Loss of Wildlife Habitat
The Peace River Valley is very important to a wide range of wildlife species, including endangered species, and its loss would have numerable and serious implications. One of the foremost of these is straight habitat loss. The valley sustains some of the best possible conditions for moose, deer, and elk, which find browse and graze on vast willow flats. They also use some of the large islands to raise their young ones. The valley has a subclimate of its own, and in winter, when weather gets harsh, the animals count on the valley to provide refuge. South-facing slopes are not found in many places besides river valleys, and wildlife make good use of these many slopes along the Peace River valley, as a good portion of the river runs east-west. The south slopes provide good feeding areas, warmth in winter, and early vegetation growth in spring.
Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. We need to persist in saying “NO” to Site C!
What About the Fish?
Site C would create many problems, including changes in water temperature, turbine mortality, loss of migration routes, and poisoning by mercury for both the fish trapped inside the reservoir and those living downstream.
The switch from river to reservoir habitat has an acute effect upon resident fish. Raised water temperature in the reservoir and for kilometres downstream alter their normal life cycle. In addition, some fish die when trying to pass through the turbines. Another problem is that toxic mercury from the reservoir collects in fish tissues and is passed on throughout the food chain. The Canadian Marketing Standard for mercury levels in fish is 0.5 ppm (parts per million). Bull Trout in Williston Reservoir have tested at 0.6 ppm, and an advisory has been issued limiting human consumption “as a result of dam impoundment.”
Bull Trout are a native, migratory fish and would become trapped inside the Site C reservoir. Bull Trout are on the Blue List (species “of special concern”) of the BC Forest and Range Practices Act. The American Fisheries Society identified “fragmentation and disconnection of migratory corridors (associated with the operation of hydroelectric dams)” specifically as a danger to Bull Trout.
Once again, we point out that the cost cannot be calculated in dollars only. It must be calculated in dollars and sense . . . and it makes no sense.
