Presentation by Matt Boyington, Colleen Montgomery (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), USA) and Marc Weeber (Deltares, Netherlands) at the Delft3D User Days, during the Delft Software Days - Edition 2023 (DSD-INT 2023). Thursday, 16 November 2023, Delft.

1. Study: Marc Weeber; Frank Kleissen (Deltares)
Client: Colleen Montgomery; Matt Boyington (Tennessee
Valley Authority)
Support: Duane C. Chapman; P. Ryan Jackson (USGS)
Inclusion of FluEgg processes in
D-Particle Tracking
16 November 2023
Asian carp egg dispersal in
reservoirs

2. Table of contents
2
• Background
• FluEgg
• D-Particle Tracking implementation
• Results
• Summary
School of jumping Silver carp (credit: Jason Jenkins USGS)
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Asian
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egg
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3. Background
3
• Location : USA
− Tennessee Valley Authority (water manager)
− State : Alabama
− Water system : Wheeler reservoir
• Asian carp:
− Nonnative species
− Grass carp, Big head carp and Silver carp present in TVA water systems
− Grass carp (at least) present in Wheeler reservoir
• TVA:
− Require options for management of Asian carp
− Prevention of egg hatching could be possible with reservoir management
− Need insight in:
• Egg hatching success based on various flow regimes
• Potential nursery locations for removal efforts
• Potential operational management techniques
Grass carp
(Ctenopharyngodon idella)
Gunter ville reservoir dam (TVA)
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4. Background
Release site of spawning for test scenario runs
Source: TVA
presentation Colleen
Montgomery
@ Elk River
@ Decatur Flats
@ Flint river
@ Paint Rock river
@ Wheeler National Wildlife
refuge
@ Mooresville
@ Guntersville dam

5. Asian carp : spawning
5
Spawning:
• At the surface of river
• During high-flow events
• Up to 2 million eggs per female
• Spawning is most prevalent in a water temperature between
18 to 22 degrees Celsius
Egg:
• Hydrodynamic influence
• Egg hardening (uptake of water that changes density,
buoyancy and settling velocity)
• Egg development and hatching time (temperature dependent)
• Hatching time 45 h in 19°C water and 27 h in 23 °C water
Larvae (before GBI):
• Passive horizontal movement by flow
• Regulate their vertical position by swimming
bursts (no gas bladder yet)
Larvae (after GBI)
• Regulate their vertical position after GB
• When larvae reach the GBI stage, they will
search for nearby nursery habitat.
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Asian
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egg
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6. FluEgg processes
6
Source: TVA presentation Coleen Montgomery
Apart from the hydrodynamic
flow, physiological changes to
the egg due to development, like
water hardening and diameter,
change its buoyancy.
- Eggs require to be suspended in water
column during development until
hatching
- Larvae are expected not to survive in
stagnant water
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Asian
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7. Background
7
Hydrodynamic model:
- Wheeler reservoir hydrodynamic and temperature model (Delft3D)
Current Asian carp egg distribution models:
FluEgg (Garcia et al. 2013) :
- Based on 1-D hydrodynamic models or ADCP data as input
- to reconstruct 3-D domain and velocity fields
FluEgg (Heer et al. 2020) :
- Based on 3-D hydrodynamic model (Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code; Hamrick,1992)
- Added random walk to simulate diffusive movement (streamwise, lateral and vertical)
To be developed Asian carp egg distribution model:
FluEgg processes in D-Particle Tracking (module of Delft3D Suite)
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Asian
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8. Asian carp : stage development
8

9. Asian carp egg model :
Wheeler reservoir Delft3D model
9
Source: Deltares
Wheeler reservoir
model
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10. D-Particle Tracking implementation
Setup
Three stages implemented:
1. Eggs Settling velocity based on egg characteristics & vertical eddy diffusivity
2. Larvae (before GBI) Diurnal vertical swimming & keep from bed & vertical eddy diffusivity
3. Larvae (after GBI) Remain in horizontal position, frozen position in simulation
Stages 1 is used for release, Stage 3 to determine the final position. When modelled reversed stage 2 (larvae before
GBI) to stage 0 (spawning).
For each particle over all stages horizontal and vertical position, temperature experienced, development time are
tracked.
Mortality can be best analyzed based on postprocessing as criteria vary:
• Egg – (consecutive) time spent close to or on reservoir bed
• Larvae (before GBI) – (consecutive) time spent within proximity of previous position
10
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Asian
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11. D-Particle Tracking processes implementation
11
Development egg
(diameter + density)
Fall velocity egg in water
(density w. + flow
carrying + egg
characteristics)
Egg vertical
displacement
(fall velocity +
turbulence)
Hatching & GBI time
(as function of
temperature)
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12. D-Particle Tracking processes implementation
12
Stage progression : Eggs
Based on excel test of formula’s based on 22
degrees Celsius
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13. D-Particle Tracking processes implementation
13
Species specific input definition for model
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14. D-Particle Tracking processes implementation
Switching on the model
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Asian
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egg
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15. Results
Applied hydrodynamic year
Current choice of hydrodynamic year is 2020 as it was readily available.
Spawning most prevalent above 23 degrees Celsius.
Two forward modelling scenario’s:
- Release 1st of June (suitable temperature)
- Release 4th of January (no suitable temperature, but high discharge)
And one reversed modelling scenario:
- Release 6th of June (start at final position from release of 1th of June, back to spawning location)
Releases of test scenarios done with up to 5000 particles/individuals.
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16. Results
Forward : June 1st 2020 Forward : January 4th 2020 Reversed : June 6th 2020
Trace of several individuals
Modelled final location of 5000 individuals

17. Results
Forward : June 1st 2020 Forward : January 4th 2020 Reversed : June 6th 2020
Distance in model to final location of 5000 individuals

18. Results
Forward : June 1st 2020 Forward : January 4th 2020 Reversed : June 6th 2020
Development & environment in model of a individual

19. Results
Forward : June 1st 2020 Forward : January 4th 2020 Reversed : June 6th 2020
Development & environment in model of a
individuals egg stage

20. Summary
• Added FluEgg processes to D-Particle Tracking for 3 Asian carp species
• Included a more elaborate function for temperature development
• Elaborated on the larval swimming behavior
• Enabled forward and reversed model runs on Delft3D 4 Z-layer models
• Results are on visual comparison promising
Model applicable to wider use than Wheeler reservoir.
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21. Possible improvements &
Additional accomplishments
• Possible improvements:
− Include mortality in model and make it adaptable
− Sensitivity analysis of model parameters
− Z-layer and D-Particle Tracking interaction (could already be solved)
• Additionally accomplished:
− ABM/IBM functionality merged into complete TVA Particle Tracking development (and main
D-Particle Tracking code!)
− Flexible selection between ABM/IBM models based on keywords:
jellyfish, salmon, glass eel, mangrove seeds, horseshoe crabs and now also Asian carp eggs
- Good working relationship with USGS and discussion on development.
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22. Questions?
22
Source: https://www.noble.org/
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23. Presentation of results
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Source : Heer et al., 2020 Source: TVA presentation Colleen Montgomery
Suitable hatching
areas /
potential
spawning areas
Animation
Horizontal
Vertical
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24. Contact
www.deltares.nl
info@deltares.nl
@deltares
@deltares
linkedin.com/company/deltares
facebook.com/deltaresNL