As the fourth annual Paddle for the Peace approaches, this is a good time to revisit one of the most persistent myths about Site C. In regard to recreation, there’s a widespread impression that we’d simply be exchanging a river valley for a lake.
The pro-construction bias in BC Hydro’s consultation literature is partly responsible for this perception. For example, an artistic rendering of the dam on the cover of the Pre-Consultation Discussion Guide creates an impression of undisturbed pastoral tranquility.
Similarly, the Feasibility Review describes what sounds like a fair trade: “creation of the reservoir would result in a decrease in river-based activities, although this could be offset by new opportunities for reservoir-based recreation” (p. 51). The Stage Two, Round Two Discussion Guide informs readers that “long-term changes would shift use toward lake-type activities” (p. 26).
To paraphrase BC Hydro’s apparent message about recreation: you lose something; you win something.
Even developers from afar have gotten into the act. By ironic coincidence, the new hotel in Hudson’s Hope takes its current name from a national chain called “Lakeview” Inns and Suites. This in Hudson’s Hope of all places, whose town council recently passed a resolution opposing Site C.
What would we really be getting with a third dam and a new reservoir? I don’t think anyone knows for sure.
BC Hydro’s pro-dam boosterism dangles the familiar carrots, mentioning parks and boat launches.
However, BC Hydro also acknowledges that “the development of beaches and the regression of the shoreline is a process that could take many decades” (Stage Two, Round One Discussion Guide, p. 12). In fact, members of the Site C team have said that a new reservoir may not even be safe to use for a number of years.
To appreciate the mixed realities of reservoir-based recreation, we need look no further than Williston reservoir.
Williston has staunch admirers--people who speak very highly of its recreational opportunities, celebrating the area as a mecca for fishing, hunting, and boating. I respect those views.
But Williston is not without problems. Forty years after the construction of the Bennett Dam, heavy waves and wind are still causing erosion problems for some property owners on the Peace Reach.
Due to the rinsing and washing effect of the reservoir, land owners along Dunlevy Road have been watching their property “literally crumble into the lake” (“Erosion,” Alaska Highway News, March 2, 2009). Williston reservoir is nowhere near stabilizing under current conditions, and we might ask whether the rate of erosion is actually accelerating.
The picture below shows a cabin on land adjacent to the yacht club. Just a few years ago, there was approximately 100 feet of land between the cabin and the shoreline.
Dust storms are also a problem. The next picture depicts a dust storm on the shores of Peace Reach.
No one has suffered as much from dust storms as the Tsay Keh Dene people at the far north end of Finlay Reach. In a study conducted by Baker et al. (2000), eighty percent of the band members who were interviewed “indicated that the dust storms were responsible for adverse health effects" such as "eye irritation, respiratory tract problems, and skin rashes" (p. 571).
Approaching Tsay Keh Dene Village at sunset in early June, I saw what looked like a thick bank of fog hanging above the community on an otherwise clear evening. Within the village, fine, silty particles of dust create a thick accumulation on window screens.
Granted, even without human interference, change and the need for adaptation are basic principles of nature. And few things in the natural world ever fit human notions of perfection. Yet we shouldn’t downplay the often troubling impact of massive industrial development.
Legitimate concerns about the recreational potential of a new dam go beyond erosion, landslides, and dust storms. The prospect of a Site C pondage area also raises serious questions about debris from tributaries, fog, rough water, elevated levels of methylmercury, and loss of critical animal habitat.
At the end of the day, a uniquely beautiful river valley would be permanently destroyed, and it’s impossible to “mitigate” that loss.
So the next time we hear about a nice lake that’s supposed to accompany Site C, critical reflection would be wise. Patrick McCully, author of Silenced Rivers, has observed that recreation is typically promoted as one of the “add-on benefits” of large hydro-electric projects, and that such benefits are often exaggerated in order to gain public acceptance (pp. 155-157).
Postscript: More pictures of Williston Reservoir, followed by an image of the fourth annual Paddle for the Peace.
Dunlevy boat launch unusable in spring, at low water level
Hundreds of Peace region residents turn out for the annual "Paddle for the Peace," showing their opposition to Site C.





















