Asian Carp Mitigation Draft EA Appendices
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Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 181 This page intentionally left blank Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Figure A-1. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Kentucky Lock and Dam Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 183 Asian Carp Mitigation PEA Figure A-2. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Pickwick Lock and Dam 184 Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Figure A-3. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Wilson Lock and Dam Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 185 Asian Carp Mitigation PEA Figure A-4. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Wheeler Lock and Dam 186 Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Figure A-5. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Guntersville Lock and Dam Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 187 Asian Carp Mitigation PEA Figure A-6. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Nickajack Lock and Dam 188 Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Figure A-7. Conceptual Locations for Fish Barrier Systems at Chickamauga Lock and Dam (Currently Under Construction) Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 189 Asian Carp Mitigation PEA Figure A-8. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier Systems at Watts Bar Lock and Dam 190 Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix A – Conceptual Designs for Fish Barrier Systems by Lock and Dam Figure A-9. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier System at Ft. Loudoun Lock and Dam Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 191 Asian Carp Mitigation PEA Figure A-10. Conceptual Design for Fish Barrier System at Melton Hill Lock and Dam 192 Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix B – Fluegg Asian Carp Egg Transport Modeling in the TVA River System Appendix B – FluEgg Asian Carp Egg Transport Modeling in the TVA River System Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment 193 This page intentionally left blank Draft Preliminary Report TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY River System Operations & Environment River Scheduling ASIAN CARP EGG TRANSPORT MODELING IN THE TVA RIVER SYSTEM TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL NURSERY HABITAT AREAS WR2020-10-01 Prepared by Colleen Montgomery, P.E. Jessica Brazille, P.E, T. Matthew Boyington, PhD Dennis S. Baxter Knoxville, Tennessee October 2020 1 Draft Preliminary Report ASIAN CARP EGG TRANSPORT MODELING IN THE TVA RIVER SYSTEM TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL NURSERY H AB IT AT AR EAS Background Information There are four types of “Asian carp” that are presently a threat to US waterways. All of them were intentionally introduced to aquaculture facilities in the US in the 1960’s and 1970’s to perform clean-up and pest control services in confined ponds. Bighead, silver and grass carp were used to control algae blooms and aquatic vegetation in aquaculture facilities, farm ponds and sewage lagoons. Black carp were used to control a parasite hosting snail commonly found in aquaculture facilities. This relationship was fine until some of the fish escaped to the wild during flood events, or were released from the facilities by accident. Once loose, Asian carp spread quickly, reproduced rapidly, and are now extremely abundant, especially in the Mississippi River system and its tributaries and are causing numerous problems for ecosystems and recreation. Grass carp, the most widely distributed Asian carp species, is now found in 45 states including California, Oregon and Washington, and they are tolerant of a wide water temperature range. Other carp species are less tolerant of cold water, and their populations are consequently not as wide-spread. In the Southeast and Midwestern US, several species of the carp have become abundant in the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois Rivers and now threaten the Great Lakes. The Ohio River provides a connection to the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and silver carp are found in both Barkley and Kentucky Lakes as a result. The fish are enough of a problem in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes that free ice is provided to commercial fishermen who wish to catch these fish, and numerous carp fishing tournaments are scheduled to help keep the fish population under control. The fish are a nuisance because they eat and reproduce aggressively, consuming up to 40% of their weight in food every day, often depleting their ecosystem of food for other inhabitants, and increasing the potential for erosion by stripping vegetation from banks. Additionally, egg-laying females can produce a million eggs in a breeding season. Silver carp pose an additional threat to unsuspecting water recreationalists, as they spontaneously leap from the water when they feel threatened or hear loud noises such as a boat motor. Although videos of the fish jumping out of the water and hitting water skiers are amusing, in reality, being hit by a 20+ pound carp while traveling at high speed in or behind a boat can lead to serious injuries in some cases. Silver carp are abundant in the Ohio River and are also found in Barkley Lake and Kentucky Lake and are therefore the main fish of concern for this evaluation. Various deterrent methods have been tried over the past decade to halt or slow the spread of the fish in the Midwest. Control methods such as trapping, seining, explosives, herding with noise or light, electrical barriers, thermal barriers, bubble and noise walls, oxygen deprivation, and sonic disruption, only serve to slow the spread of growing populations in most cases, as a single barrier method is ineffective against different year classes of the fish, with bubbles being effective against small hatchlings, and electrical barriers being effective against larger fish (USGS 2020). 2 Draft Preliminary Report Multiple types of barrier devices are also being considered for installation at the navigation locks in the lower Tennessee River dams and are being evaluated in a different study. The goal of this project is to evaluate the Tennessee River System for locations that are and are not good carp hatchling nursery habitat, determine where fish spawning would need to occur for hatchlings to reach the desirable habitat, and eventually determine how we may be able to alter dam release operations to provide fewer suitable habitat areas where conditions are favorable for the fish. Presently, according to TVA biologists, there appears to be no consistent successful reproduction of the fish in Kentucky Lake. The only year that young-of-the-year (YOY) silver carp were found in Kentucky lake was in 2015 in the first few miles of the Duck River. All year-classes of the fish are found in Kentucky Lake; however they are believed to be coming in from the Ohio and/or Cumberland Rivers. It is TVA’s and state and federal partners’ desire to keep the carp from advancing farther up the Tennessee River, which is why this analysis is being conducted. Our Understanding of Carp Reproduction for Modeling Based on TVA and USGS biologists’ understanding of spawning requirements and suitable habitat areas for hatchlings to survive and grow, a modeling campaign was started to evaluate the reservoirs and major rivers of the Tennessee River System to determine what areas may or may not be suitable habitat under typical flows during spawning season, which is generally in June and July. Spawning criteria is based on the water reaching a minimum temperature of about 20°C (68°F). There are also channel velocity requirements to keep eggs from settling to the reservoir bottom and dying. This figure sums up the egg release to mobility time span of the carp. Figure 1. Asian Carp from spawning to Gas Bladder Inflation 3 Draft Preliminary Report Modeled Reaches and Years Evaluated Sixteen reaches of study were chosen to be evaluated and are listed here in order of decreasing priority based on the expertise of TVA biologists. 1. Chickamauga Reservoir, 2. Hiwassee River (Tributary to Chickamauga Reservoir) 3. Wheeler Reservoir 4. Elk River (Tributary to Wheeler Reservoir) 5. Watts Bar Reservoir 6. Clinch River (Tributary to Watts Bar Reservoir) 7. Emory River (Tributary to Clinch River in Watts Bar Reservoir) 8. Fort Loudoun Reservoir 9. Holston River to Cherokee Dam (Tributary to Fort Loudoun Reservoir) 10. French Broad River to Douglas Dam (Tributary to Fort Loudoun Reservoir) 11. Pickwick Reservoir 12. Kentucky Reservoir 13. Guntersville Reservoir 14. Nickajack Reservoir 15. Melton Hill Reservoir 16. Wilson Reservoir Of the 16 reaches, six are rivers, and five of the six have a dam upstream of the reach of interest that controls the flow. Only the Emory River is uncontrolled from upstream, but the area of focus is the lower portion impounded by Watts Bar Reservoir. Ten of the sixteen reaches are in East Tennessee, in the upper part of the Tennessee River Basin where the water temperatures are generally somewhat cooler and the flows are somewhat lower than those in the lower part of the Tennessee River Basin. In the fall of 2019 there was a supposed sighting by a fisherman of an silver carp on Chickamauga Reservoir, presumably near Harrison Bay. This placed Chickamauga Reservoir and its main tributary, the Hiwassee River, at the top of the evaluation list. Since this sighting, TVA and TWRA biologists have not been able to find any Asian Carp in Chickamauga Reservoir. If this invasive species exists in Chickamauga Reservoir, then it is presently considered extremely rare. The Duck River is not included in this list because the USGS has already done some egg transport modeling on it because of the discovery of the carp eggs and YOY fish there in 2015.