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NEWS: Golden chapter defends Wood River

BC Local News reports that, “(James Knoop) the president of the Golden chapter of the Council of Canadians teamed up with Rachel Durvill, program manager for Wildsight in the north Columbia region (for an event on June 7). They came to Revelstoke to discuss independent power projects (so-called ‘IPP’ projects) in the Revelstoke area with community members.”

DEFENDING WOOD RIVER

“Durvill said 53 IPPs are proposed in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD), some of which would affect totally pristine drainages – like the Wood River. Located northeast of Mica and draining into the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake, the Wood River valley is home to giant cedar and hemlock, wolves, grizzly bears, cougars, wolverines, lynx and mountain caribou. It provides a key migration corridor between the Columbia valley and Jasper national park for many species, most notably the mountain caribou.”

“The speakers said the upper Wood River valley, as part of the unique inland temperate rainforest that stretches from the West Kootenay to the North Columbia, houses several plant and animal species that are uncommon, endangered or have never been studied. Diverting long stretches of the river would change the surrounding ecosystems and potentially change the habitat of some species enough that they could no longer survive there.”

ALTA ENERGY IPP PROJECTS

“Vancouver’s Atla Energy Corporation plans to eventually build three run-of-river projects on the Wood River. According to the film, that would mean about 10 kilometres of the river would be diverted, 76 kilometres of transmission lines and 20 kilometres of new roads, all in what is now a virtually untouched wilderness. Because the Wood River projects would generate less than 50 megawatts, they are not subject to any federal or provincial environmental assessment.”

MANDATORY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS AND LOCAL INPUT NEEDED

“The makers of the film (‘Wood River Wild’ shown at the gathering) as well as the presenters at the event recommend a mandatory environmental assessment process for every run-of-river project proposal within B.C. that would also measure cumulative impacts. Until those assessments are in place, and pending their results, the speakers call for a moratorium on all run-of-river hydro project permits and water licenses.”

“They also speak of the need for a reversal of Bill-30 rulings to give back to municipalities a say in whether and how local IPPs will move forward. (Bill-30, was passed in 2006, took away the opportunity for local input in decisions to approve or reject IPPs. Since then, the number of IPP applications has spiked – over 800 rivers in B.C. are now staked with claims to produce power.)

TAKE ACTION

The article concludes, “If you’re concerned about the proposed Wood River IPPs or other related issues, they urge that you write to your MLA, the premier, as well as letters to the editor of local and provincial newspapers. You can also contact the North Columbia Environmental Society for more information.” Their website is at http://www.northcolumbia.org/.

The film can be seen at http://www.vimeo.com/10541655.

The full article is at http://www.bclocalnews.com/business/96202549.html.