1. Why do we need this project?

British Columbians use more power than is generated in the province.  BC Hydro predicts that the gap between our power generation and power consumption will continue to widen.  As a result, BC Hydro and the BC government are asking that new sources of renewable, non-polluting electrical energy be developed.  If BC doesn’t develop green and sustainable electrical power, then it must import more power from high-pollution coal-fired and gas-fired generators; or, construct more environmentally damaging mega-projects; or consider developing nuclear power.


2. Why isn’t BC Hydro building this project?

The government has ordered that independent producers build and operate small-scale sustainable energy facilities that produce zero greenhouse gases for the people of BC.  That’s part of the BC Energy Policy.  Our company believes in building sustainable energy sources, and we are following the BC Energy Plan.


3. Is the Upper Pitt River a good site for this kind of project?

The Upper Pitt River watershed, about 45 kilometres north of Pitt Meadows and just 40 kilometres from an existing BC Hydro substation near Squamish, is well situated for hydropower development due to its close proximity to the Lower Mainland and the associated demand for electricity.  Building other independent power projects farther away from Vancouver would require significantly greater transmission line infrastructure, in some cases hundreds of kilometres long.  Moreover, the Upper Pitt River watershed has been logged for decades, and logging continues in the watershed today.  Because the watershed has been extensively developed by the forestry industry, more than 95 per cent of the road infrastructure required for the project already exists.  None of the river diversions will significantly impact existing wilderness refuge areas, species of concern, or established recreational opportunities.  Provincial parks surround the watershed, and detailed environmental and socio-economic studies have shown that the 4.6-km-long crossing of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park will not significantly impact wildlife, ecosystems, or recreation.
 

4. Why eight creeks?

There are eight creeks feeding seven small powerhouses.  The clustering of projects provides for a reduced amount of building and infrastructure.  Our selection criteria chose creeks that had existing logging roads in order to minimize environmental disruptions.  All the power that will be produced is needed by BC Hydro as part the BC Energy Plan and its requirement that all new power sources produce zero greenhouse gases.  It makes economic sense to share infrastructure and use existing logging roads and right-of-ways.


5. What makes this project ‘green’?

The BC Energy Plan calls for BC to be energy self-sufficient, and requires that all new power generation in BC have zero greenhouse gas emissions.  This project follows the precepts of sustainable development, as well as the BC Energy Plan.


6. How much greenhouse gas will this project reduce in BC each year?

It’s still a preliminary range of greenhouse gas reduction at this point, but the range in reduction is between 200,520 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 476,235 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared with energy produced from gas or coal sources.


7. Are First Nations, local communities, and stakeholders active participants in the planning process?

Yes, we’ve shown exemplary diligence in communications since we started the initiative in 2006.  We’ve undertaken extensive consultations with First Nations, Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGOs), local residents, the public, and local, provincial and federal governments.  Through workshops, open house receptions in local communities, and numerous meetings and presentations, we’re ensuring that interested parties have a two-year period to provide input into the project.  In fact, a number of changes to the project design have already been made in response to the input received.


8. Will the project create jobs for members of the Katzie First Nation?

Yes, and we’re working with Katzie First Nation to develop an employment strategy.
 

9. Are there any risks to Upper Pitt species and ecosystems?

Over the last two years, across all seasons, detailed studies have been completed to inventory terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, determine the fish, wildlife and vegetation species present, and assess habitat utilization.  As required by the BC Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA) and other regulatory processes, this information will support the assessment of potential impacts, and the development of appropriate measures to minimize and avoid impacts to the species present.


10. Have you performed sufficient monitoring of the creeks in the Upper Pitt River watershed?

Baseline ecological surveys have been ongoing across all seasons during the last two years.  This detailed information will be used to assess and mitigate potential impacts related to project development.  Ecological monitoring, including fish, wildlife, aquatic invertebrates and water quality, is planned to continue each year right through into the operational phase of the hydropower projects.


11. How are you getting data, determining what it means, and reflecting it in your proposal for the Upper Pitt watershed?

The project team includes three Registered Professional Biologists experienced in environmental impact assessment and the development of impact mitigation and compensation measures.  Instream flow requirements to support fish and aquatic invertebrate populations are being established based on the BC Provincial instream flow guidelines.  The BC Ministry of Environment, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are part of the Working Group established by the Environmental Assessment Office.  Through the BC Environmental Assessment Act, the BC Water Act, and the Canadian Fisheries Act processes, the BC Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are responsible for providing public oversight to ensure the protection of aquatic resources.


12. Can British Columbians count on the results of the company’s fieldwork?

The professional consultants doing the fieldwork have professional accountability.  A biologist, for instance, is governed by the College of Applied Biology Act and a code of ethics.  They’re not allowed to hide or misrepresent information.  If they did, they wouldn’t work again.
 

13. How sure are you that environmental impacts can be mitigated?

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a very comprehensive review process.  Government experts review plans to optimize the effectiveness of impact mitigation measures.  The EIA is based on a conservative approach that says where there is uncertainty, there must be mitigation and/or compensation, enhancement, and monitoring to deal with the uncertainty.


14. Will the construction phase of the project damage the environment?

All project components and phases will comply with the federal Fisheries Act and the provincial Wildlife Act.  A Construction Environmental Management Plan will be prepared and work will be supervised by a qualified, independent environmental monitor.  The environmental monitor has the power to shut down work at the site and order mitigation measures to ensure conformance with the environmental plan.


15. How do you protect fish during construction?

All project components and phases will comply with the federal Fisheries Act and the provincial Wildlife Act.  During construction, the site of the weir and the intake are isolated from the creek by means of two temporary dams, one upstream of the weir site, and one downstream.  Any fish are safely removed from the now-isolated work site between the two temporary dams, and placed back in the creek.


16. Will the company take 90 per cent of the water from the creeks at all times?

This is a common misconception.  As a minimum, a set amount of water will always bypass the intake structure, provided there is this much flow in the stream.  In fish-less streams this bypass flow is typically about ten per cent of the average annual flow.  During low flow periods when there is ten per cent of the annual flow or less, typically the project will not be running or diverting any water.  During peak flow periods, a lot more water will spill over the intake structure than can actually be diverted and used for power generation.
 

17. How will this project affect stream function such as invertebrate production, LWD recruitment, temperatures, water quality, and gravel migration past the weir?

The project is subject to mitigation and monitoring and adaptive management.  Base levels are established and monitored for any change, and this includes invertebrate production, LWD recruitment, temperature, water quality, and gravel migration.  There should not be negative impacts if instream flow requirements are applied properly.  There is monitoring to verify the instream flow requirements.


18. Will you continue to monitor creek conditions once the facility is built?

Monitoring is planned to ensure the conditions of the license are met.  It is a legal requirement.


19. What if your post construction monitoring shows that there are impacts to fish or invertebrates or water quality?

The project design enables adaptive management, especially for bypass flows.  There are rules we must follow.


20. Will the Upper Pitt initiative be examined for cumulative effects?

The BC Environmental Assessment Office has determined that the proposed hydropower project will require an Environmental Assessment Certificate under the BC Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA).  The BCEAA is a harmonized federal and provincial government process that explicitly requires the assessment of cumulative effects.


21. What steps have you taken to minimize the impact of the headponds, weirs, and intakes?

The projects are run-of-river and do not dam and store water in a reservoir.  The headponds are small, and the low-level weirs do not cause flooding.  The intakes will have Coanda-style wedge wire screens with 2-milimetre openings that divert water, ensuring that fish don’t get caught in the flow.  Fish are present at only one of the eight intake locations, and the natural stream channel at this location prevents upstream fish migration.
 

22. What will the Upper Pitt River project mean in terms of roads and power lines, and their impact?

The project footprint and related impacts are significantly mitigated through the use of existing road infrastructure that was developed for forestry.  In fact, more than 95 per cent of the roads the project will require are already present in the watershed.  The BC Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA) process requires that the individual and cumulative impacts of road and transmission lines be assessed in detail, and appropriate impact mitigation measures developed.  The BC Ministry of Environment is a key member of the BCEAA Working Group.  The Ministry has input into the terms of reference for the assessment, and must be satisfied with the impact assessment and impact mitigation measures before an Environmental Assessment Certificate can be issued, and required licenses under the BC Water Act are granted.


23. Will your powerhouses use by-pass valves to protect fish?

The designs for each of the seven powerhouses include the use of Pelton turbines.  These systems include deflector plates that can direct flow away from the turbine at any time, eliminating the need for by-pass valves.  Ramping rates will be established to address the issue of potential fish stranding.  These designs will all be reviewed by environmental agencies in the course of project permitting.


24. What happens in the Upper Pitt watershed after construction finishes?

The Operations Environmental Management Plan for each hydropower project will include environmental monitoring and adaptive management.  Monitoring components will include fish, aquatic invertebrates, and water quality.  These plans will be reviewed by the regulatory agencies and the monitoring requirements will be enshrined in the Environmental Assessment Certificate and the water licenses.


25. Have you taken global warming into account?

Yes.  We’re modelling various scenarios under global warming involving precipitation, temperature, air mass — factors that affect creek hydrology.  But of course, the reason for the project is global warming.  We’re building sustainable energy production for BC that produces no greenhouse gases.
 

26. What route will the transmission line follow from the Upper Pitt River watershed?

The 42 kilometre route will connect with the BC Hydro Cheekye substation in Squamish, allowing BC Hydro to put the 557 GWh of annual renewable energy on its Lower Mainland grid.  This is enough power to supply 55,700 homes with electricity each year.  The transmission route was selected on the basis of technical, environmental, social, recreational, visual, and cost criteria.


27. What is your company doing to address the need for a transmission line crossing of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park?

We are following all government procedures.  We have submitted our application for a Park Boundary Adjustment.  If accepted, the 21 hectares involved in the 4.6 kilometre park corridor will be under park control as a Park Protected Area.  To minimize environmental impacts and prevent creation of new road access between the Mamquam and Pitt River watersheds, we’ve proposed helicopter-based construction for the 22 wooden poles in the corridor.  We’ve provided for mitigation, and are especially pleased that our field studies discovered 492 hectares of grizzly bear habitat and goat wintering that is currently outside the park but that we’re proposing be added to the park.


28. Why not go around the park with the transmission corridor?

The project area, 45 kilometres north of Pitt Meadows, is an active logging watershed surrounded on three sides by parks.  There were two options for the routing of a transmission line.  One was south and east through the southern portion of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, very close to the BC Hydro transmission line that runs through the park.  The other option was north and east across the high-alpine, northern, narrow end of the park.  The northern route, which would connect with the Cheekye substation in Squamish, was selected on the basis of technical, environmental, social, recreational, visual, and cost criteria.


29. How much land is affected in Pinecone Burke Provincial Park by the Upper Pitt River project transmission line?

The Parks Boundary Adjustment application is for 70 hectares.  Following helicopter-assisted placement of 22 wooden poles in the 4.6 kilometre corridor, 49 of the 70 hectares will be returned to the park.  The remaining 21 hectares will be under park control as a Park Protected Area.  Our proposal will add a further 492 hectares of land to the park that includes grizzly bear habitat and goat wintering range.  So rather than removing land from the park, we’re adding land to the park.
 

30. With the new land added to the park for its wildlife habitat value, what will be the net effect on the size of the park?

Pinecone Burke Provincial park is 38,000 hectares in size.  With the 21 hectares becoming a Park Protected Area, and with the proposed addition of 492 hectares of land that includes grizzly bear habitat and goat wintering range, our Park Boundary Adjustment application would result in the park being increased in size by an additional 471 hectares.


31. Your Park Boundary Adjustment application includes a commitment to “building or contributing to the cost of facilities within the park, and monitoring and research to support ongoing park planning and management.”  Can you explain what you mean by that?

The money will be for facilities that BC Parks and Katzie First Nation, who have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to co-manage Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, feel would benefit the park.  No dollar figures have been set yet.  And because portions of the park have not been ecologically mapped, the company is turning its ecological mapping and its complete field studies over to BC Parks for park use.


32. Will a transmission line spoil park ecological values?

A transmission line does not destroy a park’s ecological values.  This is well demonstrated by the fact that there is already a transmission line through the park and ecological studies determined that the existing transmission corridor provides beneficial wildlife habitat that is of higher quality and biological productivity than adjacent second-growth forests.


33. Will you be creating a nature trail for alpine hikers along the transmission corridor through the park? 

That will be up to BC Parks and Katzie First Nation — the co-managers of the park — to determine.