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Hydraulic alterations resulting from hydropower development in the Bonneville Reach of the Columbia River

James R. Hatten·Thomas R. Batt
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Abstract

We used a two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic model to simulate and compare the hydraulic characteristics in a 74-km reach of the Columbia River (the Bonneville Reach) before and after construction of Bonneville Dam. For hydrodynamic modeling, we created a bathymetric layer of the Bonneville Reach from single-beam and multi-beam echo-sounder surveys, digital elevation models, and navigation surveys. We calibrated the hydrodynamic model at 100 and 300 kcfs with a user-defined roughness layer, a variable-sized mesh, and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers backwater curve. We verified the 2D model with acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data at 14 transects and three flows. The 2D model was 88% accurate for water depths, and 77% accurate for velocities. We verified a pre-dam 2D model run at 126 kcfs using pre-dam aerial photos from September 1935. Hydraulic simulations indicated that mean water depths in the Bonneville Reach increased by 34% following dam construction, while mean velocities decreased by 58%. There are numerous activities that would benefit from data output from the 2D model, including biological sampling, bioenergetics, and spatially explicit habitat modeling.

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90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 45.59049774946348° to 45.732546153514406° latitude; -121.92420959472655° to -121.08032226562499° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

James R. Hatten, Thomas R. Batt. 2010. Hydraulic alterations resulting from hydropower development in the Bonneville Reach of the Columbia River. https://doi.org/10.3955/046.084.0301

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