Alcan's Cold Water Release Plans 20 Years Old

By Ben Meisner

The BC Caucus has just been delivered a report on the Nechako Cold Water release facility.

The Chair of the Nechako Watershed Council, Henry Klassen, says the benefits of a cold water release facility are widespread, numerous and diverse socially.

More simply put it should have read, Alcan, Rio Tinto or who ever they are this week, gets to use more water for power , although we are going to be given a story that only a kindergarten student  might accept.

If the benefits of a cold water release in large measure is to provide more water for the farmers and ranchers downstream, simple problem easily solved, just start sending more water down the Nechako every summer. Can’t do that because it cuts into power sales you say. Okay then a cold water release will do what?  Give the farmers that water and of course, silly of me not to recognize it, allow you to devert more water through those tunnels to sell more power. Benefits for the people of BC, a handful of workers at the power facility but a few billion for Alcan, Rio Tinto or whoever owns the rights.

Yes indeed the cold water release will help the fishery down to the junction of the Stewart but that is as far as the program goes, after that you silly fish, you're on your own.

It has been 20 years since the matter of a cold water release first surfaced.

In the first instance Alcan said it would build a facility for  $150 million dollars to enable them to build a new smelter, wink, wink nudge, nudge. Well the reason the problem surfaced in 1982 was that Alcan at the time began to sell power to BC Hydro.

The Feds wanted to take them to court   to ensure that there was enough water left in the river after the diversion to the power tunnels. That resulted in the 1987 agreement. Alcan was to put up the $150 million dollars for the cold water release on their own dime. They never moved ahead with that project.

In 1997 then Premier Glen Clark and our very own Paul Ramsey put together a deal with Alcan, make an announcement that you will build a few smelters before the provincial election and we will ink a new deal for you. That deal will see the province of BC toss $50 million into a cold water release, Alcan $50 million and the feds $50 million. Well the feds said no thank you we had a deal where Alcan paid it all so why would we change our deal now?

Well we all know about those smelter announcements, they made thanuncement, they just never built anything, just like they never built a smelter in Vanderhoof and Smithers back in the early 80's although it was "announced" to get the folks from the area on side.

So here we are today, if you think that a cold water release will somehow prevent flooding in the future, you believe in the tooth fair or else you believe in Bruce Strachan’s comments that I was responsible for the flood this year. By the way, as a foot note, even if we get a cold water release, that doesn’t change the chances of a flood again. If Alcan had to shut down their power generating at Kemano by 50% like they had to due to broken transmission lines last winter, nothing changes unless you can somehow get that water out of the Nechako and into the Kemano. The way it is now unless you took it a pail at a time and dumped it into the Kemano diversion  there is absolutely no way that you can prevent the discharge into the Nechako and hence through all the down stream communities.

Alcan wants to keep the reservoir full, to the top if possible. 1 inch of water means a lot of cash in the bank and if you think that the people downstream come first, again may I suggest that you do believe in the tooth fairy.

This cold water release has been in the works for the past 20 years folks, now how much do you think Alcan has saved in money for the project and just how much have they made in power sales?  

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

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