3rd Mekong Forum on Water, Food & Energy 2013. Presentation from Session 14: Alternative electricity sources and planning for the Mekong.

1. CPWF MK 15 Presentation
Optimising fish-friendly criteria for incorporation into the
design of mini-hydro schemes in the Lower Mekong Basin
Dr Oudom PHONEKHAMPHENG,
Dean Fac. Ag., National University of Laos (NUOL)
Mr Douangkham SINGHANOUVONG,
Deputy-Director, Living Aquatic Resource and Research Centre (LARReC), Ministry of Agriculture
and Forestry Lao PDR
Mr Garry Thorncraft, Research Associate
NUOL
Hanoi November 2013

2. Outline of talk:
 Brief Background to Lao Fish Passage Team
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2008 to 2009 ACIAR Project No: FIS/2006/083 (upstream passage)
2010 to 2015 ACIAR Project No: FIS/2009/041 (upstream passage)
2013 ACIAR Project No: FIS/2011/072 (downstream)
2014 to 2017 ACIAR Project: FIS/2012/100 (downstream passage)
 2013 CPWF Project No: MK15 (downstream passage)
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Mini-hydro development (low-head high-volume)
Barotrauma
Shear
Feasibility in Lao PDR
Guidelines (preliminary)

3. Lao Fish Passage Team Aims:
Support the Sustainable Development of Water
Infrastructure in Lao PDR – By Helping Maintain
both Upstream and Downstream Fish Passage
 Collaboration between LARReC and NUOL as lead research and
educational institutions in Lao PDR
 Assistance from international research partners including:
o NSW Dept. Primary Industries, Australia
o QLD Dept. Primary Industries, Australia
o Pacific Northwestern National Laboratories, USA
o Individual Expert Consultancies as required.

4. Lao Fish Passage Project Objectives:
 Improved understanding of technology to facilitate fish migrations on
floodplains and inclusion of this information into tertiary education
curriculum of NUOL.
 Improved ability for Lao researchers and fisheries managers to
understand and apply floodplain fish passage technology at the
village, district and provincial level.
 Improved local economies through increased fisheries' production
where fish passage is considered
 Improvement of floodplain fisheries diversity, abundance and
sustainability wherever fish passage is considered in the lower
Mekong Basin

5. Social and Economic Importance of fish
LMB – approx 2.2 million tonnes per annum –
food and hard income
About 2% of total world fish catch, 800 plus spp
Importance of fish in sustenance diets
Fish
Beef
Pork
Chicken
kg/person/year
kg/person/year
kg/person/year
kg/person/year
Lao PDR
29
(48% animal
protein)
5
6
5
Cambodia
37
(79% animal
protein)
2
3
2

6. 10,000 plus Barriers to fish
migration below 10m in
height

7. Extent of Migration Barriers – Xe Bang Hieng
Total Potential
Barriers in
whole catchment
Xe Bang Hieng =
2492
Streams = 2257
Wetlands = 193
Dams = 42

8. Barrier Survey and
Prioritisation
Fishway Design Assessment
Demonstration Fishway
Construction
Socio-economic
Assessment

9. Cone fishways – Ongoing Assessment

10. Downstream fish passage through
gates and spillways
Undershot configuration
ncreasing
pressure
Rapid increase in vel.
& decrease pressure
Turbulent
shear
Shear stress
Overshot configuration
Decrease in
pressure,
increased
turbulent
shear
Increased
pressure / collision

11. Irrigation development helps rice farmers, but weirs and
floodgates can prevent fish migration, so improving fish
passage can = improved livelihoods based on both “Rice and
Fish”.
But can we now add hydro power to the equation (MK 15)?

12. Global energy growth by sector

13. Global energy growth by sector

14. 2013 CPWF Project No: MK15
Optimising fish-friendly criteria for incorporation into the
design of mini-hydro (low head – high flow) schemes in
the Lower Mekong Basin
 Lao researchers trained in to assess injury and mortality to fish
through exposure to changes in barotrauma (water pressure) and
shear forces (fast water flows).
 Produce a fish-friendly mini-hydro power pre-feasibility study specific
to Lao PDR.
 Create preliminary engineering design criteria guidelines to minimise
injury and mortality to downstream migrating fish.
 Presented results through regional workshop to fisheries researchers,
water infrastructure engineers and resource managers in the LMB.

15. Pressure
and Shear
http://www.poweronline.com/

16. Fish friendly options available?
Fish friendly turbine - Voith
Fish friendly SLH engine - Natel
Fish friendly turbine - Voith

17. Reductionist approach - learning from
both USA and Australian experience

18. Barotrauma Chambers at Don Dok Campus Vientiane, National University of Lao

19. Rapid Pressure Change

20. Analysing results of experiments

21. Percent Mortality 24hr post treatment
Pressure Change Data: very early results – more
replication (reduce error bars) and improved handling
Treatment

22. Shear Lab at Don Dok Campus Vientiane, National University of Lao
Lao
USA

23. Published estimates of shear stress in natural and man-made
altered environments (reproduced from Neitzel et al, 2000).

24. Silver shark (sometimes referred to as Bala shark;
Balantiocheilos melanopterus )
Natural range 200 up to 2,600 (N/m2)
Bulb Turbine 500 up to 5,421 (Nm2)

26. Other work:
 Feasibility studies on potential for low-head high-flow
hydro in Lao PDR
– Fieldwork completed, in drafting stage
 Preliminary Engineering guidelines for fish-friendly
hydro development
– Drafting stage

27. BUT
The CPWF MK15 project is just the start of this work, it will need to be followed up
with further research on the range of fish species and life stages that migrate
downstream and then field assessed to ensure acceptable safe passage is achieved.
Lao now has these facilities and the knowledge of how to run the experiments, so we
are in a position to help develop the biological answers hydro engineers need in order to
design fish-friendly low head-high volume small-scale hydro schemes capable of
being retro-fitted on existing, or included in new, irrigation schemes in Loa PDR.
= Rice + Fish + Power

28. Thank you for your time