Research about Chicago Area Waterway System

USGS2024

Evaluation of a carbon dioxide fish barrier through numerical modelling

The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) is a potential route for the migration of aquatic invasive species from the Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes. Electric dispersal barriers were installed in the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal, within CAWS, to prevent invasive fish from reaching the Great Lakes. Despite the high efficiency of these barriers, occasional maintenance events create a vulnerability that fish can exploit to access the Great Lakes. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) infusion system to deter fish during the maintenance of the electric barriers. An algebraic slip mixture model was implemented in the OpenFOAM solver to represent the underwater CO 2 bubble plume and predict the concentration of dissolved CO 2 in the canal. Simulations under three canal flowrates and two sparger systems were conducted assuming a constant gas flowrate. Numerical results indicate that, for all simulated conditions, the CO 2 concentration is not fully mixed creating passageways that invasive fish could potentially use to migrate upstream. Injecting 4-mm bubbles induces two large-scale recirculations that are expected to synergistically improve fish avoidance. On the other hand, injection of 20 μ "> μ m bubbles results on almost immediate dissolution with minimal effect on the flow pattern. To improve effectiveness, a gas pulse system was proposed and numerically evaluated. Based on the simulations, this system not only extends the operation of the CO 2 barrier but also increases efficiency creating CO 2 gradients that can promote a more responsive behaviour from fish. Moreover, the pulse concept mitigates potential effect of elevated CO 2 downstream from the treated area.

Illinois↗

USGS2016

Identify potential lock treatment options to prevent movement of aquatic invasive species through the Chicago Area Waterways System (CAWS)

Introduction The Illinois River is a primary tributary of the Mississippi River, connecting with the Mississippi at Grafton, Illinois. The headwaters of the river are at the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee Rivers in eastern Grundy County, Illinois. Approximately 273 miles long, it runs through the heart of Illinois and is the connection between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan in the Great Lakes basin. Because of this connection, there is concern about the potential for introduced aquatic species in one basin to migrate through this connection into the other basin. A prime example of this are the Asian carps, which were introduced into commercial fishing ponds in Arkansas in the 1970s and, following escape, are now making their way up the Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers. Options are being investigated to minimize or prevent non-native aquatic species from invading either basin through the Illinois River connection and eventually having detrimental impacts on the basin into which they migrate. The Illinois River has a series of locks and dams that are used to facilitate the navigation of commercial and recreational shipping from Chicago to Beardstown, Illinois. One option under consideration is to develop a lock treatment process that stops aquatic invasive species from entering (and moving through) the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS), while at the same time not unduly impeding the movement of barges and other boat traffic between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. The purpose this report was to evaluate the feasibility of using chemical and (or) physical treatments to determine if a sufficiently efficacious option could be used to prevent aquatic invasive species from being transported through the locks. Approximately 30 chemical and physical control options were evaluated on the basis of nine factors ranging from viability for use on a large scale, rapid lethality, human health effects, and potential damage to lock structures and vessel hulls. Compatibility of the various options was also evaluated to assess the possibility that options could be combined to enhance efficacy. Engineering requirements were not considered as part of this evaluation. The available information suggests that hot water at 43 °C and ozone are the most feasible options.

Chicago Area Waterway System↗

USGS2013

Real-time piscicide tracking using Rhodamine WT dye for support of application, transport, and deactivation strategies in riverine environments

Piscicide applications in riverine environments are complicated by the advection and dispersion of the piscicide by the flowing water. Proper deactivation of the fish toxin is required outside of the treatment reach to ensure that there is minimal collateral damage to fisheries downstream or in connecting and adjacent water bodies. In urban settings and highly managed waterways, further complications arise from the influence of industrial intakes and outfalls, stormwater outfalls, lock and dam operations, and general unsteady flow conditions. These complications affect the local hydrodynamics and ultimately the transport and fate of the piscicide. This report presents two techniques using Rhodamine WT dye for real-time tracking of a piscicide plume—or any passive contaminant—in rivers and waterways in natural and urban settings. Passive contaminants are those that are present in such low concentration that there is no effect (such as buoyancy) on the fluid dynamics of the receiving water body. These methods, when combined with data logging and archiving, allow for visualization and documentation of the application and deactivation process. Real-time tracking and documentation of rotenone applications in rivers and urban waterways was accomplished by encasing the rotenone plume in a plume of Rhodamine WT dye and using vessel-mounted submersible fluorometers together with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) and global positioning system (GPS) receivers to track the dye and map the water currents responsible for advection and dispersion. In this study, two methods were used to track rotenone plumes: (1) simultaneous injection of dye with rotenone and (2) delineation of the upstream and downstream boundaries of the treatment zone with dye. All data were logged and displayed on a shipboard laptop computer, so that survey personnel provided real-time feedback about the extent of the rotenone plume to rotenone application and deactivation personnel. Further, these strategies facilitate adjustment of rotenone application and deactivation strategies in real time if necessary based on the observed advection and dispersion of the rotenone plume. Two large-scale and complex applications of rotenone in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) in 2009 and 2010 to combat invasive Asian carp are documented in this report. The application in Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) in December 2009 involved more than 1,800 gallons of rotenone injected at multiple stations through a 6.2-mile reach of the canal near Lockport, Illinois. The rotenone plume was encased in Rhodamine WT dye so that two survey boats provided real-time feedback to shore personnel regarding the plume extent as it advected downstream. Real-time tracking of the rotenone was essential in this large-scale application because of the multistage injection strategy and the numerous deactivation points required to minimize collateral damage to fisheries in surrounding and receiving water bodies. All timing of application and deactivation operations relied on dye tracking. A second application of rotenone in May 2010 to the Little Calumet River near O’Brien Lock and Dam (Illinois) provided another opportunity for dye-tracking support operations; however, application and deactivation strategies were designed considering zero-flow conditions within the reach of interest. Therefore, dye was injected at the upstream and downstream boundaries of the rotenone application reach and was used to track movement of water in and out of a treatment reach, allowing proper deactivation to occur and avoiding unnecessary damage to fisheries downstream. The data collected during the real-time tracking operations for both applications allowed full documentation of the rotenone treatment for archival purposes and provided information for future applications. The methods presented in this report for real-time tracking and documentation of piscicide applications in riverine environments worked exceptionally well and allowed the multiagency Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup to carry out large-scale rotenone applications in urban waterways in an environmentally responsible manner with minimal collateral damage to fisheries outside the treatment reach. Traveltime information extracted from the boat-mounted and fixed-position fluorometers agrees well with empirical predictions from a preliminary dye study (mock rotenone injection) on this system completed in November 2009 on the CSSC and with previously published methods for estimating traveltimes of the peak, leading edge, and trailing edge of the plume. Although the rotenone application strategy called for zero-flow conditions on the Little Calumet River in 2010, downstream advection of treated water did occur, and dye tracing combined with velocity mapping allowed this advection to be documented and exposed the unique hydrodynamics and mixing within this reach. The large volumes of data collected during the operations allow documentation and visualization of the rotenone applications, thus providing feedback to planners and archival of the treatments for future reference. The methods developed in this report are directly transferrable to piscicide applications in water bodies in other locations, including rivers, ponds, or lakes, and can be used for real-time tracking of any passive contaminant that may enter a water body.

Illinois↗