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 Hydro-electric Development Proposals on the Namakan HYDRO DEVELOPMENT ON NAMAKAN RIVER POSES GRAVE DANGER TO LAKE STURGEON, A THREATENED SPECIES, AND TO THE INTEGRITY OF ONTARIO’S FLAGSHIP WILDERNESS PARK
The Namakan River flows through the heart of the internationally renown Quetico-Superior wilderness area, which encompasses Quetico Park in Ontario and Voyageur National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota (Fig. 1). It is a wild river with scenic waterfalls and rapids and forms an integral part of the historic and well-travelled canoe route network linking the three protected areas. The Namakan supports a healthy population of Lake Sturgeon, a species that is designated as “threatened” in Ontario, in contrast to many other rivers where hydro-electric projects have decimated their numbers. The Issue
Recently proposals have been put forward by the Ojibway Power and Energy Group (OPEG) a collaboration between Chant Construction and the Lac La Croix First Nation, to construct a series of hydro-electric projects along the Namakan, with generating stations at High Falls, Myrtle Falls and potentially at Hay Rapids (Fig. 2) A Draft Environmental Report for the first project centred at High Falls, was released on December 23, 2009. The Report can be viewed at: http://high.opeg.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=10. The Quetico Foundation’s response to the Draft Environmental Report can be viewed here (the deadline for comments was February 26, 2010). The appendices referenced in that document can be found as follows: Appendix 1 - Fisheries Impact Review (Donald); Appendix 2 - Fisheries Impact Review (Caroffino); Appendix 3 - Fisheries Impact Review (Kallemeyn); Appendix 4 - Genetics and Telemetry Study (Welsh & McLeod). The High Falls hydro-electric development will directly impact 8 km of the Namakan River, destroy its wilderness character, irreversibly damage its fragile ecosystem, threaten critical Lake Sturgeon habitat and migration patterns, and negatively affect the ecological integrity and wilderness values of Quetico Park and the Quetico-Superior wilderness area. Click here and here for PDFs explaining how Lake Sturgeon would be affected. The Quetico Foundation, which has a mandate to protect wilderness values in Ontario and especially in Quetico Park and the surrounding region, opposes developing the Namakan River for hydro-electricity and asks the Ontario Government to reject the proposal. The Quetico Foundation supports the Lac La Croix First Nation in its efforts to overcome the community’s economic difficulties, and asks that the Ontario government take immediate steps to work with the First Nation to identify opportunities that will permanently address these important economic issues, while protecting the threatened sturgeon population of the Namakan River, and the unique wilderness and fragile ecosystems of the Namakan River, Quetico Park and the Quetico-Superior area. What Can You do to Help? YOU CAN HELP preserve Quetico’s wilderness by:
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