Colin Payne - Golden Star - March 19, 2008 Last week, The Golden Star presented information on the growing debate about independent power production in British Columbia.Proponents say ‘run of river’ hydroelectric projects are a source of ‘clean energy’ that can be built and run more efficiently and economically by private companies. Opponents argue the province’s rivers are being handed to private interests without public consent; without concern for public interest.One aspect of this issue which could not be treated in last week’s article is the debate over environmental issues surrounding the potential construction of hydroelectric generating facilities on hundreds of creeks and small rivers throughout the province.John Calvert, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University who teaches public policy, recently published “Liquid Gold,” a book about energy privatization in B.C.His book takes an in-depth look at the myriad of issues surrounding independent power producers (IPPs) in B.C. One having particular resonance with people throughout the province is the potential for damage to the environment these projects present.    

Calvert says the government has argued these projects will cause little environmental damage, but the reality is quite different.“If you look in general at what has to happen, most of these projects do dam up a river in one way or another,” he explains. “In that regard, it’s not like you put a turbine in a flowing stream and get energy out. You have to have a penstock, the tube that diverts water to the power plant. A lot of those involve major tunnels that are six, eight or 10 kilometres long. So you’re doing a lot of serious work in terms of digging out all this rock. You have the diversion of the water from the stream through the penstock, which means there’s much less water flowing through the stream itself.”Calvert points out that taking water out of the stream, and also collecting water in a small reservoir (known as a headpond) can have a warming effect on the stream and has the potential to affect fish and other aquatic life in the rivers.

A proposal for a hydroelectric project to divert water flowing through Glacier and Howser creeks down the west side of the Purcells into the Duncan Reservoir near Meadow Lake, B.C. is currently in environmental assessment process with the Ministry of Environment (MOE).The project is being proposed by Montreal-based Purcell Green Power, which is parented by Axor, an engineering and construction company of Montreal.According to the preliminary plans filed with the MOE, these projects will involve the construction of two hydroelectric generating facilities; one on Glacier Creek generating 40.5 to 60 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity, and another on nearby Howser Creek that will generate 50.5 to 65 MWh. Both of these projects involve the construction of two small dams, ‘water diversion weirs,’ on each creek, and three secondary weirs on nearby tributary creeks which will divert water from the creek bed into two 4.5 metre-wide underground tunnels 6.8 and 8.5 km in length. The water will flow into two powerhouses, before being dumped directly into the Duncan Reservoir, without being returned to the original creek bed.Calvert says the actual construction of these power generation facilities, and subsequent operations necessary to run them can also have a major environmental impact. “You have to build a power plant,” he says. “There’s a lot of concrete involved normally. You have to have roads to get in . . . heavy equipment to actually do the construction. During that period, there’s an enormous amount of construction around the stream.“Then you also have to build the transmission lines. That’s a big-ticket item. Some of these lines are 50 -100 km long, and often go through pristine areas that are often untouched. Where there’s no roads, for example. Because normally, they’d like to have the most direct or straightforward hookup to the main grid. They have to keep the lines clear of potential falling branches, and that normally means a corridor of 50 to 100 m on either side. So that means a big change to the environment.”Calvert notes these transmission lines and roads may give people in off-road and all-terrain vehicles access to areas previously unaccessible.

The majority of access to the Glacier/Howser project will be done on the existing Duncan Reservoir and Glacier Forest Service roads. But combined, the two projects could require up to 12.75 km of permanent roads, and 885 m of temporary roads.Purcell Green Power has proposed a transmission line of approximately 91.5 km in length, and a width ranging from 30-100 m to be built across the Purcells to deliver power to the Invermere substation on the east side of the mountains. Dave Quinn, Purcell program manager for Wildsight says his organization has numerous concerns with the Glacier/Howser projects. “The proposals are to divert up to 90 per cent of Glacier and Howser Creeks,” Quinn says. “They (Purcell Green Power) said it will be less than that. But their tenure allows them up to 90 per cent. That will be diverted down through tunnels that will never go back into the creeks.”He notes this can have a significant impact on the aquatic habitat in the creeks. The roads and transmission lines are also a huge concern, Quinn says, noting construction will be going through areas currently protected for old growth forest and wildlife habitat.“Upper Howser is currently protected and reserved in what are called old growth management areas,” he says, adding Upper Stockdale Creek, on the Invermere side is totally protected, in what’s called an endangered forest - due to its high grizzly bear values and the fact that it’s intact and doesn’t have any roads or right-of-ways in it. So this proposal is to put a big right-of-way power line right through those protected areas.

With environmental assessments, projects with plans to produce less than 50 MW of electricity go through a relatively simple process, while bigger projects go through a full assessment by the MOE.Because the Glacier and Howser Creeks are being done together, they have the full environmental assessment, says Garry Alexander, MOE project assessment director for the Glacier/Howser project.This process involves the formation of an inter-governmental technical committee which does numerous consultations with the project proponent and the public before an application for an environmental assessment appication is submitted to the MOE.The MOE is currently waiting for the environmental assessment application for the Glacier/Howser project, he says. Alexander notes about 15 per cent of all assessment applications submitted get turned down.Because the details have not yet been solidified for this project, he’s unable to comment on exactly how much water will be diverted from the creeks, and how much will be left.Simon Gordeau, project manager for Purcell Green Power, says they’re planning to allow for stream flow, and they do not intend to divert 90 per cent of the stream flow from the creeks.“The way a project like this usually works, is you establish minimum stream flow requirements with the ministries, and those are minimum flows mandated to be left in the stream before you’re allowed to take any water for power production,” Gordeau explains. “So when there’s more than the in-stream flow requirements in the river, the extra that’s available - if it’s enough to run the turbines - you’re allowed to produce electricity with it.”When it comes to the transmission lines, Alexander says he’s unaware of any protected areas they might go through.“My understanding is those (areas) aren’t designated in the way that parks conservancy areas are designated,” he says. “And there are certainly areas in the Upper Howser that are important to wildlife. We’re aware of that, and the proponent is aware of that in terms of constructing their transmission line to avoid wildlife impact.

”While projects like this are being closely examined for their environmental impacts before a water license will be granted, the hundreds of smaller projects in the application process go through a much less rigorous process.According to the MOE Water Stewardship Division, applications for small hydro projects are first reviewed for potential impacts to other parties who may have claim to the lands. Staff then do a technical assessment for streamflow requirements, and a senior official then decides to grant the license or not.The license applications for the Kicking Horse River, and the two projects already in motion for Cedar Creek and the Blaeberry River were subject to this process.In comparison to the Glacier/Howser project, the latter two projects are small scale, and pose less possibility for environmental damage. The Cedar Creek and David Thompson (Blaeberry River) Power projects are owned by local firm, Kucera Engineers, in partnership with a Salmon Arm-based business called Remote Structures Inc.

The group held a public consultation on these projects in February 2006, where 24 people attended and the summary of this consultation shows support from local government and some community members.According to a fact sheet released by the group, the Cedar Creek Power Project will produce 3.4 MW of electricity, and the David Thompson project will generate 8 MW, which is enough electricity to power about 900 homes.Chuck Kucera, owner of Kucera Engineers, says his company is dedicated to building these facilities in an environmentally sound way. He notes these projects won’t involve the construction of any new roads, and there will be minimal clearing of land for structures and power lines.In the case of Cedar Creek, there will be some construction in areas not accessible by road, but materials will be flown in to minimize disturbances.The David Thompson project will be built on the Blaeberry River, in the area of Thompson Falls, a Ministry of Forests recreation area. It will be built on the side of the river opposite the recreation site, on land previously disturbed by logging activity. Transmission lines from the site will be built along existing forest service roads.While, individually, projects such as these may not have significant environmental impact, people are asking what their collective impact is going to be, especially in areas that have many projects concentrated in one area.

Calvert says the environmental assessments for many of these projects look only at the individual project, and not at the cumulative impact of many. He cites the Whistler-Squamish area as an example.“In the Whistler-Squamish area, there are over a dozen projects on-stream,” Calvert says. “Developers have been applying for water licenses that could result in up to 70 projects going forward. If all these got built, imagine the cumulative environmental impact on that beautiful valley from all the new power plants, access roads and transmission lines.”Currently there are 13 water license applications by two companies in process for creeks in the Columbia Mountains west of Donald, between the Kinbasket and Revelstoke reservoirs.