Sliammon Development Corporation (SDC) has applied for a license to investigate a potential run-of-the-river hydroelectric project on Sliammon Creek, a project will help build the community, according to Tla’amin Nation leaders.
The project is part of Tla’amin’s economic development strategy as it moves closer to its April 5 treaty implementation.
“Water has been a major issue now for Sliammon for a number of years,” said Erik Blaney, SDC president. “It’s been holding back a number of key developments.”
Blaney said there has been an effort to add housing to the reserve for a number of years, but the water system, supplied by Sliammon Lake, is at capacity and its infrastructure is old and in need of upgrading.
Blaney explained the dam on Sliammon Lake, built by Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is nothing more than concrete and stopper board. Sliammon was without water for almost a week during the driest part of the summer, a recurring problem for the past few years.
“We have to address the problem at the intake and fix the dam,” said Blaney.
The power project will not only increase water capacity and storage and fix the intake, it could create revenue and employment for the nation, said Roy Francis, Tla’amin Nation’s chief treaty negotiator and former SDC president.
“Power generation at Sliammon Lake is a good example of a newly developing business project for us,” said Francis.
He explained that a strategic priority for Tla’amin Nation is to create more jobs in the region and increase the number of young people it supports through post-secondary education.
By developing the hydroelectric project, one of many of the first nation’s diverse business ventures, including Lund Hotel and its aquaculture and forestry operations, it will help the nation meet its goal of doubling the number of young people it sends to university, college and technical schools.
Francis estimated the number could be between 40 to 50 students per year. The business ventures also create jobs close to home, as the first nation wrestles with its educated and highly skilled young adults being forced to look outside the community for work.
Over the next decade, as the majority of baby boomers retire, there will be “a great need for young people” to fill jobs at Tla’amin Nation, said Francis. The nation is looking at various strategies to bring youth back home to help the first nation develop, he added.
Before the hydro-power project moves ahead, it has to be approved by the BC government. BC ministry of lands, forests and natural resources referred SDC’s application for a five-year Crown land clean-energy investigative licence to Powell River Regional District for comment.
Powell River Regional District (PRRD) rural electoral area directors, excluding Lasqueti Island director Merrick Anderson, approved PRRD planning committee’s recommendation at its Wednesday, December 16, meeting.
According to the development corporation’s application, the hydro-power project is expected to have a maximum power output of five megawatts and an intake where Sliammon Lake feeds Sliammon Creek. The project will include a penstock, powerhouse and transmission lines to connect it to the BC Hydro electrical grid. The project has a Crown land footprint of 533 hectares, or approximately 1,300 acres.
During the investigative phase, the project proponent plans to conduct hydrology and water-quality studies in addition to wildlife and fish impact assessments.
This project is the second hydroelectric project the regional district has been asked to comment on in as many months, the first being a proposed Goat Island pumped-storage project. The PRRD board has stated in both cases it does not have any objections to the projects.
Colin Palmer, Electoral Area C director, explained that the board realizes the phrase “has no objection” can be misleading for the general public.
“When we say we have no objection, that means we cannot find any bylaws or zoning that would say [the proponents] couldn’t proceed,” said Palmer.
