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Millette, A. J. (1987). Wilder fish ladder with a hydroturbine as a fish- attracting water system. Pages 551 in M. J. Dadswell, R. J. Klauda, C. M. Moffitt, R. L. Saunders, R. A. Rulifson and J. E. Cooper, eds. Common Strategies of Anadromous and Catadromous Fishes, American Fisheries Society Symposium Serial, Boston, Massachusetts (USA).

Fish ladders and hydroelectric power generation have historically competed for water from available streamflow. For a fish ladder to be effective, migrating fish must be attracted to the fishway entrance. To attract fish, a large volume of "attraction" flow is added to the relatively small fishway flow just inside the fishway entrance, and the combined flow discharges to the tailrace as a plume, which attracts upstream-migration fish such as Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and American Shad Alosa sapidissima . The common methods of providing attraction flow are pumped flow lifted to the fishway from the tailrace and gravity flow dropping from the forebay pond. Both options are net users of power, since pumps consume electric power and gravity flow uses water which has the potential to generate electricity. At Wilder Dam, a 17-m head had to be dissipated. Two options were studied: energy-dissipating valves and chambers; and a small hydroturbine. Both did the job; however, the energy-dissipating valve is an energy waster, whereas the hydroturbine drives a 3,200-kW hydroelectric generator, producing economic benefits that offset its cost. The fishway turbine-generator has the additional benefits of providing year-round low-flow augmentation at peak generating efficiency and increased base-load generation during high-flow periods.