Big Silver, Tretheway and Shovel Creeks need your help.
These three creeks are nestled around Harrison Lake and are home to screech owls, tailed frogs, northern goshawks, harlequin ducks and very rare spotted owls.

Two of the three creeks, Tretheway and Big Silver, are fish bearing and support rainbow trout, Dolly Varden, steelhead, cutthroat trout and coho and sockeye.

Innergex, a private power corporation which recently bought Cloudworks Energy Inc., wants to put these wild creeks into pipes.

Freedom of Information requests done by the Wilderness Committee showed that Cloudworks’ nearby Upper Harrison project and their Rutherford Creek project in the Sea to Sky region were beset by problems which included: poor construction and road building practices, destruction of fish habitat, damage to wetland habitat, streams logged to the banks. These projects also involved illegally building a bridge, illegally harvesting wood and other practices that led to numerous landslides and sedimentation problems.

Unfortunately their record is not the exception to the rule: province-wide, environmental standards for power projects are embarrassingly low. With the budget for the Ministry of Environment cut in half since 2001, the ability for our government to provide oversight is limited. That is why your perspective is so important.

The BC government is taking comments until February 9th on this private power proposal. We have the opportunity to stop this environmentally damaging and poorly planned project from ruining three wild creeks.

Together, we kept Glacier/Howser Creeks, the Upper Pitt and the Klinaklini running wild and we can do the same for Big Silver, Tretheway and Shovel Creeks near Harrison Lake.

Please take a moment and let the BC government know how you feel about this proposal.

Concerns about this Project

This project involves three creeks: Tretheway, Shovel and Big Silver, which are clustered around the east and the west of Harrison Lake. Two of these creeks are ­fish-bearing, and the surrounding areas have high wildlife values.

Some of our concerns include:

• Two of the three creeks are ­ fish-bearing; the developments would impact rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden habitat, with potential downstream impacts on summer run steelhead, coho, sockeye and longnose dace.
• The projects are in the habitat of western screech owl, tailed frog, harlequin duck, northern goshawk, spotted owl, red legged frog, pacific water shrew, grizzly bear and goat and deer winter ranges, many of which are species at risk.
• Over 50 km of new power lines and associated right of way clear-cuts.
• A 1.8 km long tunnel on Big Silver Creek which will create tonnes of waste rock and raises serious concerns about the possibility of toxic acid rock run off.
• Landslides, erosion and downstream siltation from penstocks, roads, and construction areas which have been a serious problem on other Cloudworks projects.
• A network of new roads and road upgrades that will fragment wilderness habitat.
• A history of inadequate enforcement and monitoring of instream flow and ramping requirements by government agencies.
• Inadequate monitoring of projects approved by the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO). Last year the BC Auditor General released a critical report of the BC EAO and said, “Adequate monitoring and enforcement of certified projects is not occurring and follow-up evaluations are not being conducted.”
• No planning. Currently over 800 creeks, rivers and now lakes have been staked by private power producers in BC with no planning involved to avoid sensitive wildlife and fish habitat.
• Impact to BC Hydro. BC Hydro is one of our best tools against climate change. Currently, BCH is on the hook for over $40 billion dollars to private power producers. This massive financial obligation impacts the health of our crown corporation and its ability to provide reliable low-carbon electricity to the people of BC.

Your voice can make a difference! Right now this cluster of projects is going through an Environmental Assessment and by going to the BC Enviromental Assessment Office's website and submitting a comment you can help keep these creeks wild and free.

Let’s put BC’s wild rivers and public power ahead of private profits.

Gwen Barlee | Policy Director
Wilderness Committee