Please support the BC Creek Protection Society

[Jan_dettmer]

Over the last years a push in small hydro development has mounted
a major threat for free flowing rivers and creeks in British Columbia.
Each year a larger number of small hydro projects is awarded energy
purchasing agreements (EPA) by BC Hydro. These projects are commonly
referred to as "run of the river" and vary in size from a few MW to
several hundred MW.

The BC Creek Protection Society (BC CPS) is based out of Victoria, BC,
and has been founded to:
(1) Protect BC's free flowing watercourses as part of our natural
and unique ecosystem
(2) Provide public education about natural watercourses and their
importance to the environment and society.
(3) Raise awareness of current issues concerning said watercourses.
(4) Conduct and support research on the impacts of "run of the river
projects" on society and the natural ecosystems formed by free
flowing natural watercourses.

The BC CPS has both environmental and political concerns related to
the rushed implementation of small hydro projects:

Environmentally, these energy projects lack province wide planning
and province wide environmental impact studies. Many small hydro
projects are proposed for creeks in wilderness areas, and environmental
impact assessments are not required if the energy project is smaller
than 50 MW of installed power (approximately enough energy to serve
20,000 homes). Therefore the ecological impact of installed small hydro
facilities has not been investigated and the few environmental studies
which have been taken often only include limited studies on fish
(Salmon and Steelhead). In Summary: No knowledge about the impact of
individual projects is available and the cumulative impact of many
small hydro projects has not been investigated.

A major political concern is the immense profit for shareholders of
independent power providers (IPPs) at the cost of BC citizens. Finally,
there are no regulations for the marketing of energy after the current
EPAs run out.

Please consider supporting BC CPS through your membership (available online).
We also encourage you to donate to BC CPS (available online) and get involved
by contacting us through
http://www.bc-creeks.org