In approving the $8.7-billion Site C hydroelectric dam on sa国际传媒鈥檚 Peace River, Premier Christy Clark and her government took a calculated risk. We just wish they had calculated more before they took the risk.
According to the province鈥檚 announcement, construction will begin on the dam next summer, with completion expected in 2024, providing 10,000 jobs for the next nine years. The dam will produce 1,100 megawatts, enough electricity to power 450,000 homes. It will provide a significant percentage of sa国际传媒鈥檚 electricity needs for 100 years.
The joint review panel that examined the project said in its report, released last spring, that the province will need more power and that the Site C dam, near Fort St. John, is the most likely economic solution and will produce the least amount of greenhouse gases.
But the panel fell short of recommending approval, saying it could not measure the true cost of the project or what the actual need will be. 鈥淭he proponent has not fully demonstrated the need for the project on the timetable set forth,鈥� said the report.
The panel had concerns about environmental impacts and recommended a further independent review on sa国际传媒 Hydro鈥檚 cost estimates, projected energy demands and conservation plan.
Energy Minister Bill Bennett鈥檚 response was to dismiss the idea of further review, to play up the positive points made by the panel and to minimize the concerns expressed.
That鈥檚 understandable. It鈥檚 an attractive proposal with much to recommend it. The construction costs are huge, but so is the anticipated payoff 鈥� a project that will stand for a century, providing an abundance of reliable, relatively clean energy. It will help stabilize sa国际传媒鈥檚 economy and enhance quality of life 鈥� for some British Columbians, at least.
Others will not be so fortunate 鈥� the dam will flood about 5,500 hectares, including First Nations traditional hunting and fishing areas, burial grounds and places where they gather wild plants. Farmland in one of the province鈥檚 most important agricultural areas will be covered at a time when California鈥檚 food-production capabilities are seriously threatened by drought.
A dam changes a river. It diminishes seasonal fluctuations in water levels, on which many plants and animals depend. It changes the pH balance, temperatures and oxygen levels.
The massive W.A.C. Bennett Dam, upstream from Site C, created Williston Lake when it was completed in 1968. It has been an major component of sa国际传媒鈥檚 hydroelectric capability, but it came with a price. The lake flooded a Tse Keh Nay reserve, a vast swath of traditional hunting territory, villages and graveyards. It changed the mix of fish species, some of which were contaminated by mercury and not safe to eat.
It鈥檚 no wonder the Site C dam is opposed by First Nations groups, several of whom have already started legal action against the dam. They know they have little to gain and much to lose. Their lawsuits, and others from concerned environmentalists and landowners, could delay the project for months or years.
The province never would have been able to gain unanimous approval for the dam, but it should have listened to the joint review panel and others who have asked for an independent review.
There鈥檚 a bit of a gamble in any massive public-works project, but the sa国际传媒 government should have calculated more of the risks and costs before it rolled the dice on the Site C dam.
