No Dam Way! CPAWS needs help in high-stakes battle with U.S.
by Chloe O'Loughlin
A high-stakes battle is brewing at the bottom of B.C., where the Similkameen River flows into Washington State. In this story of international intrigue, a proposed American dam could flood endangered B.C. ecosystems.
Similkameen Valley in the Okanagan. Photo by Graham Osborne.
Why do the Americans want this dam? To stock a U.S. lake full of fish and provide power to Americans. To do this, they would flood one of Canada's three most endangered ecosystems and dozens of endangered species. It's a sly tale. The Americans kept this proposal very quiet, almost sailing through their approval process. But CPAWS got a tip. Within a week, CPAWS hired a lawyer and gained legal status as "interveners" in this quiet American process.
Only CPAWS and the Okanagan Nation Alliance have legal status to block the dam as "interveners." That is not good. We're too small to handle this battle. It is two Davids fighting the Goliath that is the United States.
We need help. Federal and provincial governments need to direct Washington State to stop this proposed dam. Canadian politicians need to be swift and decisive. They need to flex some political muscle and stop this dam before it gets any further into the regulatory process. Quite simply, someone needs to pull the plug on this project.
The proposed dam is poised to flood an already disappearing B.C. landscape, filled with endangered species and important sloughs. This world is utterly removed from the wet rainforests of the B.C. coast. In this Similkameen valley, rare bluebirds nest on Ponderosa Pines and rattlesnakes hide amongst large sunburned grasses. Large bighorn sheep scale mountainsides. It's where butterflies live in abundance, toads, lizards and tortoises are painted by Van Gogh, and small burrowing owls, badgers and rattlesnakes can live in their unique symbiotic relationship.
If this landscape becomes a flooded lake, the animals disappear too.
Unbelievably, the dam proponents plan to flood First Nations reserve land and their most sacred sites. Chief Phillip Stewart, of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, has promised the Alliance will fight this proposal with everything they have.
Photo by Graham Osborne
This dry, warm ecosystem is already precious, due to its scarcity. In recent years, rapid development throughout the Okanagan and Similkameen has wiped out massive tracks of natural dry ecosystems. People are paving this paradise as quickly as they can. We can't flood it too.
When news of the dam broke, The Province ran the headline "No Dam Way!" The B.C. government was caught unaware of this sneaky, quiet dam proposal in Washington State. Although CPAWS continues to brief the B.C. government, we worry that not enough is being done, quickly enough, to mount serious political opposition to this project.
Perhaps the B.C. and Canadian governments need a little encouragement. Please contact a politician and keep the pressure up. "No Dam Way," is a perfect opening salvo in your discussions with MPs and MLAs.
It's what we say. Out loud. As often as we can.
CPAWS - British Columbia Chapter