THURSDAY
S I N C E
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AUGUST 30, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 168
110
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Catching up with Kissock Page 9
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
City seeking management plan for rivers BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
The city is calling on the province and BC Hydro to create a water use management plan for both rivers flowing into the Silver City to avoid 2012’s flooding fiasco that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to city and private property. Councillor Gord DeRosa said after a meeting Monday with BC Hydro that they will be having a “very serious” discussion with BC Hydro at the upcoming Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria in late September.
“These dams (upstream) were built to avert flooding. Well we flooded this year.” COUN. GORD DEROSA
The city will be meeting with the minister responsible for BC Hydro, Rich Coleman, to review the situation, as well as hearing from BC Hydro officials themselves on what they have to say on the matter. DeRosa was concerned the Crown corporation was negligent in considering the effect of the two rivers—the Columbia and the Kootenay—meeting and coming into Trail by not having an over arching water use management plan for territory south of its confluence. “The dams (upstream) were built to avert flooding. Well, we flooded this year,” said DeRosa. “Being at the south end of the (Columbia) basin, a lot of the decisions are made north of us but they affected us dramatically this year.
“We need to know down here that the right decisions are being made above us.” He said although there is a water use management plan for both the Kootenay and the Columbia rivers—to mitigate water level effects in their bordering communities—there is no plan in effect for when both rivers meet and come through Trail. “We can’t hold the Americans accountable for any water licencing they have there, but it was clearly demonstrated this year that we need a coordinated, cooperative management plan of both rivers,” he said. A water use management plan for a river is a legal document that determines how much water will be released and at what time of the year that will happen. There are many things to consider when a water use plan is created, including impacts on recreation, fish, ecology, archeological sites, power generation, flood control and every community touched by a region’s reservoir. So when a hydrological graph is agreed to and implemented for a river—dictating how much water will be released and at what time of the year—any negative effects of the release of water on any community is the responsibility of BC Hydro, said DeRosa. “But in Trail’s case we can’t hold them to that because of the influence of the Kootenay River,” he said. BC Hydro was contending with a heavy, water-laden basin this year and DeRosa speculated the Crown corporation did a stalwart job of sharing the pain of flood water throughout the basin.
See HIGH, Page 2
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
BALANCING ACT
WCTP puts out call for proposals Program provides up to $50,000 for projects BY BREANNE MASSEY Times Staff
BREANNE MASSEY PHOTO
Rosslander Sparky Steeves practiced walking on a slack-line between two trees at McLean Elementary on Wednesday afternoon. Steeves has been learning how to walk the tight rope for roughly one week, and wanted to make use of the school property before classes begin next week.
Speaking to a scientist is a bit like hearing a foreign language: it’s difficult to understand without fluency in the same subject. But the Waneta Expansion Terrestrial Compensation Program (WCTP) provides up to $50,000 annually to research projects that bridge those knowledge gaps by promoting restoration, and are currently accepting applications for 2013. “It’s open to anybody, you don’t have to be a professional biologist,” spokesperson Audrey Repin explained. “As long as the project is located within the Waneta area.” Repin noted that some people are confused by the diction behind the project’s title, but emphasized that anybody can apply. Applicants could range from researchers to educators, and topics can be equally diverse. Previously groups have completed research and inventory projects about nighthawks, butterflies, plants and habitat restoration. During 2012 a group of five people were awarded funding for an assortment of projects.
See BIRD, Page 3
Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242 Canada Post, Contract number 42068012