We understand the concerns expressed in the editorial ‘BC Hydro must do way better’ printed on Oct. 17 and by the local community and First Nations following the fish-stranding incident that occurred last month.
We take our role as shared stewards of the Cheakamus River very seriously and are committed to learning from this and identifying ways we can do better. Our system on the Cheakamus is complex and we have a number of interests to balance, including public safety, fish and wildlife, and flood control, while also meeting our power generation requirements.
I want to clarify that we are operating within the approved ramping rates set by the Water Comptroller and have been implementing and evaluating ramping rates recommended by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
A mid-September rain event required us to increase flows from the Cheakamus Dam to manage reservoir levels and reduce the likelihood of larger spills that could result in downstream flooding. At the time, we were aware of a large number of spawning pink salmon in the river, as well as the presence of Coho and Steelhead fry and their protection was of primary importance to us.
We recognized that if water levels remained too high for too long, the adult fish could spawn in areas that would later become de-watered. To reduce this risk, we reduced flows from the dam to our order minimum flows as soon as possible. We made sure this flow reduction occurred at rates much slower than ordered to avoid juvenile stranding.
While this strategy was effective at reducing juvenile stranding, the number of adult pinks stranded was unexpected and our monitoring crews immediately began saving the stranded fish. It is important to note that when this fish stranding occurred, we were within the ramping rates recommended by the DFO.
Based on these learnings, we are making changes to our operations for the remainder of the fall to minimize fish stranding during storm events, including studying current conditions on the river prior to operational changes, adding more crews to monitor changes and save stranded fish if required, and implementing a slower ramp rate than typical for this time of year.
We remain committed to working with First Nations and key stakeholders to identify further opportunities to reduce fish stranding and will be reaching out for their input.
Karen Popoff
Director of Environment, BC Hydro
