Hot spot!

The Sea-to-Sky corridor is ground zero for private hydro projects. Currently there are over 100 proposed or approved hydro developments in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. Some of the creeks that are proposed or developed include: Ashlu Creek, Ryan River, Mamquam River, Soo River and Brandywine Creek.

Gold rush mentality

In their 2002 Energy Plan, the BC government decreed that BC Hydro, our very profitable crown corporation, could no longer develop new electricity generation. This directive started a gold rush mentality amongst the private sector resulting in over 600 streams and rivers being “staked” for private power development.

One-offs

Most private power projects involve river diversion and dramatically reduced water flows, new roads, blasting, the generation of waste rock, and many kilometres of new transmission lines. Astoundingly, the BC government assesses each development as a “one-off,” without considering the cumulative impacts of numerous projects on the landscape. The proposed Ryan River project involves building a ‘weir’, diverting up to 90% of the mean annual discharge of the river into a 9.5 km tunnel. The project would also generate 8,000 dump-truck loads worth of waste rock and build 26 km of new transmission lines – all of it in a core grizzly bear recovery area.

Expensive

The power being generated by private power producers is expensive and comes at the wrong time of the year. Typically, British Columbia needs electricity in the cold winter months when many private hydro projects can’t generate electricity because creeks and rivers are running low and unable to power turbines. Energy produced from these private power projects normally comes during late spring and early summer when it is of little value to BC, but of high value to the private company for potential export to markets such as California.

Bad for the environment

Private power projects negatively impact streams and rivers because of the roads, blasting, logging, river diversion and transmission lines that accompany them. Alarmingly, projects that are under 50 megawatts don’t even have to undergo any environmental assessment. Although the Ryan River project is 145 megawatts there are numerous other river diversion projects being proposed that are under 50 megawatts and are located near the Ryan River. It is important to remember that even if a project is over 50 megawatts, the BC Environmental Assessment Act is very weak and has never turned down a project.

Loss of control

In 2006, the BC government passed Bill 30 removing the right of local governments to plan and zone for private power projects. That means that although the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and other regional land use plans recommended that the Ryan River be off-limits to private power projects, today the river is slated for development because a private company ignored community planning and staked the river.

Grizzly bears

The Ryan River drainage is a very important area for the threatened Squamish-Lillooet grizzly population. Displacement and mortality of this population, along with other “significant wildlife impacts” related to reduced water flow and construction activities are top-of-mind concerns if this large project goes ahead.

Accidents happen

Once these projects are up and running they are heavily automated with very little human oversight. As a result accidents can and have happened. One such accident happened at the EPCOR Miller Creek power project in Pemberton in September 2007. A malfunction at the plant resulted in a “critical low water” incident where the creek almost ran dry. Internal documents given to environmental organizations revealed that this incident and other environmental problems at the site lead EPCOR’s own environmental monitor to comment that the company wasn’t meeting environmental standards and wasn’t producing green energy.

It can be done!

People working together can stop bad projects from damaging wild rivers. Early in 2008, hundreds of people spoke out and took action to save the Upper Pitt River from an environmentally damaging private power project. Attending meetings, writing letters and speaking to your neighbours are key ingredients to protecting our rivers. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

There's a right way to do it

There is a right way and a wrong way to generate green power, and unfortunately, at this time in BC it is being done the wrong way. The BC government’s rush to develop private power has resulted in a chaotic situation where cumulative environmental impacts are ignored, regional planning is non-existent and local governments have been silenced. The Wilderness Committee supports green energy that is:

• regionally planned,
• environmentally appropriate,
• acceptable to First Nations and
• publicly owned.