The Effect of Wet Weather Driven Dissolved Oxygen Sags on Fishes in Urban Systems

This study is the first known field deployment of externally mounted dissolved oxygen (DO) transmitters on fish. The transmitters were used to track fish movement in response to changes in DO levels, in particular as relates to CSO discharges in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). DO-sensing transmitters attached to fish permit the generation of data that have the potential to demonstrate the DO concentration in which the fish inhabits. Concentrations of DO within the CAWS appeared to exert only a moderate influence on the movement or habitat choice of largemouth bass. The fish (largemouth bass) were quite tolerant of low DO. Data from this study will provide a benchmark for data quality review and analysis that can be referenced by future studies and will provide improved understanding of how fish respond to and are impacted by wet weather CSO events and associated low DO. Published by WERF. 124 pages. Online PDF. (2012)

Originally funded as WERF project U3R09.