Klinaklini River at Risk

The Klinaklini River is part of the remote Coast Range wilderness. For 200 kilometres, it winds its way from the Chilcotin Plateau past majestic peaks and glaciers toward Knight Inlet. It is one of the few rivers in the coast range that originates from the nutrient rich Interior Plateau and rich the river is: The Klinaklini hosts one of the most important eulachon runs of the Pacific West Coast. Steelhead and salmon spawn in its waters and bears gather here drawn by the abundant food. In the surrounding forests and estuary, many red listed species such as Marbled Murrelets can still be found in numbers.

This diversity and abundance is now at risk. The Klinaklini has been one of the many rivers threatened by a hydroelectric project. The scale of this proposed development, however, is unparallelled. This system would produce half the power Site C would provide, however, the bulk of this power would be produced in the summer when needed the least. The scale of such development is difficult to comprehend. A tunnel 16 km long and 10 m in diameter would create vast amounts of waste rock without proper spill sites found nearby. The transmission lines would cut for 180 km through forest inhabited by red listed species and across unstable slopes. A major concern is increased sedimentation of the river. There is no experience to date with a project of this scale so no guarantees can be made about what downstream impacts the project could have on the estuary and the lower reaches of the river where salmon, steelhead and eulachon spawn. These unknowns are amplified by the poor understanding of flow patterns of the river. The proponent proposes to study flows with aerial photographs since on-ground studies would be too costly. Other sources on the Environmental Assessment Office web page indicate that rain events have changed so much that flows may be altered significantly in the years to come. These are but a few concerns this project raises. I encourage you to learn more about the project. It is a very significant development and deserves more attention in the media than it has received in the past.

The Klinaklini is not the only project proposed here. In the area between Toba and Knight Inlets, largely comprised of pristine wilderness, about 50 projects are supposed to deliver considerably more power to the grid than Site C would. This is the gold rush of the Coast Mountains north of Powell River and will see an extensive wilderness area severely fragmented. Hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines will have to be built to make these projects feasible. Many of these areas are recognized for their natural value through the Great Bear Rainforest.

For the bigger picture, we can look at the current discussion about these projects. Recently, the Pitt River has seen much attention in the media. It has been argued that the Pitt was a particularly bad example and that Run of River projects still pose the most environmentally friendly option available. I strongly disagree. Having studied several of the bigger projects, I found every single one of them to raise severe concerns about detrimental environmental impacts. The Ashlu, Miller Creek and Pitt River are examples of poorly sited projects. In the Kootenays you will find strong opposition to the Glacier Howser project. The list goes on with the Klinaklini, the various projects of the Green Power Corridor, the Ryan River near Pemberton …

And all of this because the current government has manufactured an unsustainable energy crisis that calls for 50% of new installed power. This vast amount of new power must come from somewhere and small, low impact backyard projects won’t fulfil these requirements. Under current policy, it will take many large scale projects such as Site C, the Klinaklini, Ashlu, Pitt, and Glacier Howser. Every single one of these projects is highly questionable from an environmental standpoint. If we British Columbians want to save the ecosystems of free flowing rivers including salmon, bears, eulachon, and eagles for our future generations, it is high time to think about fundamentally restructuring our energy policies. This includes different industrial and residential rates with transparent structures for reinvestment in radical conservation. This also includes questioning the sustainability of the energy plan, self-sufficiency and insurance policy.

Producing vast amounts of new energy is inherently unsustainable. In recent times, climate change is commonly referred to as the one biggest challenge mankind is facing. I suggest that sustainable energy production is the biggest challenge we are facing and that climate change is one integral aspect of it. Sustainable energy production and consumption can save our planet, but we must stay true to the original meaning of the word: We must not limit our footprint in our limited biosphere and avoid creating a market that tries to maximize power production.

Jan Dettmer, BC Creek Protection Society