OSOYOOS TIMES-August 26, 2009

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

Of the roughly two dozen people who spoke at a public meeting hosted by the Okanogan Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD) in Oroville on the evening of Aug. 24, not one was in favour of a high dam concept being considered for the Similkameen River in Washington state.
About 130 people, including a number of Canadians, packed into the Oroville Depot Museum to hear about the Similkameen River Appraisal Level Study, which is looking at three possible dam concepts— high, medium and low— at an area known as Shanker’s Bend, roughly eight kilometres southwest of Osoyoos.
Jeremy Pratt of Entrix Inc., an environmental and natural resource management consulting firm, led the discussion for PUD and said the study at this point is still at a point where information is being collected about the potential for water storage, hydroelectric generation and flood control projects at Shanker’s Bend.
He walked the gathering through the potential benefits of each of the three dam concepts.
The high dam, which is the most controversial of the trio, would flood roughly 7,200 hectares on the B.C. side of the Canada-U.S. border.
It would create a reservoir of roughly 1.6 billion cubic metres of usable water and would be capable of generating 232,000 megawatt hours of electricity on average annually.
The medium dam would create a reservoir of roughly 170 million cubic metres of water and generate 84,000 megawatt hours of electricity on average annually.
The low dam would create a reservoir of nearly 25 million cubic metres of usable water and generate 70,000 megawatt hours.
The probable cost for each dam concept in U.S. dollars was listed as more than $1 billion, $329 million and $289 million respectively.
Pratt said each dam concept had the potential to provide large amounts of irrigation and domestic water for the area while improving downstream river habitat for a number of fish species.
Some of the challenges identified with each dam concept included the costs of inundation of property and infrastructure due to flooding.
For the high dam concept the cost would be between $100 million and $110 million based on current property values in Washington state in the area that would be flooded if the dam is built.
Other challenges mentioned included the cost of mitigating effects to wetlands, wildlife habitat and cultural resources from flooding, the effect flooding would have on First Nations lands in Canada, the high level of Canadian concern about the project and the loss of recreational resources.
When the gathering was given the chance to comment or ask questions about the study, Canadian speakers in attendance offered their concerns about the proposed projects, specifically the high dam concept.
George Hanson, vice chair of the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) told the gathering the RDOS is opposed to the high dam concept and said British Columbians won’t allow agricultural land in Canada to be flooded.
He added that the RDOS does not see any detrimental effects to Canada from the medium or low dam concepts.
Kilpoola resident Sherry Linn brought up water licences on water that would be stored by the potential projects and asked Pratt how licences would be allocated in Canada.
Pratt responded by saying that many Canadian factors relating to the dam concepts have not been included in the study yet.
Perhaps the most poignant comments came from Dixon Terbasket of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band who said the proposed high dam project would be another way to marginalize First Nations peoples in Canada as flooding from the dam would destroy band land in the Similkameen Valley.
“Where are your ethics people?” he said. “You want to sell my water?
“Who gives you that right?”
Terbasket finished by saying that the roughly $360,000 used for the study should go towards something that will be beneficial to people.

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