 A waterfall lies on Tipella Creek at the site of a run-of-river power project near Tipella in the lower Lillooet River Valley. Stephen Hui |
Run-of-river power projects pose a “new threat” to some of B.C.’s most scenic waterfalls, according to a new guide to cascades and cataracts in the province.
In Waterfalls of British Columbia: A Guide to BC’s 100 Best Falls (Harbour Publishing, 240 pp), Sunshine Coast-based author and nature guide Tony Greenfield notes that independent power projects could have an impact on 11 of the waterfalls featured in the book.
In addition to diverting water away from falls, he says, these developments’ may create “visual eyesores” through the construction of transmission lines in pristine areas.
“BC is still one of the wildest regions of the world and it would be regrettable indeed if this irreplaceable patrimony was impaired by environmental vandalism at a time when civilization encroaches more and more on the planet’s diminishing wilderness,” Greenfield writes in the book, which was published in April.
In the guide’s introduction, Rafe Mair, spokesperson for the Save Our Rivers Society, points out that run-of-river projects tend to be developed on streams with waterfalls or rapids.
That’s because, in order to spin turbines, the projects must channel water into penstocks and down a steep drop.
“Several of the magnificent falls described in this book and many more across the province face having their flow reduced to a trickle and their unique spray-zone ecosystems destroyed,” Mair writes.
The book is “pictorial evidence of what we are losing day by day”, the former provincial cabinet minister concludes.
You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.
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Comments
You see all this awful environmental destruction needed to produce electricity and yet BCHydro and the world must have green power now. Energy Alberta has concluded and I concur - nuclear power is the ONLY answer.
Only 30% of BC's energy use is electric/green the rest is fossil fuels for transportation and heat. BC produces about 55000 gwh's of electric power maybe 180000 gwh's of total energy equivalent.
Home and office insulation/windows/lighting and solar water/home heating combined could have a major impact. Three day work weeks, mandatory telecommuting, public transit, switching from truck to rail/water freight would reduce fossil fuel consumption enormously.
Unfortunately none of these things can happen under our fascist government ruled and owned by big business and maintained in power by campaign donations, a silly irresponsible electorate kept complaint by a wholly owned mainstream media, and a malevolent Green party hell bent on destroying the environment..
We tried the political route and its seems unlikely to work without a future BC's own Obama appearing to stir the sleeping masses and unite progressives in a battle against the dark forces now in power.
So we are going to need electricity and lots of it. Still geothermal heat and electric cars/synfuels require electricity - lots of it.
We can't compete with solar electric installations in the US southwest desert. Wind power with its erratic power flows, enormous land area, concrete and steel requirements has been shown to be almost useless.
Geothermal and tidal power are unproven and costly alternatives at this point. We need to do something and soon.
So far we've committed to buying $35 billion dollars minimum and as much as $60 billion paying extremely high prices for low value mostly early summer pirate power which might add 15 to 20% - 7000 to 12000 gwh's to our annual supply. Site C might add another 5000 Gwh's for $5 billion to the mix but likely only after the current fascist government privatizes BCHydro within the next year or so.
What then?
Westinghouse is beginning construction for a 2013 service date of four one gigawatt nuclear plants it sold to China for $5.5 billion. BCHydro could try for the same deal with Westinghouse or if Harpo could get his act together with AECL and build 4 similar reactors on the Burrard thermal site. These nukes would generate almost 40000 gwh's of prime baseload power, almost doubling BCHydro's capacity and using up no new land. Compare that to the approx. 8,000 hectares of crown land Site C would take or the 45,000 for the Bute Inlet Pirate Power project. The cost would be a less than one tenth the funds committed to Pirate Power's low value early summer power, and would produce almost five times as much high value baseload power.
Only our own stupidity stands in the way. Given how we vote that is a huge obstacle indeed.
seth