| Spotlight


standing partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to help with the design and construction as well as with Nimbus Hatchery operations.” The American River once provided approximately 160km of spawning habitat for native Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. With the construction of the Nimbus Dam, these fish lost access to historical spawning and rearing habitat. Reclamation built the Nimbus Fish Hatchery and ladder structure in the 1950s to mitigate for lost habitat; CDFW operates and maintains the hatchery. While the hatchery infrastructure has been modernised over the years, the existing weir and ladder system have received few updates. Reclamation, in partnership with CDFW, designed a new fish ladder and flume fishway to collect adult fish more reliably. The 579m long passageway consists of a rock-lined channel, weir fish ladder, and concrete flume. The new structure also features underwater public viewing windows. Water will run through the fish ladder when conditions are ripe for egg collection—normally around the first week of November for fall-run Chinook salmon and flow until the steelhead trout season ends in March. “Not only will this new and improved fish ladder


greatly improve our hatchery operations and efficiencies at Nimbus, we’ve moved the ladder entrance to lessen the disturbance for those salmon and steelhead spawning naturally in the river,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We’re proud to be part of a project that simultaneously benefits both our hatchery operations and wild-spawned fish and improves the visitor experience along the river and ladder for our Sacramento-area constituents who love to tour this facility.”


Dam decommissioning BC Hydro has announced it plans to decommission


the Wilsey Dam and Shuswap Falls powerhouse on the Shuswap River to allow salmon access to historical spawning habitat in the river. Both facilities were built in 1929 and represent less than 0.1% of the Canadian utility’s total hydroelectric generating capacity. BC Hydro explored two options to restore fish passage in the area. The first included refurbishing the ageing facility and constructing a fishway channel. The second was decommissioning the facility entirely. After careful consideration and working closely with Indigenous groups and stakeholders to better understand their perspectives and input, BC Hydro said it has selected decommissioning the dam and powerhouse as the leading alternative. “Decommissioning instead of refurbishing will


return that portion of the river to its original channel,” said Jen Walker-Larsen, Community Engagement Advisor at BC Hydro. “We expect this will provide a higher chance of achieving successful fish passage as it will create river conditions similar to what existed before the dam was built.” BC Hydro will advance planning for decommissioning and prepare an application to the BC Utilities Commission to obtain approval to cease operations at the facility. BC Hydro expects to complete both of these items within the next 12 to 18 months.


Chinese fish release China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has released


250,000 rare and endemic fish at the dam section of its Wudongde hydropower plant to Jinsha River in September 2021. It was the ninth fish release CTG has held since 2015 which has seen the company release a total of more than one million rare and endemic fish in the same river section. To protect fish in the lower reaches of Jinsha River,


CTG built the Jinsha River-Baihetan-Wudongde rare and endemic fish propagation and release station in the downstream area from the Wudongde dam. Its work scope includes collecting and domesticating rare and endemic fish, nurturing fish fry and propagating and releasing fish in the basin of Jinsha River. The released fish fry have been tagged with


fluorescent marks for the purpose of subsequent monitoring and assessment. A third fish release event is scheduled for later this year, when over 200,000 rare fish fry are expected to be released.


Natel Energy announces US$20M


funding round Natel Energy is building momentum in the deployment of its flagship product, the Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT). It has announced details of a US$20M funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and supported by Chevron Technology Ventures. The investment follows two successful project deployments that have accumulated two years of commercial operation. The Monroe Hydro Project in Madras, Oregon is a first-of-its-kind design making use of an existing irrigation canal and Natel’s new, fish safe turbine technology to generate reliable, renewable energy. With the installation of the commercially released 1MW class D190 RHT, the site now contributes 100% renewable energy to the local grid. “Natel Energy is on pace to grow the footprint of modern, distributed, fish safe hydropower as a climate- resilient solution supporting the transition to a reliable, zero carbon grid,” said Gia Schneider, CEO and co-founder of Natel. “The future of renewable energy, and specifically hydropower, hinges on the ability to consider environmental impacts of deployment alongside the urgent need to shift our grid for a more sustainable future, and Natel’s solutions do just that.” Natel’s Restoration Hydro Turbine is a compact


propeller-style turbine with specially designed blades that allow fish to pass safely. The RHT has a compact footprint that reduces total installed cost and enables plant designs that maintain or improve river connectivity. It is suitable for upgrading or repowering existing small hydro plants and for adding a new generation to existing non-power dams. ●


www.waterpowermagazine.com | Yearbook 2022 | 21


Above: BC Hydro has announced it plans to decommission the Wilsey Dam and Shuswap Falls powerhouse on the Shuswap River in Canada


Below: Completion of new Nimbus Hatchery Fish Passage Project on the American River in California will benefit Chinook Salmon


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