ERDC/CHL CHETN-VII-16 "Sediment Scaling for Mud Mountain Fish Barrier Structure"

INTRODUCTION: The White River is a mountainous river with head waters on Mount Rainier. The Fish Barrier Structure on the White River serves as a collection point of migratory fish. Operators at the structure collect the fish and transport them upstream of Mud Mountain Dam. Currently, the fish barrier uses a weir to create a head differential, which stops the passage of the migrating fish. However, the head difference causes additional deposition upstream of the fish barrier. Furthermore, with large annual sediment loads, the White River is naturally aggrading, and the fixed weir does not allow for structure operations to mobilize the sediment. Thus, a new structure is desired to both mitigate sediment accumulation and increase fish collection capacity.