Preliminary Assessment of Fish Entrainment at Hydropower Projects (Fish Stories)

This report deals with fish entrainment at hydropower projects. Entrainment is important
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) because we must evaluate the effects of
turbine entrainment on fish populations. We must decide, with assistance from resource
agencies, whether to require licensees to take protective measures to reduce entrainment.
The purpose of the report is to use recent entrainment studies to identify trends that
might, in some cases, reduce the need for site-specific entrainment studies. The entrainment
studies reviewed also provide a basis to suggest methods of improving future studies. Costs and
effectiveness of alternatives to reduce entrainment provide aquatic resource protection options.
The report focuses on entrainment studies east of the Mississippi River because more
studies are available for this area. Information on protective measures includes sites from the
entire country.
This report provides guidance to Division of Project Review staff in their review of
applications for hydropower licenses. It is also valuable to resource agencies and hydropower
licensees/applicants. We remind the reader that this is a preliminary summary assessment, and
new information may alter the suggestions presented here.