Working Hard to Safeguard Paddling Assets for All Canadians

All about Whitewater

All about Whitewater
A Blog about River Preservation and the need to protect our free flowing whitewater resources

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

LES AMIS MEDIA ITEMS

From the Director of River Preservation Activities

On the judicial review:

- We are asking the court to review PW and Transport Canada's failure to protect navigation rights.

- There are two issues we are asking the court to look at, one is navigation rights under the NWPA and the other is the federal government's responsibility to consider significant environmental impacts of their projects and conduct meaningful public consultation on those impacts.


On the cancellation of the rally:

- In May we were trying to arrange a meeting with PW to talk about our plans for the 2007 rally. PW refused to meet with us.

- While we were trying to talk to PW they published an ad in local newspapers saying that they were going to deny access to the entire top section of the river during the festival. That is the way they chose to talk to us by putting an ad in the newspaper, and they planned to eliminate our navigation rights, not just at Laniel but on the entire top section of the river.

- We contacted PW and they told us the ad was placed in error, but how do you make an error like that? We then asked them to confirm that they would make water available and they refused to do that. In fact they are now denying that they have provided water for us for the last 20 years.

- We are a non-profit group of volunteers trying to host a community festival that benefits tourism. One of the reasons people come to this festival from all over eastern Canada and parts of the U.S. is because we have had a water release for the past 20 years. If you take away that water release the rally is finished. We can't host it. We can't ask tourists to spend their money and come all the way up here if PW is not going to make water available.

- We canceled the rally because we couldn't trust PW.

- We were able to cancel the rally, but one of the rafting companies that comes on that weekend already had over 100 people booked and paid to go rafting, they couldn't cancel their trips. The rafting company explained to PW that they were running trips that weekend and asked that water levels be maintained...and this is what PW did...SEE LANIEL DAM WATER LEVEL CHART. This what PW did on that weekend. They purposefully closed the dam on Friday and then opened again on Monday. They ruined the rafting company's trip. And they did it on purpose.

- So why is PW doing this? Why are they denying that they've given us a water release for the past 20 years? Why are they acting against non-profit volunteer group? Why are they purposefully ruining a tourism operation in the region?

- We think it is to punish us because we have a case against them in federal court. Governments are not supposed punish people for taking action to protect their rights, rights that are guaranteed under law. That's not supposed to happen in a democracy.

ON HYDRO DEVELOPMENT:

- There are two hydro project proposals on the table...Tabaret and the Algoqnuin Project.

- The problem is that BOTH of these projects will divert almost all of the water from the Kipawa River below Laniel.

- We are not against Hydro development. We are against BAD hydro development.

- Turning a 10,000 year old river into a little trickle of water and eliminating the future tourism potential of that river, to produce hydro power is BAD hydro development.

- Yes we have to look for ways to generate electricity. Yes hydro is sometimes a very good option in some places. Yes hydro could be developed on the Kipawa Watershed, and even on the Kipawa River.

- But that hydro development needs to leave room for other economic opportunities like tourism. You don't have to destroy the Kipawa River to produce hydro on this watershed.

- One option is to build a small hydro station at Laniel. There is enough drop there. There is enough water, and if you generate hydro at Laniel you save the Kipawa River because the water stays in the river. And you invest in tourism because people will still come here to paddle the river.

- Making a choice on hydro development doesn't mean you have to throw other values away. You use smart development that makes room for other values and doesn't eliminate future economic potential.

- We don't have the right to take this river away from our children and our grand-children. We need to protect it so that they will have choices to make in their future.

1 comment:

Peter Karwacki said...

This is the definitive commentary on the cancelation of the 21st annual Kipawa River Rally

Canadian Rivers

Canadian Rivers
I speak for river users too!

The Queen is not amused!

The Queen is not amused!
http://www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca/

The Damned Dam - 2005 -

The Damned Dam - 2005 -
22nd Annual Kipaw Rally has modest turnout. - 23rd does better

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

Whitewater Ontario

Whitewater Ontario
Working Hard to Protect Canada's Paddling Resources

Whitewater Ontario - Mission Statement

It is Whitewater Ontario’s mission to support the whitewater paddling community through the promotion, development and growth of the sport in its various disciplines. We accomplish this through the development of events, resources, clubs, and programs for personal and athletic development, regardless of skill level or focus, to ensure a high standard of safety and competency; We advocate safe and environmentally responsible access and use of Ontario’s rivers. Whitewater Ontario is the sport governing body in the province, and represents provincial interests within the national body Whitewater Canada and the Canadian Canoe Association http://www.whitewaterontario.ca/page/mission.asp

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican
If Hydro Quebec is not actively pursuing Tabaret what is that bite out of Opemican for?

Kipawa Dam: After

Kipawa Dam: After
Laniel Dam at 2006 Rally

Where is the Kipawa

Where is the Kipawa
Kipawa flows into lake Temiskamingue, running from Kipawa Lake, under hwy 101 in Quebec

Kipawa Dam

Kipawa Dam
laniel dam at 2004 River Rally

Tabaret is a Bad Idea

About the Kipawa



The best thing paddlers can do to help the cause of the Kipawa:

1. attend the rally and bring others including non paddlers to attend and buy beer and have fun

2. write your MP /MNA and raise the issue and post your objections -1 letter = 200 who didn't write

3. Write Thierry Vandal the CEO of Hydro Quebec strongly opposing the 132 MW standard decrying the use of "diversion" as the most environmentally inappropriate method of power production

4. Write Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec protesting that either the algonquin or the tabaret project will eliminate all other values on the Kipawa River by turning it into a dry gulch.

5. See if you can get other allied groups interested by showing your own interest, ie the Sierra Defense Fund, Earthwild, MEC, and so on.

6. Demand further consultation

7. Currently we are at the point where we need to sway public opinion and raise awareness.

However, if all else fails, don't get mad, simply disrupt, foment, and protest . The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Have you read Edward Abbey?

Important Addresses
CEO,Hydro Québec, 75 boul René Levesque, Montreal, P.Q., H2Z 1A4Caille.andre@hydro.qc.ca



Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Two)

Les Amis de la Riviere Kipawa is poised to use an application to the Federal Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to ensure the Minster does what he is supposed to do, protect the public's right to navigate the water control structure at Laniel, Quebec using the Navigable Waters Protection Act. (see http://www.kipawariver.ca/)

In the now gutted Navigable Waters Protection Act lay the means by which the Minister of Transport could keep the public right of passage down our great Canadian Heritage, our rivers and streams which are threatened especially by resource corporations and power brokers such as Hydro Quebec.

These powerful entities continue to petition that 'this' river or 'that' stream is not navigable and therefore not protectable.
I don't say that dams and bridges should not be built, only that if they are, historical navigation rights should be considered and preserved by making reasonable accommodations for recreational boaters.

It is the Minister of Transport, in exercising the right to allow or disallow work on or over a navigable waterway is what keeps boats and recreational boaters plying our waterways.

To many recent cases launched in the Federal Court concerning the Navigable Waters Protection Act, most recently the case of the Humber Environment Group of Cornerbrook Newfoundland versus the Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper Company indicates that the important oversight is not being faithfully performed. Have we really come to the point now where we must say "such and such a stream is one foot deep, possessing so many cubic feet per second flow and so on?" The answer to this is... YES!

The honourable Mr. Justice John A. O'Keefe, ruled that it had not been shown that the river was navigable. How convenient was that to the Minister? But either the Minister of Transport acts to protect our rivers and streams as a public right or he does not and that means rivers and streams currently enjoyed by kayakers and canoists.

Enough of the cheating, and double-talk. Canadians! our rivers and streams are our own, lets urge the Minister of Transport and the our government to protect them.

Peter Karwacki

Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Three)

10 Reasons WhyTabaret is a Bad Idea1) Tabaret is too big. The station is designed to useevery drop of water available in the Kipawawatershed, but will run at only 44 percent capacity.We believe the Tabaret station is designed to usewater diverted from the Dumoine River into theKipawa watershed in the future. 2) The Tabaret project will eliminate the aquaticecosystem of the Kipawa River.The Tabaret project plan involves the diversion of a16-km section of the Kipawa River from its naturalstreambed into a new man-made outflow from LakeKipawa. 3) Tabaret will leave a large industrial footprint on thelandscape that will impact existing tourismoperations and eliminate future tourism potential. 4) The Tabaret project is an aggressive single-purposedevelopment, designed to maximize powergeneration at the expense of all other uses. 5) River-diversion, such as the Tabaret project, takinglarge amounts of water out of a river’s naturalstreambed and moving it to another place, is verydestructive to the natural environment. 6) The Kipawa River has been designated a protectedgreenspace in the region with severe limitations ondevelopment. This designation recognizes theecological, historical and natural heritage value ofthe river and the importance of protecting it.Tabaret will eliminate that value. 7) If necessary, there are other, smarter and morereasonable options for producing hydro power onthe Kipawa watershed. It is possible to build a lowimpactgenerating station on the Kipawa river, andmanage it as a “run-of-the-river” station, makinguse of natural flows while maintaining other values,with minimal impact on the environment. 8) The Kipawa watershed is a rich natural resource forthe Temiscaming Region, resonably close to largeurban areas, with huge untapped potential fortourism and recreation development in the future.Tabaret will severely reduce this potential. 9) Tabaret provides zero long-term economic benefitfor the region through employment. The plan is forthe station to be completely automated andremotely operated. 10) The Kipawa River is 12,000 years old. The riverwas here thousands of years before any peoplecame to the region. The Tabaret project will change all that.

Problems on a local River?

  • There is more to do as well but you have to do your research and above all, don't give up.
  • IN the meantime prepared a document itemizing the history of navigation of this spot and its recreational value. Use the Kipawa river history of navigation as a guide: see www.kipawariver.ca
  • Under the Ministry of Environment guidelines you have a set period of time to petition the change under the environmental bill of rights, you may have limited time to take this action. But it involves going to court for a judicial review of the decision.
  • 4. contact the ministry of natural resources officials and do the same thing.
  • 3. contact the ministry of the environment and determine if they approved the project
  • 2. determine if the dam was a legal dam, approved under the navigable waters protection act.
  • 1. research the decision and timing of it to determine if an environmental assessment was done.

Minden Ontario

Minden Ontario
Gull River Water control at Horseshoe lake

A History of Navigation on the Kipawa River

Prior to the environmental assessment there was no signage at the Laniel Dam

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!
Send $25 and a stamped self addressed envelop for the Tshirt, and for the bumper sticker, a stamped and self addressed envelope with $5.00 for the bumper sticker to Les Amis de la rivière Kipawa, 80 Ontario St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 1K9 or click the link To purchase a Les Amis "T" contact Doug with the following information: Number of shirts:Sizes: Ship to Address: Method of Payment: cash, cheque and paypal, Shipto address:

Bumper Stickers Now Available

Bumper Stickers Now Available
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