Client: West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority
Location: Thomson River, Victoria

Key Services Provided:

• Hydraulic investigations
• Fishway design
• Waterway management

Overview

Water Technology were engaged by West Gippsland CMA to prepare detailed designs for the Cowwarr Weir fishway upgrade. The existing fishway had been identified as too steep to enable fish passage and concept designs had been prepared to lengthen it to a grade of 1:30.

Water Technology adopted a different approach by testing arrangements of precast vertical slots to be retrofitted into the existing structure. The hydraulic characteristics of multiple arrangements were tested in the hydrodynamic modelling package MIKE21 (above) to ensure that the critical velocities were not exceeded within the fishway.

Following modelling and signoff from Ivor Stewart, fish biologist, detailed construction drawings were prepared.

Update: The Cowwarr fishway has been successful built by West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and a field based assessment of the flow velocities in the fishway has returned a positive correlation with the hydraulic model, further details on this will be presented soon.

Contact:

James Rennie (james.rennie@watech.com.au)
Senior Environmental Scientist
Phone 03 8683 0043 or 0407 563 372
15 Business Park Drive, Notting Hill VIC 3168