Activists and residents in B.C.’s Peace region say they fear for wildlife and farms as the large Site C reservoir began filling up with water on Sunday.
The massive Site C project will generate hydroelectricity from a reservoir that is 83 kilometres long, being one of three power-generating dams in the northeast B.C. region that draws from the Peace River.
Site C has long been controversial, especially given the potential impact to nearby First Nations, but its construction was approved by then-premier John Horgan in 2017.
The project had been opposed by groups such as the Peace Valley Landowner Association, Prophet River First Nation and West Moberly First Nations on both environmental and land-rights grounds.
The $16-billion megaproject is now nearing completion. Provincial electric utility B.C. Hydro said Sunday it has begun filling the reservoir, with the project to fully come online in 2025.
Some opponents of the hydroelectric project say they continue to have concerns for local farmers and wildlife, as well as the overall makeup of the Peace region in the decades to come.
Yvonne Tupper, a Saulteau First Nation woman from Chetwynd who helped set up protest camps opposed to the project and was named in a civil suit filed by B.C. Hydro, said she was disheartened to see the project reaching the finish line.
“I was disgusted that the government didn’t do the right thing of stopping this project,” Tupper told CBC News. “Not thinking about the wildlife, not thinking about the waterfowl, not thinking about the water animals or the food security for B.C.”
Tupper says she is particularly concerned for endangered caribou populations in the area, who used islands on the Peace River to keep calves away from predators. She says those islands will now be flooded by the reservoir.
B.C. Hydro says it will flood 55 square kilometres of river valley between Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope for the project, with water levels rising between 30 centimetres and three metres a day for about two to four months.
Tupper says the first dam built in the Peace region, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, which ended up creating the massive Williston Lake, led to thousands of animal carcasses as valleys were flooded — something she fears will happen again with Site C.
Concerns for agriculture
Esther Pederson owns a house right next to the Site C dam, and says she doesn’t know if she’ll have to move quite yet as the reservoir begins filling up.
She says the valley that will be flooded by the project features many fossils, including those of dinosaurs and mammoths.
Pederson adds the valley is already well-suited to housing large-scale agriculture operations — something scientists anticipate will become more of a reality for northern Canada due to climate change.
But now, she says, potentially unique farming conditions and soils will be lost due to flooding.
“The potential for it to feed probably two million British Columbians forever, was there,” she said.
Gwen Johansson, the former mayor of Hudson’s Hope, had to move from her house due to the dam construction — something she says made her unhappy, as she had lived there for 48 years.
“This is a time I think when B.C. is starting to realize that food security is an issue,” Johansson said.
“The Peace River Valley has a lot of potential, and a lot of values that would serve the people of B.C. better than having it as a sort of a huge holding tank for hydroelectricity,” she added.
B.C. Hydro says project beneficial
B.C. Hydro says the project will increase the province’s power production capacity by eight per cent — at a time when demand for power is increasing.
“Right now … we anticipate our demand for electricity is going to increase by about 15 per cent between today and about 2030,” said Greg Alexis, a B.C. Hydro spokesperson. “So Site C is going to help with that.”
In a statement, the project says it has established a $20-million compensation fund to support local agricultural production, and less than one per cent of agricultural land in the Peace Agricultural Region will be affected by the reservoir.
“B.C. Hydro has also taken comprehensive measures to mitigate potential impacts on wildlife in the reservoir area,” the statement reads. “This includes removing vegetation from the reservoir area, while building wetlands, fish habitat and wildlife den structures.
“In addition, starting reservoir filling in late summer is the least impactful period for wildlife, as it falls in between bird nesting and winter denning.”
On The Coast9:26B.C. Hydro spokesperson provides a Site C update
Host Gloria Macarenko speaks with B.C. Hydro spokesperson Greg Alexis about the reservoir being filled at Site C, and the next steps for the controversial dam to become operational.