The new upstream fish ladder at the 94-MW Thompson Falls hydro project in Thompson Falls, Mont., opened in May 2011 with a successful first run, reports GEI Consultants Inc., the firm selected by PPL Montana to provide ecological and engineering services for the project.The $7.5 million project is designed to provide rare species of trout and other fish varieties unhindered access to hundreds of miles of the upstream Clark ForkRiver and its tributaries. The steel and concrete ladder system has 48 step pools that will permit fish to gradually ascend about 75 feet to the top of, and over, the dam. It is the first full-height fish passage ladder in the U.S. built specifically for bull trout, a threatened species.
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