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Follow-up petition on the environmental impacts of man-made dams
Petition: No. 118B
Issue(s): Biological diversity, fisheries, and water
Petitioner(s): The Friends of the Oldman River
Date Received: 3 February 2005
Status: Completed
Summary: In this follow-up to petition 118A, the petitioner is concerned about the impacts of man-made dams on fish and fish habitat across Canada. The petitioner provides a list of dams and asks the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to indicate which dams are on water bodies that support fisheries and/or fish habitat. The petitioner also asks DFO to indicate which of the listed dams have had a Fisheries Act authorization and which ones currently have Fisheries Act authorizations. See related petition no. 118A.
Federal Departments Responsible for Reply: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Petition
Martha Kostuch, Vice-President
The Friends of the Oldman River
P.O. Box 1288
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
T4T 1A9
January 31, 2005
Office of the Auditor General of Canada
240 Sparks Street, Stop 10-1
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G6
I am submitting a petition under the Auditor General Act on behalf of the Friends of the Oldman River. A copy of the petition is enclosed.
Sincerely,
[Original signed by Martha Kostuch]
Petition to Auditor General
This petition is in response to your November 30, 2004 response to my June 18, 2004 petition (Petition 118).
The Environmental Impacts of Dams
All manmade dams have environmental impacts. Dams have big impacts on fish habitat including migration, on fish populations, on downstream habitat (both fisheries and wildlife), on riparian zones, etc. The Federal Government has constitutional responsibility for navigable waters and for fisheries habitat.
Fisheries Habitat
Under the Fisheries Act, it is unlawful for any person to harmfully alter, disrupt or destroy fisheries habitat. It is not unlawful if the activity is authorized under the Fisheries Act. The authorizations can and should include conditions to monitor and to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of the dams including the impacts on fisheries habitat.
Since it is federal responsibility, the regulatory agency (DFO) should have an inventory of manmade dams on water bodies supporting fisheries and fish habitat, at least those dams built since the HADD provision of the Fisheries Act came into affect. The regulatory agency should also have a list of the dams that have authorizations under the Fisheries Act.
Please indicate which of the dams on the following list are on water bodies supporting fisheries and/or fish habitat. Also, please indicate which of these dams have ever had authorizations under the Fisheries Act and which ones have current authorizations under the Fisheries Act.
Dams on the following water bodies:
Mistinkon Lake
Bourque
Barriere
Cabonga
Mitchinamecus
Premiere Chute
Rapides des Iles
Rapides des Quinze
Quinze
Matabitchuan
Lower Notch
Rabbit Lake
Laniel
Kiamika
Mercier
Kipawa
Timiskaming/Temiscamingue
Otto Holden
Rapides des Cedres
Des Joachims
High Falls
Paugan
Bryson
Chenaux
Mountain Chute
Barrett Chute
Bark Lake
Palmer Rapids
Calabogie
Stewartville
Arnprior
Chats Falls/Chutes des Chats
Chelsea
Rapides Farmers
Chute Dufferin
Masson
Carillion
Island Falls, Churchill River at Sandy Bay
E.B. Campbell, Saskatchewan River at Nipawin
Nipawin Dam, Saskatchewan River
Whitesand Dam, Reindeer River
Pocaterra Dam, Kananaskis River
Waterton River Dam
St. Mary River Dam
Bassano Dam on the Bow River
Bearspaw, Ghost and Horseshoe Dams on the Bow River
Barrier Dam, Kananaskis River
Dickson Dam, Red Deer River
Dams on the Churchill River/Mista-shipu system
Spray Lakes
Spray River
Minnewanka
Bighorn Dam, North Saskatchewan River
Cascade River
Lake Minnewanka
Lake Diefenbaker
Tobin Lake
Brazeau
Bennett, Peace River
La Grande
Kenney Dam, Nechako River
Columbia River
G. Ross Lord Dam, Don River
40 Mile Creek Dam
Missi Falls
Barage
Kettle Rapids
Mica
Jenpeg
East Forebay Dyke
Revelstoke
Cat Arm Dam
Kelsey Dam
Seven Sisters, Winnipeg River
Slave Falls, Winnipeg River
Pointe du Bois, Winnipeg River
McArthur, Winnipeg River
Great Falls, Winnipeg River
Pine Falls, Winnipeg River
Long Spruce, Nelson River
Limestone, Nelson River
Notigi, Rat-Burntwood River
Laurie River
Petitcodiac Causeway, Petitcodiac River
Memramcook Causeway, Memramcook River
Mactaquac Dam, Saint John River
Whitehorse Rapids Dam Stewart River Dam
Aishihik Hydro Dam
Madawaska River
Saint-Maurice Riviere
Duck Creek
Passamaquoddy Bay
Torch River
Beverly Lake
Qu'Appelle River
Kahshe River
Footprint Lake
Swift Current Creek
Tomiko River
Big Pond
White Lake
Charlot River
South River
Long River
Rideau River
Meteghan River
Fountain Creek
Wood River
Magnetawan River
Rose Creek
Cayoosh Creek
Musquash River
Young's Pond, Robert's Arm
South Cranberry Creek
Lutteral Creek
Miles Cove
Magaguadavic River
West Duffins Creek
Wolf River
Trent River
Shelter Valley Creek
Kootenay River
Sturgeon River
Tail Creek
Reid Brook Watershed
Iskut River
Verte Riveiere
Petitioner: Martha Kostuch, Vice-President
The Friends of the Oldman River
Box 1288
Rocky Mountain House
Alberta T4T 1A9
Date: January 21, 2005
Signature: [Original signed by Martha Kostuch]
Minister's Response: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
July 12, 2005
Ms. Martha Kostuch
Vice-President
The Friends of the Oldman River
P.O. Box 1288
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
T4T 1A9
Dear Ms. Kostuch:
I am writing in response to your petition dated January 31, 2005, addressed to the Auditor General of Canada. Pursuant to Section 22 of the Auditor General Act, your petition was forwarded to me as Petition 118B on February 14, 2005, by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development of Canada (CESD).
Petition 118B is related to the response you received from my officials, dated November 30, 2004, requesting that more specific information be provided in identifying particular structures or particular water bodies of interest with respect to Petition 118. It is my understanding that Petition 118 replaces Petition 111 which was withdrawn following discussions between yourself and the office of the CESD to modify it for greater clarity in order that I may respond with better precision. It should also be noted that Petition 118B is related to the responses you received further to Petitions 92A and B which concern the Oldman River Dam.
In Petition 118B you provided the Auditor General of Canada with an extensive list of water bodies and man-made dams of interest, you requested an indication of which of the dams listed are on water bodies supporting fisheries and/or fish habitat and which of the dams listed have ever had authorizations under the Fisheries Act. You also asked that we indicate which of the dams have existing authorizations under the Fisheries Act.
As there still remained some uncertainty in Petition 118B as to whether the list provided names of specific dam facilities, of specific water bodies, or a combination of both, an official of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) contacted you by telephone on April 18, 2005, seeking further clarification. As a result, it was determined that your list was a combination of both specific dam facilities and various water bodies of unknown location. Also, it was determined that you were unable to provide any additional information to indicate the regional location of any of the water bodies listed. Based on the limitation of the parameters specified in Petition 118B, we retrieved the attached list of works or undertakings that indicated an authorization was issued under s. 35(2) of the Fisheries Act from our national Habitat Referral Tracking System (HRTS) database.
It is important to note that the HRTS database functions only as an internal referral management tool and was not intended, nor does it contain, an inventory of man-made dam structures in Canadian fisheries waters as we have no legal obligation or mandate to maintain data of this nature. As indicated in previous petition responses to you, DFO does not have a database nor is it aware of any single data source that would provide all the information you have requested.
Generally speaking, most if not all of the particular water bodies you identified contain fish and therefore are considered fish habitat. Should DFO's Habitat Management Program receive a project proposal, it would be reviewed under the habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act.
The extent of DFO's mandate and authority, under the Fisheries Act, would be to approve the impacts to fish and fish habitat where those impacts were considered to be acceptable. DFO has no permitting authorities or responsibilities for the operation of man-made dams.
Should you require further information I suggest that you contact provincial regulators pursuant to the specific dam facilities of interest.
Thank you for your interest in the environment.
Yours truly,
[Original signed by Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]
Geoff Regan