Please don't flood the Peace River Valley again.
Previous to my recent visit to the area, I was somewhat complacent about the Site C plans. I felt it was in the "lesser evil" category. After all, the Peace River has been dammed twice and I had no appreciation of the landscape that was threatened by the plans to flood it. I do now.
We visited Watson Slough and saw and heard songbirds and other species at risk that rely on the wetlands (that are disappearing at an alarming rate across our country).
We drove past the fertile farmlands and met people that love and are connected to the land. This prime agricultural land with long growing days of the northern climate is a treasure.
And in spite of the devastation upstream it is a thriving complex productive ecosystem and it is just plain beautiful.
We went to the W.A.C. Bennett Visitor Centre and admired the scope of the dam but were also disturbed by the dead zone that is the reservoir above in Williston. The draw down zones are still lifeless and creating dust problems and 50 years later, the fish in Williston Lake are contaminated with mercury from the flooding effects.
This results from the rotting of the organic matter in the flooding, as you know, and this effect is still contaminating the fish and food chain to this day. The tap water at the Visitor Centre comes from the Williston reservoir and is "non-potable." What is that telling us?
The disregard the First Nations were treated with, and the devastation that they suffered, in the previous flood remain a shame on our province and something that the people are trying to recover from to this day.
We can do better than this. And, even if the First Nations win later in court, as they likely will being "in the right," it remains wrong to proceed without their consent and it is dubious that they will ever be forthcoming as they have the long view and are the First peoples that love and rely on the land. We all rely on the land but, sadly, some of us are less connected to this fact.
The biodiversity and value of the Peace River Valley as it is now is irreplaceable. It would be only shortsighted greed that would drive the decision to continue on this path. There will be considerable jobs "fixing" what has been done to date and the real long-term sustainable profits will be there for generations to come if farming and biodiversity are allowed to flourish on the landscape.
And as far as needing more power goes, just have a look around. The amount we are wasting is considerable. We could all make an effort on that front. As some say in the Peace "WTF?"- Why the Flood? Keep the Peace."
It is not too late to make a better decision and reverse this process.
Vivian Birch-Jones
Lillooet
P.S. I live in Lillooet in the "footprint" of another large BC Hydro dam operation - feel very little economic benefit from the operations, but we do feel the ongoing damage to habitat for fish and wildlife. I read that profit from Site C will be decades and decades in the future and that there will be enormous financial debt for us in the interim - what a folly!
