefore, it is not <br />considered a "run-of-the-river" passageway. Once fish have negotiated the entire <br />7