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Report: Aquatic Habitat Losses and Gains due to BC
Hydro Dams in the Columbia Basin
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If you have any questions on the information presented, or require additional report data or attachments, please contact the Report Contact
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The losses and gains of streams, rivers and lakes due to inundation when BC Hydro dams and the
Bonnevile Power Administration's (BPA's) Libby Dam were constructed in the Columbia Basin
are assessed. Prior to dam construction the region of concern contained over 38,000 km of rivers and streams (lotic habitat) and over 1,180 km2 of lakes (lentic habitat).
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Author: Joseph L. Thorley; Poisson Consulting Ltd.
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Date Published: Mar 2008
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Report ID: 65111
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Audience: Government and Public
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Over the past 85 years, BC Hydro has constructed eleven dams in the Columbia Basin (Figure 1
and Table 1). Although the dams help control flooding and provide renewable energy, not all the
consequences have been beneficial. The effects of dam construction on regional ecosystems
include the inundation of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, reduced habitat connectivity (Sheer and
Steel 2006), disrupted aquatic flow (Cushman 1985) and temperature regimes (Stanford et al.
1996) and altered nutrient cycling and carbon production (AIM Ecological Consultants et al.
2007).
This report constitutes one component of the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program's
(FWCP's) project to evaluate the 'footprint impacts' of BC Hydro developments within the Columbia Basin. Its primary aims are to (1) summarize the lotic (rivers and streams) and lentic (lakes) habitat lost and in the case of lakes, gained, by inundation due to dam construction, (2) interpret the significance of these aquatic habitat losses and gains in relation to fish use, (3) outline compensation options with costs and (4) identify the habitat types that are priorities for compensation. For completeness, losses and gains within BC's Columbia Basin due to
inundation associated with the Bonnevile Power Administration's (BPA's) Libby Dam are also
considered.
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Report Type
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Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information |
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Subject
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Region - Kootenay |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Impact Assessment |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Management |
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Watershed Groups - 300 - Columbia |
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Watershed Groups - 340 - Lower Kootenay |
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Watershed Groups - 349 - Upper Kootenay |
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Program Specific Area - FWCP |
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