Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa

Transcription

1 Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa rue Lacroix, Montreal, Quebec H4E 2V4 October 25, 2005 The Hon. Scott Brison Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada House of Commons Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 RE: Laniel Dam Environmental Assessment Dear Minister Brison: It is with considerable regret that I write to you. We have an issue with Public Works and Government Services Canada that we believe deserves your personal intervention. I represent a not-for-profit organization called Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa. We sponsor an annual recreational river festival on the Kipawa River in Laniel, Quebec, in co-operation with the local municipality. This is an event that for the past 20 years has attracted recreational paddlers to northwest Quebec from Quebec, Ontario and the northeast U.S, with tourism benefits to the region. For the past 20 years, PWGSC has helped make this event possible by adjusting the management regime for the Laniel Dam to provide a water release for the festival. Early this year, PWGSC announced a plan to rebuild the flood control dam on the Kipawa River at Laniel Quebec, and as part of this project, began in an environmental impact assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. We understand completely the reasons why this aging structure needs to be replaced and we fully support this project. Les Amis, to the best of our ability as a volunteer organization, has made considerable effort to contribute in a positive way to this environmental assessment. We attended an EA session in Laniel last March and have continued to contribute to the process by providing additional information about our activities since then. I must say that over the 20 years or so that PWGSC has been scheduling a water release for the annual Festival Rivière Kipawa, our interactions with PWGSC have been very positive. We have often taken the opportunity to compliment your staff on their cooperative effort in helping to make this community event possible. However, that co-operative approach from PWGSC ended this year.

2 We believe that the reason that PWGSC has suddenly become less than co-operative with Les Amis is that ministry staff are now aware that recreational paddlers have, since 1967 (the first record we have of recreational navigation), been navigating the river through the spillway at the Laniel flood control dam. Paddlers have been navigating the river at this location, safely and without incident for almost 40 years. PWGSC has now released the environmental assessment report for the Laniel Dam reconstruction project. The concerns and issues we raised during the EA process, about the very real and we believe severe impacts this project will have on our activity have been completely and inappropriately dismissed in this report. Summary of the Major Issues Raised by Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa During the Environmental Assessment Process 1) We are concerned that our historic navigation of the Kipawa River at the location of the Laniel Dam will be altered or made more dangerous through the design of the new structure or through changes in the operating regime for the new structure. 2) We are concerned that our historic access to the river at this location will be severely and permanently impacted by the site alterations planned for this project. 3) We are concerned that the construction phase of this project will have an immediate and severe impact on the 2006 Festival Rivière Kipawa. The 2006 event, scheduled for June 23, 24, 25 and 26, is our 20 th anniversary festival. We are expecting 500 or 600 recreational paddlers to attend this event. Issues Raised by Commercial Rafting Operators During the Environmental Assessment Process 1) White water rafting companies offering commercial rafting trips to clients during the Festival Rivière Kipawa have expressed the concern that PWGSC s position on navigation of the Kipawa River at Laniel will have an immediate, significant and long-term impact on the quality of their product, on their ability to continue offering this product, and on their ability to generate income. 2) White water rafting companies have expressed the concern that the construction phase of this project will have an immediate and severe impact on their operations during the 2006 Festival Rivière Kipawa.

3 Environmental Assessment Report References to Issues Raised by Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa Excerpts begin The references to the above issues in the PWGSC Environmental Assessment Report are as follows: And: And: The work area will be present for 2 summers and the new structures will not permit the kayakers to use the spillway during the kayak festival. For the organisers of the festival, Friends of the Kipawa River, this is an important impact for the festival. Nonetheless, passage through the spillway by boats has never been approved by PWGSC. In accordance with the Act governing dam security of Quebec and the Canadian Dam Association, the dam owner, PWGSC, is responsible for the safe management of the dam. As a result, a boom has been installed upstream of the dam and passage through the spillway of the Laniel Dam by boaters is restricted. According to the municipal committee of Laniel, the development corporation of Temiscamingue and the municipal regional county of Temiscamingue (2005, Appendix F), given that the running of the Kipawa River is the main attraction, the impact on the festival would not be significant and would not result in the cancellation of the festival provided the mitigation measures are implemented. The following mitigation measures must be implemented in order to ensure safe access to the river for kayakers during and after the work: Construction of a portage trail to bypass the dam; Installation of a boat ramp at the end of the portage trail; Installation of a boom which meets the Navigable Waters Protection Act requirements; Ensure control of water levels. The following mitigation measures must be implemented in order to ensure safe access to the river for kayakers during and after the work: Construction of a portage trail to bypass the dam; Installation of a boat ramp at the end of the portage trail; Installation of a boom which meets the Navigable Waters Protection Act requirements; Ensure control of water levels. Excerpts end We offer the following comments on the sections of the EA report that purport to address our issues.

4 Impact on Navigation: PWGSC has clearly decided, arbitrarily, without meaningful consultation, that the historic navigation rights of paddlers have no value and do not need to be addressed on this project. PWGSC defends this arbitrary decision by referring to the Act Governing Dam Security of Quebec and the Canadian Dam Association. We have contacted the agencies responsible and have been assured in writing that neither of these is intended to be used to deny navigation. Municipal Comments: We find it interesting that PWGSC uses the solicited comments of the local and regional municipalities to dismiss our concerns about the impacts of this project on our activity and festival. We feel compelled to inform you that these municipal comment letters were solicited by PWGSC staff accompanied by threats that the dam reconstruction project would be delayed indefinitely or shelved if PWGSC had to address Les Amis issues. This is an important project in the region, both economically and from a flood control (public safety) perspective. It is not surprising that the municipal government agencies provided these comment letters when confronted with the potential loss of the project. We are shocked and dismayed by the arbitrary and adversarial actions of your staff in attempting to dismiss rather than address our issues and concerns. The municipal agencies referenced in this report are qualified to speak to the regional and local tourism benefits associated with the river festival. They are not qualified to speak to the physical impacts of the project on the activity of recreational paddling or commercial rafting. Nor are they qualified to speak in any way on safety issues associated with paddling activities. We believe that an honest consultation with the local municipality would have produced a letter detailing the fact that municipal councillors and regional government staff have been among the happy and safe guests who have navigated this section of the river by raft. Construction of a Portage Trail: PWGSC suggests that the construction of a trail and launch point downstream of the dam site will adequately address all Les Amis issues with respect to this project. We were first informed by PWGSC of this mitigation option in March of At that time we provided meaningful feedback on the proposal detailing the following: - the proposed trail is on the south side of the river where there is no parking for vehicles - the only available parking is on the north side of the river

5 - participants would be required to walk approximately 500 m down a provincial highway and across a highway bridge with no pedestrian walkway, carrying heavy and cumbersome rafts, canoes, kayaks and other equipment - participants would then be required to walk 250 to 300 m down the new portage trail - we have serious concerns about having 500 people per day over four days, walk across a highway bridge carrying large boats and equipment - speed limits on this portion of the highway drop from 80 kph to 60 kph but these limits are often ignored - this highway is frequently used by logging trucks and other large forest industry trucks - we believe the arbitrary decision to mitigate our access impacts in this way, puts festival participants at significant and unnecessary risk serious physical injury on the highway Commercial Rafting Issues: No attempt is made in this report to address any of the concerns expressed by commercial rafting operators. In Summary: As I said, it is with regret that we inform you of this situation. Certainly, given our past positive experience in dealings with PWGSC, we had every expectation that in engaging in this impact assessment process, your staff would approach our concerns professionally and make an attempt to specifically address each of them. Unfortunately that has not been the case. In fact we now fear that by even voicing our concerns, we have put future water releases for our event in jeopardy. As evidence that this may be true, I am compelled to inform you that PWGSC staff appeared very reluctant to provide water for the 2005 festival. As we began discussions in early June about a 2005 festival water release, we were informed by PWGSC staff, that: - water in the Lake Kipawa above the dam was very low which contradicted information provided by people living on the lake - even though water releases have been provided for 19 years, PWGSC was under no obligation to provide water for the event because we had no written agreement with them At the last minute, one day before the event, we were told by PWGSC that a water level of 90 cms only would be provided. We had to contact PWGSC to find this out. This level is half the optimum level required for the festival and would have been the lowest release ever provided for the festival in 19 years. A water release of 90 cms would have devastated commercial rafting trips for over 200 people who had pre-paid $100 each to be part of the event. It was only after a desperate plea to your staff at the 11 th hour that

6 PWGSC provided an estimated 130 cms, which is the minimum level required for a successful festival. Immediately following the 2005 festival we discovered that one week prior to the event, PWGSC released large volumes of water from the lake by opening the dam to normal festival levels for five days or more. Given the adversarial responses we have been experiencing from PWGSC, we have no alternative but to view this as a concerted effort to drop the level of the lake so that providing water for the festival would not be possible. This heavy-handed, arbitrary, punitive effort against a not-for-profit organization trying to run a community festival, was not something we expected from the Government of Canada or from the Canadian civil service. Our desire at this point, as it has been since we were informed that PWGSC would be rebuilding the Laniel Dam, is for meaningful consultation on the significant impacts the project will have on our activity and our festival. We believe PWGSC s arbitrary decision to attempt to eliminate navigation of the river at Laniel, during the construction project and afterward, is based on uninformed prejudice. To illustrate this view, we point out that the upper deck of the new dam has been designed to allow snowmobiles and ATVs to cross the structure, as is their historic practice. We applaud PWGSC for their efforts to address the concerns of the motorized recreational vehicle community. We simply ask why the same efforts are not being made in the case of the recreational paddling community. Please understand that navigating the Kipawa River at Laniel does not involve trespass on PWGSC property or contact with the dam structure in any way. It simply involves navigating a canoe, kayak or raft on a river, in the same way that a boat travels under a bridge. We have stated clearly, on several occasions that Les Amis cannot be involved or promote the involvement of others in any activity that can be demonstrated to be illegal or unsafe. PWGSC has failed to demonstrate that our activities are illegal or unsafe, and yet continues to use both these arguments as reasons for dismissing rather than addressing our concerns about the impact of this project on our activities, to the detriment of our members and our community festival. We Are Hoping You Can Help: We believe that an open dialog can produce an outcome that will be acceptable to all parties. I urge you Minister, to encourage your staff be true to the spirit and intent of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act by engaging in meaningful consultation with us about our concerns, and help us find a solution. I also urge you to ask your staff to involve the commercial rafting operators, specifically Esprit Rafting of Davidson, Quebec, in this discussion.

7 We remain hopeful and fully prepared to speak to these issues at any time. Sincerely Yours Peter Karwacki, President Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa Copies to: Jean-Claude Bouchard, President Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 22nd Floor, Place Bell 160 Elgin Street Ottawa ON K1A 0H3 The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of The Environment House of Commons Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 David Smith Member of Parliament House of Commons Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6