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Anglers fear reduced water flows on Cheakamus will affect fish

Deadline nears for public comments on B.C. Hydro plan

The Sept. 21 deadline for public comments regarding the Cheakamus Water Use Plan is approaching too fast for local anglers and boaters.

Under the proposed plan B.C. Hydro will reduce the amount of water released from the Daisy Lake Dam into the Cheakamus River.

Under the current interim agreement among stakeholders, set in 1997, 45 per cent of the in-flow into Daisy Lake is released into the Cheakamus River. That results in between 35 and 70 cubic metres per second of water in the river from April to August.

If the new water use plan is put into effect, flow from the dam could be reduced to a minimum of 7 cubic metres per second. The water that isn’t released into the Cheakamus will be diverted to the B.C. Hydro generation station in the Squamish Valley.

Many people believe reduced water levels in the Cheakamus will impact fish populations and the growing number of kayakers and rafters using runs just south of the dam and in the Paradise Valley area.

Of the 12 stakeholders that sat at the Cheakamus Water Use Plan table, only B.C. Hydro and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans were in favour of the B.C. Hydro plan, with the remaining members in favour of keeping the interim agreement in place until a consensus could be reached.

"They said that there wasn’t a consensus at the table, but that was not the case – the majority of people at the table wanted to keep the interim agreement in place until we could reach an agreement," said Dave Brown, who participated in the discussions as a representative of the Whistler Angling Club for two years.

"Now we’re concerned that the plan is going ahead without a big enough window for public commentary – we only got the letter advising us of the (Sept. 21) deadline a few weeks ago. That’s not much time for a decision of this magnitude."

No spokesperson from B.C. Hydro was available to comment on the plan.

John Wright, the chair of the Squamish-Lillooet Sport Fishery Advisory Committee, believes it’s important to consider the history before moving ahead.

"I’ve been fishing here since 1960, when they first started taking the water out, and in the early years the (salmon and steelhead) runs were really good, and you had a reasonably good amount of water in the river. Shortly after that things started to go cold, at least from a sport fisherman’s perspective, but it was still OK.

"It wasn’t until the early ’70s, when they really started cutting back, that we really started to notice that there was a lot less water and a lot less fish," he said.

In response to concerns, B.C. Hydro did increase their flows in 1979, but started to scale back again shortly afterwards, Wright says.

The dam was beneficial in some ways, reducing the number of flash floods on the river that impact fish, while releasing more consistent flows. Still, by taking more water, Wright says B.C. Hydro gradually had an impact on fish populations.

"Recreationally, the Cheakamus River was a huge deal for fisherman, with some of the best runs in this part of the province. From the steelhead in the spring to the coho in the fall, both of which are just starting to come back, this was an important river," said Wright.

Wright would like to see B.C. Hydro continue to release 45 per cent of the flow into the Cheakamus River, believing that the decision to increase the flow is one of the reasons that some fish populations are making a recovery.

"There has to be a middle ground. Obviously B.C. Hydro is driven by profits and the need to sell electricity, but maybe they need to step back and look at what they’re doing," said Wright.

"The steelhead population is decimated, and will probably be gone by 2010. They’re also just looking at what’s good for the chum salmon, they’re not looking at coho, they’re not looking at the pinks, they’re not looking at the chinooks. You could raise chum in your backyard if you wanted to, they spawn anywhere – it’s not a good way to measure the health of a river."

Wright also says releasing more water will reduce the chance of catastrophic floods, which took place in 1980 and again in 2003 when water backed up faster than the dam could release it. The added profits being made from selling hydro-electric power should be weighed against those costs, he says.

According to Brown, the Daisy Lake Dam only provides 1.5 per cent of the province’s power.

"This is hardly worth sacrificing a river system so we can now have 1.5 per cent of the power grid."

There are currently six angling guide companies and five whitewater operators in Whistler, most of which use the lower Cheakamus River for tours. Because of the dam, the water levels remain high for anglers and boaters long after other rivers and creeks have dried up.

Brown says he is encouraged that B.C. Hydro will set new ramping rates during crucial times to reduce the possibility of juvenile fish being stranded. He also says the monitoring program is a step in the right direction, although he believes that it should continue for longer than a year of the plan is approved.