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[chris gadsden]

Dear River Advocates;

The 2010 "BC Endangered Rivers List" was announced
today and the rivers and issues are outlined below.

The official news release appears here, followed by the
Vancouver Sun article written by Larry Pynn


News Release:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Kettle River and “sacred headwaters” jointly top
BC’s Most Endangered Rivers List for 2010 -
Need for water policy reform and protection of
northern rivers highlighted

The Kettle River and a remote northern area widely known
as the “sacred headwaters” have tied for top spot on
British Columbia’s most endangered rivers list for 2010.

The Kettle River runs through BC’s southern interior near
the towns of Midway, Rock Creek and Grand Forks.
This river, already suffering from seasonal low flows and
high water temperatures, is threatened by significant new
water extraction proposals near its source. Unless greater
efforts are made to address this issue, the fate of this
beautiful interior stream and its fish stocks may well
foreshadow what many other streams in the region will
confront in the face of ongoing climate change.
“Most importantly, the issues unfolding on the Kettle
highlight the urgency of updating BC’s outdated Water
Act so as to ensure the needs of fish and river ecosystems
are adequately considered before making decisions on
water extraction for various industrial uses”, said
Mark Angelo, Rivers Chair of the Outdoor Recreation
Council and an Order of Canada recipient. The province
is currently seeking public input on Water Act reform.

In a tie for top spot is the area widely known to the
Iskut First Nation as the “sacred headwaters” in that it
nurtures the source not only of the Skeena, but also the
Nass and Stikine, all great salmon-bearing rivers.
Located on the southern edge of BC’s Spatsizi
wilderness, the sacred headwaters is home to an
abundance of wildlife, including caribou, stone sheep,
grizzly bears and wolves; to many, this area is the
“Serengeti of Canada” said Angelo.

Yet, the sacred headwaters is also the site of a major
proposal by Canada Shell to extract coal bed methane
gas, a highly invasive process that would compromise
the biological richness of the great rivers that flow from
this area. If approved, a maze of wellheads, roads and
pipelines would spread across the proponent’s 400,000
hectare tenure. Vast amounts of wastewater, high in salts
and heavy metals, may also be generated in the extraction
process. Current plans call for re-injecting this polluted
water back into the ground but this is an untested method
that could easily contaminate groundwater aquifers which
are often linked to surface flows.

While a temporary moratorium on coalbed methane
development in the sacred headwaters was implemented
over a year ago, this is set to expire in December, at which
point development could proceed. “There is widespread
support for making this moratorium permanent, which would
do much to protect the legacy of the great wild rivers that flow
from this area”, said Angelo. Commercial coalbed methane
development has never been attempted before in a wild
salmon-bearing watershed and to many, the sacred
headwaters are too important from an environmental and
cultural perspective to expose to such a risk. “The threats
confronting this area highlight the need to be more proactive
in protecting our great northern salmon rivers”, added Angelo,
who also chairs the Rivers Institute at BCIT.

Coming in at the number three position is the Coldwater
River, which has been on several past endangered lists due
to the impacts of low flows prompted by both drought
conditions and excessive water extraction. Last summer, this
resulted in at least one major fish kill affecting juvenile salmon,
trout and whitefish. To date, voluntary water conservation
measures have had only mixed success. “There are also
increasing concerns about excessive groundwater extraction
which often has a direct impact on surface flows, highlighting
the need for greater regulation of this resource”, said Angelo.
Presently, BC is the only province without legislation
governing groundwater use.

In the fourth spot is the Fraser River, which for the 17th time
in 18 years, finds its way into the top half of the endangered
rivers list. “Of particular concern this year are the development
pressures facing the ‘Heart of the Fraser’ between Hope and
Mission, one of the most productive sections of river anywhere
in the world”, said Angelo.

 “As one scans this year’s list, the issues and problems
outlined are extensive and diverse, ranging from the importance
of pro-actively protecting productive salmon rivers and ensuring
that adequate water management regulations are in place to the
need for improved riverside habitat protection,” explains Angelo.
“The list also helps to create a greater awareness of the various
threats that confront our waterways”, he added. “These issues
highlight the fact that you cannot separate the health of our fish
stocks from the health of our rivers; they are completely inter-
dependent”.

Each year, the Outdoor Recreation Council solicits and reviews
nominations for BC’s Most Endangered Rivers from its member
groups, which total close to 100,000 members, as well as from
the general public and resource managers from across BC.

For more detailed information on the rivers listed, please see
the endangered rivers backgrounder at www.orcbc.ca

BC’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2010;
1. Kettle River (water extraction, development)
1. “Sacred Headwaters” of Skeena, Nass and Stikine
    (coalbed methane)
3. Coldwater River (water extraction, development)
4. Fraser River – (urbanization, industrial development,
    pollution)
5. Peace River (hydro-electric dam proposal)
6. Similkameen River (cross border dam proposal)
7. Glacier/Howser Creeks (IPP proposal)
8. Elk River (development, increasing selenium levels,
     wildlife migration issues)
9. Coquitlam River (excessive sedimentation, urbanization)
10. Salmon River-Langley (excessive groundwater
      extraction, development)
11. Bute Inlet Rivers (IPP proposal)

Media only: backgrounder details on each river is
found at www.orcbc.ca

For more information, please contact:
Mark Angelo – (604) 432-8270
Outdoor Recreation Council - (604) 873-5546

[chris gadsden]

Vancouver Sun Article....

Kettle River, ‘Sacred Headwaters’
most endangered waterways in
B.C., Recreation Council says
 
By Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun

One of B.C.’s smallest rivers and the source of three of its
biggest are tied atop the Outdoor Recreation Council’s list
of the province’s top-10 most endangered rivers
released Wednesday.

The Kettle River, which flows through southern B.C. and
into Washington state east of Osoyoos on Highway 3,
topped the council’s annual list because of low water flows
and high temperatures that threaten fish.

The report says the problems range from excessive water
extraction to development, including Big White’s proposed
extraction of 1.8 billion litres due to expansion of the ski hill
and new condo development and snow making.

The report calls for a watershed management plan that
would put the brakes on “seemingly unbridled development
now taking place in the upper watershed.”

Tied with the Kettle River is an area of northwestern B.C.
known as the Sacred Headwaters, source of the salmon-
bearing Stikine, Skeena, and Nass rivers.

Shell Canada is interested in coal bed methane gas
extraction in the headwaters, located south of Spatsizi
Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park.

The headwaters is home to some of the greatest
abundance of wildlife in the province, including caribou,
Stone sheep, grizzly bears and wolves.

A provincial moratorium on coal bed methane development
in the headwaters is due to expire in December, but should
be made permanent, the council states.

The council describes coal bed methane extraction as a
“highly invasive process that would compromise the
biological richness” of the area. The generation of vast
amounts of waste water, high in salts and heavy metals,
poses a risk to groundwater aquifers, it concludes.

Mark Angelo, the council’s rivers chair and an Order of
Canada recipient, said in an interview that the long list of
threats to rivers around the province include pollution,
development, power production, and excessive extraction.

These threats cry out for change to B.C.’s Water Act to
“ensure the needs of fish and river ecosystems are
adequately considered before making decisions on water
extraction for various industrial uses.”

The B.C. government is conducting a review of the
Water Act, established in 1909.

The government says the four goals of modernizing the
Water Act are: protection of stream health and aquatic
environments; improvement of water governance arrangements;
introduction of more flexibility and efficiency in water allocation;
regulation of groundwater use in priority areas and for
large withdrawals.

The council whose members number about 100,000, has for
the past 18 years compiled a list of B.C.’s top-10 endangered
rivers, based on responses from members, the general public
and resource managers.

Angelo, who is also chair of the Rivers Institute at BCIT, said
the list has had a “significant and positive impact” on raising
awareness of threats to rivers among the public and
government officials.

The Flathead River in southeast B.C. was named the province’s
most endangered river in 2009 due to international concerns
over proposed coal mining and coal bed methane extraction.
Last month, the B.C. government announced a ban on mining,
oil and gas, and coal development in the Flathead basin.

The upper Pitt River topped the list in 2008, after which the
province killed a developer’s proposal to run a transmission
line from a vast run-of-river power project in the remote
watershed through Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.

Other rivers on the 2010 list, along with specific threats to
them, are, in order:

2. Coldwater River – water extraction, development.

3. Fraser River – urbanization, industrial development, pollution.

4. Peace River – hydroelectric dam proposal.

5. Similkameen River – cross-border dam proposal.

6. Glacier/Howser creeks – independent power proposal.

7. Elk River (East Kootenays) – development, increasing
    selenium levels, wildlife migration issues.

8. Coquitlam River – excessive sedimentation, urbanization.

9. Salmon River (Langley) – excessive groundwater
    extraction, development.

10. Bute Inlet rivers – independent power proposal.

lpynn@vancouversun.com

[mykisscrazy]

Always surprised to see what was  left off

Serpentine, Nicomekel, Little Campbell...In my opinion they are all worse off than the Salmon River in Langley...The only reason there are fish in those three streams is because of the hardwork of the Community Groups that are tirelessly working in them. The Salmon River in Langley if memory serves me correctly is a completly wild stream...in that no enhancement takes place in it...granted numbers of fish returning are steadily declining...but who really knows as proper enumeration in that system no longer takes place...Maybe more community groups should step in, and do the programs that the Federal and Provincial Govt is responsible for....They sure couldn't do any worse...One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish should be the DFO Stock Assessment Motto

Beginning to rant, sorry for that!

[Dave]

Hey A, sometimes rants are good; they get people thinking, and that sometimes leads to doing

[skaha]

--these rivers are representative of the issues and of course not the only rivers affected
--the Kettle:-- water act allows for and resort owners were advised by government to "tie up" water for future needs.
--it always amazes me how we can screw up good ideas... the intent should have been for a comprehensive watershed plan, including future needs. we could then work on issues of allocation and conservation including the needs of the fish.
--the water act... is  first come first served... sound familiar!... run of river projects need to ensure they have access to so called excess water thus make application for all water not currently spoken for in the system... so resort owners were advised that if they expect to need water for expansion in the future they would have to apply and get it before run of river applications.
--also many old time fishing lodges didn't even have water license or inspected waste disposal so they needed to get license and have water and sewer inspected... good idea but they were also told to apply for future needs (no matter how unrealistic)
--you can see what happened at Big White... They have applied for enough water to double the current housing, water for golf course and snowmaking..
--If they get the water rights then there will be no water left over for others to use.. this trumps any future for a comprehensive watershed plan which would include downstream users such as rock creek & grand forks both of which may want a few more permanent residents in the future to have water.
--current water in the kettle is already oversubscribed... that is in a bad year (maybe this year)..ranchers and other users would have to extract less than what they are licensed for in order to protect the fish.

--Further.. MOE does not see any reason to Not approve the current Big white proposal as it in their opinion (  stores excess water from run off) would not significantly affect the river.

-- I try to fish the kettle every year... often due to low summer levels the water temp is to warm for safe release of fish so we do not fish it.