Officials with the Cheslatta Carrier Nation are concerned the provincial government is backing away from promises to build a water release facility at the Nechako River headwaters.
The Cheslatta people were displaced by the construction of the Kenney Dam in the 1950s, which altered the flows of the Nechako River. They have proposed a partnership with SureSpan Construction and the government to build the facility.
Nechako-Lakes MLA John Rustad said there was no loss of government appetite for the idea, and he was in personal support of the megaproject, but early estimates have been questioned, despite claims that it would not only pay for itself but be a boon for the Lakes District economy and for provincial industry.
"I am quite pleased that the Cheslatta Carrier Nation is continuing to pursue this. I would love to see it go ahead, we just have to see the numbers that show us it would work," Rustad said. "A few major questions have to be concretely answered first. There are some unknowns. There is an estimate of how much it would cost to build the facility, and it isn't small, more than $200 million. Also, if we add a power generation component, what would that cost be and how much power would it generate? And by that, we have to know what the 'firm' power would be, not just the peaks and valleys. We still have to put water into the Murray-Cheslatta waterway, and Kemano still has its needs [Rio Tinto-Alcan's Kitimat smelter and power generation facility], so what would the actual flows be through this proposed facility into the Nechako? And very importantly, what will the environmental impact be if we do this?"
Henry Klassen, chair of the Nechako Watershed Council, said another figure has to be applied to equation: the cost of not doing it.
"The status quo isn't just stressing out the Murray-Cheslatta waterway, it is completely killing the ecosystem there. There are basically no fish there anymore at all, and the wildlife is radically affected each and every year and it is not ever going to get better unless this change is made," he said. "We [the NWC] have spent countless hours and many years getting the best science we could on this subject and it all points to this answer."
The NWC has never endorsed any one proposal for the construction of a side door in Ootsa Lake to let the excess water flow from the dammed reservoir into the Nechako River. The council does insist that such a facility is needed so the Murray-Cheslatta system could stop its radical fluctuations and the Nechako could get some degree of normalcy again, benefitting salmon and sturgeon stocks.
This particular proposal by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation is worthy of consideration, Klassen said, and no one else has stepped forward with either a competing project or any sort of opposition.
"It has the potential to generate a lot of electricity, so that'sa good thing," Klassen said, "and there is a moral responsibility here, and it is not small, to correct some very wrong things. If BC Place Stadium needs a roof, the money gets found. Well, this stadium needs a roof. Think of the economies - they are not small - of the Cheslatta valley's potential. It is not a foolish idea. We build things that are good for people, we as taxpayers finance things because they amortize on the positive side for all of us in the public. This fits that model."
As the crow flies, the mining potential for the NewGold exploration project would be a natural link to a power line based at Kenney Dam, said Rustad, but the entire provincial grid would benefit.
According to the preliminary figures by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, their proposed project would generate an average of 44 megawatts of power. The so-called 'firm' power figures (the base amount that would be generated each day, year round, regardless of conditional fluctuations) were not available but would be "significant" according to those connected to the project.
By comparison, the Kemano hydroelectric project on the same lake reportedly produces 890 megawatts, almost all of it 'firm' power.
"We will take on projects as small as 50 kilowatts, that is the minimum threshold for our Standing Offer Program; the top end is 15 megawatts," said BC Hydro spokesman Bob Gammer. "Anything bigger than that and you have to go through a competitive call for power. Anything smaller, like a little wind turbine on your property or a small generator on your backyard creek, puts you into our Net Metering Program where you can be paid for whatever is over and above your own use."
According to a statement by Clean Energy BC, "a 10 megawatt run-of-river project built in 2003 will pay about $20 million in direct taxes, fees, water rentals, and community benefits over the life of the project."
