Cold Water Release Needs Further Study

Thursday, February 16, 2006 03:45 AM

by Ben Meisner

Prince George City Council may endorse the pitch by the Nechako Watershed Council without really looking at all the facts in the matter The City should be having a serious look at the proposal before diving head first into a river that may not have any water.

A cold water release on the Nechako River is a good idea it will reduce the temperature of the river in the area above Finmore, and to a much lesser extent, the area below the confluence of the Stewart River.

Let me describe the flows in the river during the summer in recent years and what can be expected.

When the summer temperature management program comes into effect, Alcan must spill sufficient water to keep the river cool. That amount varies from, on average, 8,000 cubic feet to 12,000 cubic feet per second. If that figure is reduced to 1200 cubic feet per second that will mean ,during the peak of the summer season, the river flow will resemble its fall and winter high. In plain terms, the river could be between 1/8 and 1/10 of its usual summer size.

That folks is a major concern, especially if it is Alcan that grabs the water that is freed up from the cold water release.

There is no deal in place with anyone that says Alcan can’t take any new water. They are licensed for 170 cubic meters and are currently taking about 140. Bearing in mind that 1 cubic meter of water is worth about $1.6 million dollars a year to Alcan in power sales, and you quickly can see if they get 8 cubic meters (as has been suggested by the Nechako grou) is there any wonder why they want to pony up 50 million as their portion of a cold water release?

Just shy of $13 million a year income from a $50 million investment is very good odds and the Nechako group has no written agreement on any of this water.

Add to that the problem of charging the aquifer, which in simple language would mean many wells along the Nechako would be required to be drilled deeper in order reach the water table , and the folks at city hall need to look this one over very closely.

There are other problems of concern that should be addressed long before we bring out the pen and ink the page in support of this project.

Good idea? Yes, but with a lot of conditions attached.

I’m Meisner and that is one man's opinion.

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