Power Grab: BC’s rivers and streams at risk
“Run-of-river” projects should actually be called “river-diversion” projects as up to 80 to 90 percent of the river
is diverted through large pipes in order to generate electricity. Purcell Mountain Range. Photo: Gary Diers.
A river runs through it
British Columbia’s creeks and rivers are literally the stuff of life, providing us with multiple benefits including fresh water, drainage, irrigation, recreation and hydroelectricity.
Our rivers are also an ecological lifeline, acting as a home to thousands of aquatic species including coho, Chinook, pink, sockeye and spring salmon as well as providing essential habitat to a vast array of terrestrial species ranging from grizzly bears to tiger salamanders.
Unfortunately BC’s rivers are at risk.
In 2002 the provincial government stopped BC Hydro, our crown corporation, from developing new sources of clean green energy. The government arbitrarily decreed that any new production of wind energy, biofuel or hydroelectricity would have to come from the private sector.
At first blush this may not have appeared to be a bad idea, but upon closer examination this policy is fraught with problems. The BC government’s 2002 Energy Plan announcement led to a gold rush mentality which saw over 500 creeks and rivers “staked” by so-called “Independent Power Producers” (or IPPs), which are in fact private power developers. This gold rush was fueled not only by the Energy Plan but by water-for-power licenses that were given away at fire-sale prices. 1
Currently, there are 35 private hydro projects in operation in British Columbia, and an additional 45 proposals have obtained contracts, called Energy Purchase Agreements, with BC Hydro.2
When most people think of a “run-of-river” power project they visualize a free-flowing river with a small turbine generating electricity. The reality is far different. Typically, up to 80-90 percent of the mean annual discharge of a river is diverted into a pipe, known as a penstock, which channels water downhill for several kilometers to a turbine where electricity is generated and the water returned to the ecosystem.3 However, between the intake and output process there will be far less water flow in the river. Natural seasonal fluctuations in river flow will be blunted and there will be fewer aquatic insects, and less gravel and woody debris, all of which negatively impact stream health.
What could go wrong?Once built, Private Power Projects are almost fully automated, leaving rivers with projects vulnerable to malfunctions. One such malfunction happened recently at Miller Creek near Pemberton, BC. On September 8, 2007 an accident at the plant resulted in a critical low water incident, in which water was prevented from flowing into the creek for several hours. Alarms that were supposed to alert officials didn’t work correctly and the Creek, which has important populations of bull trout, whitefish and salmon, was reduced to just inches of water. 4 |
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Miller Creek during the critical low-water incident.
