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Whistler-Blackcomb supportive of Fitzsimmons hydro project

Run-of-river project fits with sustainability, environmental initiatives Standing on the bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek on the Little Spearhead Traverse, you can’t see or hear the massive ski operations taking place on either side of the valley.

Run-of-river project fits with sustainability, environmental initiatives

Standing on the bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek on the Little Spearhead Traverse, you can’t see or hear the massive ski operations taking place on either side of the valley.

The Fitz, as it’s know to locals, is at its lowest and slowest at this time of the year. One day, however, this quiet creek could provide enough electricity on an annual basis to power all the lights and lifts of Whistler-Blackcomb, the biggest mountain resort in North America – providing that the public supports the project, that is.

"We respect our community and we would not do this if our community didn’t want it," says Arthur DeJong, the Mountain Planning and Environmental Resource Manager for Whistler-Blackcomb. "However, in the same breath, we have committed ourselves to sustainability within our own ecological footprint. Therefore this is a project that we cannot walk away from if we’re sincere about becoming environmentally sustainable."

Ledcor Power Inc., at the invitation of Whistler-Blackcomb, has applied to build a $14 million run-of-the-river small hydro plant on Fitzsimmons Creek. At the end of last year Ledcor signed a conditional contract with B.C. Hydro that approved the project in principle, providing that Ledcor can meet all of the power utility’s green power requirements.

According to Ledcor, a number of studies have already been completed on the Fitzsimmons, but more are needed before the contract can go from conditional to concrete.

DeJong is confident that the project will meet those requirements. He has been looking into the possibility of installing micro hydro within Whistler-Blackcomb’s Controlled Recreation Area (CRA) since 1994, when the mountain adopted its Environmental Management System.

He still sees power as one of the key obstacles to environmental sustainability, and has looked into the various green power options available to the mountains. Solar power wasn’t an option due to the frequent cloud cover and Whistler’s limited exposure to the sun because of the mountains. While it is frequently windy in the alpine, wind power requires the kind of constant wind velocity that the prairies experience. Micro hydro was the option that made the most sense under the circumstances, and it is recognized and sold as green power by B.C. Hydro.

"I think about global warming every day," says DeJong. "I walk out of my house in the morning and look at the thermometer by the door, and I see it at zero degrees in the middle of winter. I wonder what the snow pack is going to look like in 20 years if global warning is not resolved.

"The more I look at this project on the Fitzsimmons, the more I like it. There probably isn’t another proposed micro hydro project in the province that makes as much sense, or is as environmentally benign as this one."

Run-of-the-River micro hydro plants don’t require dams, but channel off a portion of the water flow into a pipe, In the pipe the water picks up speed before it is run through power-generating turbines. Afterwards the water is diverted back into the river.

According to DeJong, there are several key values that have to be addressed when discussing the merits of micro hydro projects, and none of them are an issue on the Fitzsimmons.

In terms of wildlife values, no fish have ever been spotted above the reservoir on Fitzsimmons Creek in the area of Base II, that was built by Whistler-Blackcomb for snowmaking purposes. There’s a waterfall upstream that is impassable for most fish. The other wildlife in the area, including bear and deer, do cross the creek bed in their travels but don’t have any direct use for it. They already tend to stay away from the industrial yards at Base II where the turbine station would be located.

In addition, due to the level of erosion on either side of the creek, there’s no riparian area on either side to provide nutrients, bugs, and other biological elements to the river for downstream use.

In terms of aesthetic values, the water intake will be hidden under the bridge on the Lower Spearhead Traverse, and the pipe will be underground, following the traverse down to the industrial yards before surfacing for the final steep section by the reservoir and pump houses. The turbine station will be located in the industrial yard where aesthetics are not a primary concern to begin with, and the power lines will travel 300 metres underground to the nearest point where they can be connected to the power grid.

In terms of recreational values, especially kayaking, DeJong says the section of the Fitz being used for the micro-hydro project isn’t currently being utilized by anybody.

"We’re in the business of recreation, and we identify with kayakers and their concerns that many of these projects will ruin their better runs," he says. "In the case of the Fitzsimmons, it’s too shallow and doesn’t have enough slope to make it interesting to kayakers. We have kayakers on staff who have told us as much, and nobody has ever seen a kayaker on the Fitz. If there is something we’re missing here, my door is open."

Whistler-Blackcomb does have some of its own concerns about the project, mostly centred around their snowmaking operations. DeJong is waiting to see a study on particulate in the Fitzsimmons to determine whether the micro-hydro project would diminish the quality or quantity of the mountains’ snowmaking abilities.

"The reason we haven’t fully consented to this project or consulted with all of our stakeholders yet is because we don’t have the support of the public yet or know how it’s going to affect our snowmaking abilities," says DeJong. "If the public is against this, or we decide not to go ahead for whatever reason, then we won’t go ahead."

Because the river and the facilities fall within Whistler-Blackcomb’s tenure, they have the final say on the project.

For their part, Ledcor Power says they are well into the process of meeting B.C. Hyrdo’s requirements. Like Whistler-Blackcomb, they also recognize the importance of keeping the public informed and involved in the project.

"There’s a huge lack of education out there, and for good reason," says Steve David, vice president of Ledcor Power and president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association of B.C.

"There’s only been about a dozen of these micro run-of-the-river projects completed in B.C., so it’s not as if they’re everywhere. There has been really no problem with any of those projects because they’re built, they’re running, they’re providing electricity to the grid, and customers, stakeholders and neighbours are pretty happy with them."

To date, Davis estimates that Ledcor has spent tens of thousands of dollars putting together all of the paperwork.

"We’ve got to get permits, show evidence of financing, get a transitional agreement in place… We have to do lots and lots of studies on fish and bugs, the impact on First Nations, visual sightlines and all that kind of stuff.

"So far from the studies we’ve done the project is still viable, but it takes a while to do these studies quite thoroughly."

One of their major concerns is putting the pipeline through an area where there was a major landslide in 1991. The pipe will have to stay well back of that area, which will require some engineering as the pipe has to be sloping downwards at all times.

The current estimate is that the project will take $14 million and one year to build. A lot of local contractors and machinery would be used in the construction, and the equivalent of between one and two full-time jobs will be created to maintain the pipeline and turbines.

B.C. Hydro requires small hydro applicants to commit to a 20-year financing contract, which means it could take 20 years or more for an independent power producer to recoup its investment.

The province opened up its doors to independent power applications in August of 2001, and to date there are more than 80 water license applications for projects in the Sea to Sky area and almost 300 across the province. Davis believes that most of the new applications in the province won’t get past that stage because of B.C. Hydro’s financial and environmental commitments and the slow rate of return.

Like DeJong, Davis also feels that the Fitzsimmons is an ideal project. "We have a community that is very aware of the issues, and the same community has identified sustainability as an important goal," he says.

"The only way to be sustainable on the energy side in this part of the world is with run-of-the-river hydro."

The intake of the Fitzsimmons project is located just below Harmony Creek, at the bridge. The pipe will run underground for about 3.5 kilometres, dropping 250 vertical metres.

Based on studies of the river, they estimate that the project will produce 34 Gigawatts of electricity per year. On an annual basis Whistler and Blackcomb operations consume an average of 32 Gigawatts.

Because the peak flow of the river and the peak ski season are at opposite times of the year, most of the power won’t go to the mountains but more likely to the village and the surrounding region.