Tallowa Dam - Shoalhaven River
Water jets out to attract fish to the fishway entrance (slot on the right hand side of the image)
Tallowa Dam - Shoalhaven River
Fish attracted into the hopper are carried up and over the weir crest
Tallowa Dam - Shoalhaven River
The hopper slowly moves along guiderails to transport fish upstream
Tallowa Dam - Shoalhaven River
The hopper (and fish) are lifted over the weir crest
Tallowa Dam - Shoalhaven River
The hopper is then gently lowered into the upstream weir pool where fish are released
Fishway - Trap and Transport
The Trap and Transport fishway attract and trap fish below a barrier and then physically transports them over the barrier. The initial trapping is commonly linked with a short section of pool-type fishway, before fish enter a chamber for transportation. Fish may be transported by road, rail or aerial car (hopper).
Case Study – Tallowa Dam Fish Lift
Fish migration in the Shoalhaven catchment was blocked since the completion of the Tallowa Dam in 1976. In 2009 a new mechanical fishway and weir wall modifications were constructed to allow upstream and downstream fish passage. The fish lift was the first of its kind built in NSW. Surface water in the dam is released into a confined channel at the base of the dam known as the attraction chamber. Fish are attracted to this chamber and are lifted over the wall and lowered into the dam on the other side at regular intervals.