Hydropower Development and Fishways: A Need for Connectivity in Rivers of the Upper Paraná Basin

Sergio Makrakis, Ana P. S. Bertão, Jhony F. M. Silva, Maristela C. Makrakis, Fco. Javier Sanz-Ronda and Leandro F. Celestino
Additional contact information
Sergio Makrakis: Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia em Ecohidráulica e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos—GETECH, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/ Rua da Faculdade, 645, Jd. Santa Maria, Toledo, PR 85903-000, Brazil
Ana P. S. Bertão: Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia em Ecohidráulica e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos—GETECH, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/ Rua da Faculdade, 645, Jd. Santa Maria, Toledo, PR 85903-000, Brazil
Jhony F. M. Silva: Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia em Ecohidráulica e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos—GETECH, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/ Rua da Faculdade, 645, Jd. Santa Maria, Toledo, PR 85903-000, Brazil
Maristela C. Makrakis: Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia em Ecohidráulica e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos—GETECH, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/ Rua da Faculdade, 645, Jd. Santa Maria, Toledo, PR 85903-000, Brazil
Fco. Javier Sanz-Ronda: GEA-ecohidraulica.org, Universidad de Valladolid, E.T.S.II.AA. de Palencia, Avda. Madrid, 44, 34004 Palencia, Spain
Leandro F. Celestino: Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia em Ecohidráulica e Conservação de Recursos Pesqueiros e Hídricos—GETECH, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/ Rua da Faculdade, 645, Jd. Santa Maria, Toledo, PR 85903-000, Brazil

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 13, 1-24

Abstract: South American rivers have become intensely affected by the construction of hydroelectric dams that block the river’s connectivity for migratory fish species. In order to mitigate the problems caused by dams and to reestablish connections between habitats, fishways are implemented. Fishways are structures that aid fish in overcoming obstacles and help preserve migratory, reproductive, and feeding routes. This study performed an inventory of all hydropower plants—present and future—in the Upper Paraná River, with the objective of identifying fishways unknown to scientific literature, as well as the task of mapping them. By doing so, the current situation of structural connectivity via fishways in the Upper Paraná River Basin was described. Overall, 389 dams along 209 rivers were identified; of these, only 9% (35 dams) have fishways. In addition, an alarming explosion of future medium-sized hydropower plants was observed, with an expectation of an almost 500% increase in relation to those existing. This data reveals a trend of reduction of free-flowing river stretches, which are crucial habitats for Neotropical potamodromous species, and point to a deficiency in the structural connectivity of existing hydropower dams. Furthermore, if the implementations of these expected constructions are associated with limited connectivity as a result of the absence of fishways, the management of fisheries and their resources in the Upper Paraná River may become unsustainable.

Keywords: potamodromous fish; fish ladder; fisheries management; free-flowing rivers; Neotropical (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3749/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3749/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:13:p:3749-:d:246872

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().