Island Salmon Advocate Sounds Alarm

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http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=6244


Island Salmon Advocate Sounds Alarm

Published Date: 2009/2/26 0:00:00Article ID : 6244
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This photo shows what a section of Great Central Lake looked like last fall after officials dramatically lowered water levels to protect a deteriorating dam. (Submitted Photo)

By Duncan Speight

PORT ALBERNI — A major West Coast salmon hatchery could face possible disaster unless action is taken soon, warns Port Alberni sports fishing advocate and conservationist Bob Cole.

The Robertson Creek salmon hatchery near Port Alberni is downstream from Great Central Lake, where water levels were lowered dramatically last fall because of concerns about the safety of a deteriorating old wooden dam that controls the flow of water into the creek.

Cole says he’s worried that there is no viable backup system to provide water for the hatchery – which has about eight-million eggs – in the event the creek gets too low.

He notes the hatchery needs about 1,900 litres of water a minute, and there is only one pipe and one pump, which would provide about 2,000 litres of water a minute in case of emergency.

“If anything went wrong with the backup, we could lose a whole year’s production at the hatchery,” said Cole. “Robertson Creek is the driving hatchery for basically all West Coast salmon fisheries, all the way to Alaska. Fifty per cent of our fish are caught in Alaska.

“We also use Robertson Creek as an indicator in our Pacific Salmon Treaty talks with the U.S.

“It’s a bellwether, it’s the driving force for the West Coast fishery, and here we are jeopardizing it, at least one year’s production and maybe more, if we don’t get our act together and do something about it.”

The water levels on the lake were lowered by officials last October. After some dry weather, some estuary areas at the mouths of creeks dried up, leaving the coho salmon fry exposed.

Cole says about 200,000 of the fry dried out and died, or were eaten by predators.

He says the situation worsened after sockeye salmon spawned on the lake’s beach areas as water levels went back up again and after the fall and winter rains began.

That wet weather was followed by cold and snow, which left 70 to 80 per cent of the sockeye eggs “high and dry.”

He’s calling for the installation of a new backup pumping and water supply system to the hatchery immediately.

He also wants the dam issues dealt with and mitigation work done on the creek mouths around the edge of the lake “so the fish don’t dry up and expire every time the lake goes up and down.”


Dams Created a ‘Toilet Tank’

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The old wooden dam at Boot Lagoon on Great Central Lake is one of two dams built by MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. many years ago to give the company the ability to deal with toxic spills at the pulp mill it operated in Port Alberni at the time.

The lake was used as a “toilet tank so they could flush water down the river when they had spills at the mill and wash the materials out into the harbour,” Cole told the Westcoaster.ca.

“It’s really hard for us in today’s world to believe that we would do something like that.”

He notes that since there is no longer a pulp mill producing caustic material that needed dilution, Catalyst Paper – the company which now operates the mill – no longer has a need for the dams.

Cole says the corporation tried to give the dams to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) – which uses the dams to ensure there’s enough water for salmon to swim upstream to spawn each fall – but the government agency wasn’t interested.

Catalyst then approached the Hupacasath First Nation, which hired engineers to take a closer look at the condition of the dams.

They found that while the main dam is in “decent shape,” the aging Boot Lagoon dam which controls the water flow down Roberston Creek is in “really bad shape,” said Cole.

They also reported a major rain event could overwhelm the wooden structure, creating a “tidal wave from upstream,” warned Cole.

“It could let go, basically wipe out the hatchery and half of the downstream area all the way to town.

“In fact, they expect 23 miles of Great Central Lake, 12 feet of water [deep], a mile wide. Somebody could do the math on that. It would be quite of volume of water coming down that river.”

When the provincial government became aware of the potential danger, it ordered the lake’s level lowered, in the interests of public safety, a move initially challenged by the DFO, which maintained there were also fish values at stake, said Cole.

“They argued over that for a short period of time. Public safety won out, which I think is good.”

But now Cole wants to see some of the federal government’s new infrastructure money put to work to deal with the problem.


‘Valued Economic Asset’


Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae agrees some infrastructure money needs to be spent on a new dam to ensure the hatchery remains viable.

“It’s a real, valued, economic asset to the community, the province and even the country.”

McRae, who used to do maintenance work on the dam when he was employed by MacMillan Bloedel, said the old wooden dam started to deteriorate when the maintenance program ended.

“It has to be rebuilt. The Hupacasath are trying to get an agreement with Catalyst to take over both dams. But they need some funding to do that.

“I’ve talked to [Hupacasath CEO] Robert Duncan about that. They’re raring to go. It would be a big construction project for the community. But you have to get some money from the federal government.”

The mayor acknowledges it would cost a “substantial” amount of money, but also points out that the Robertson Creek hatchery has been underfunded for years as it has not been a priority for the federal government.

McRae is also optimistic the Hupacasath could install hydro electricity generators, with the revenue from the sales of power paying for the future upkeep of the dams.


New Dam Planned


Hupacasath First Nation CEO Robert Duncan is working with Catalyst and the DFO on planning for the construction of a replacement of the old saddle dam.

“And we’re just waiting for some geotechnical information to give us some sense of construction budgets, time frames – when we can do the work,” he said.

The big hold up is the snow, which is preventing the drilling crew from going ahead with the geotechnical investigation.

Once Duncan has that information, he hopes to be able to proceed with building a coffer dam, removing the old wooden dam, and then building the permanent replacement dam – a project he hopes can be completed by the end of 2009.

“So that’s our focus right now, to get the replacement done, to make sure that that the project gets in the ground and gets completed as soon as possible,” he said.

But he cautions the window of construction will need to be confirmed with DFO, to minimize any negative impact on the salmon that are spawning and the fish that are going from egg to fry.

“It’s a tough call, and certainly this past year was a good example of the consequences of having to lower the lake levels.”

He also cautions that the power generation aspects of the project may not happen as part of the initial construction, and could be “further down the road.”



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