John Richardson presenting at Meeting of Indiana Chapters of the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife SocietyBack to "In The News"
February 22, 2012
The Spring 2012 meeting of the Indiana Chapters of the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society is being held February 22 and 23 in Indianapolis. On Thursday, Feb 23rd, Cardno JFNew’s John Richardson is presenting “Fish and mussel movement and survival during the drawdown of a riverine impoundment.”
In 2009 American Electric Power (AEP) conducted a stranded fish and mussel survey within a 7.6-mile stretch on the St. Joseph River in southern Michigan, from the Niles Dam to the Buchanan Hydroelectric Dam. AEP needed to perform a temporary drawdown of the river to complete maintenance work on the Buchanan Dam. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality required that a survey of stranded fish and mussels be conducted as a condition of their permit. AEP was allowed to draw down the river’s water level a maximum of four feet, at a rate not to exceed six inches in a 24 hour period.
John will talk about the daily stranded fish and mussel survey that Cardno JFNew conducted as part of the permit conditions. Staff inspected the shallow water margins and backwaters of the impoundment as the water levels receded during the drawdown. Stranded fish and mussels observed during the survey were identified, their physical state noted as alive or dead, and living individuals were returned to the permanently inundated portion of the river channel. In total, approximately 3,500 mussels and 500 fish were successfully returned to the river channel alive, while several hundred were found dead within hours of exposure. Staff documented 9 mussel species and 18 fish species, including two State of Michigan listed species of special concern, elk toe and paper pondshell, and one State of Michigan listed endangered species, purple liliput.
More information on the conference.