Why do we persist in the use of the adjective “clean” in our descriptions of dam-created hydro power? Hydroelectric power is neither “clean” nor “green.”
What is clean about a source of electrical power that floods valley bottomland totally and for perpetuity? Any system producing electrical power that eliminates a large and complex set of living ecosystems forever can only be described as “dirty.”
Consider Lake Williston behind Bennett Dam in northeast B.C. Study a map of northern B.C. to get a sense of the hugeness of the project and the massiveness of its impact. Large areas of low-elevation land, rich with ecological diversity, essential wintering ground for countless ungulates, predators and smaller creatures, bird and animal migration routes, and human sites and trails in use since the era of glaciers, has been removed to be replaced by water, mud and acres of dead trees. Much the same will happen behind Site C dam. What is “green” about that?
If the Site C Dam is built, some of the richest, low-elevation, south-facing agricultural land in B.C. will be eliminated. And the lake will not even be useful for recreational purposes. Have you driven by the upper end of not-so-beautiful Lake Koocanusa on the Kootenay River in southeastern B.C.? With its typically shifting water levels, it’s nothing but a mudfield.
Let us stop deluding ourselves about “clean” hydro power.
John Schreiber
Victoria
