Only one of seven proposed Toba Valley run-of-the-river projects will move into the investigations stage after the BC government recently approved its licence.
Between November 2015 and March 2016, Powell River Regional District received seven applications from engineering companies wishing to investigate potential hydroelectric projects in the Toba Valley.
The province has now approved a licence for Vancouver-based Sigma Engineering’s five-year investigation of a project approximately 700 hectares in size near the Klite River in Upper Toba.
Powell River Regional District planner Julia Dykstra said three of the seven Toba waterpower investigative phase applications had been rejected in June, while the status of three others is not yet known.
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations spokesperson Greig Bethel said applications were rejected because the area in the vicinity of Filer Creek, Upper Powell River and Headwall Creek has been identified as an area of “extremely high habitat value for mountain goats, grizzly bear and marbled murrelet.”
The proposed activities do not support the wildlife-management objectives set out by the ministry at this time, he said.
The government’s decision has pleased some people worried about the impact of the total number of proposed projects on the south coast.
“I’m so glad the province has said no,” said Powell River environmental activist Trish Cocksedge. “These projects are really just a gamble. We know we don’t make any money on this because of the way power is traded.”
Cocksedge said she is still concerned about what she sees as a lack of transparency with who is behind developing these projects.
“We don’t know who is behind these,” she said. “If it was a small community wanting a run-of-the-river project to reduce their hydro bills, that could work, but not the way the provincial government is doing it.”
