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, June 17, 2009

Les Amis establishes new positive working relationship with Public Works Goods and Services

FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE PROVIDED
TO RECREATIONAL USERS AT LANIEL DAM
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will be offering a free shuttle service this summer and upcoming fall from Kipawa Lake to the Kipawa River during the reconstruction of the Laniel Dam. This special shuttle service is being offered again this year to allow recreational users with kayaks and canoes to bypass the dam and have safe access to the river, away from the potential hazards of the construction site. It gives users access from the lake to the river and takes them to the nearest and safest point downstream of the dam.
The shuttle service will be available on demand, from May 15 to November 15, 2009, using a pickup truck. The shuttle service will allow users to safely bypass the dam with kayaks and canoes, away from the construction area. This service, for recreational users coming from Lake Kipawa to the Municipal Quay in Laniel, will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day, including weekends. The shuttle will leave from the Municipal Quay in Laniel and travel to the rest stop, about 3 kilometres north of Laniel on Highway 101. Users will need to request the service by calling 819-629-4476. Signage will be posted to direct the public.

During the Kipawa Festival, from June 26 to June 28, 2009, the shuttle service will use two pickup trucks and will run continuously from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., from the Town of Laniel Parking Lot to the Télébec station adjacent to the bridge at Highway 101. PWGSC will also install a launching area at a rest stop, situated 3 kilometres north of Laniel on Highway 101. Festival goers are invited to make it to this rest stop on their own between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m every day to access the river. Please note that camping activities will not be allowed at the rest stop.

For more information about this service, please telephone the PWGSC National Service Call Centre at 1-866-664-6608.


PWGSC will again be taking measures to protect the public from the hazards of the construction site. As in previous years, they ask festival participants to stay away from the fenced area of the construction site. Thank you once again for your help in this matter.

SERVICE DE NAVETTE GRATUIT OFFERT AUX
PLAISANCIERS AU BARRAGE LANIEL

Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada (TPSGC) offrira un service de navette gratuit cet été et jusqu’à l’automne du lac Kipawa à la rivière Kipawa durant la période de construction du barrage Laniel. Ce service spécial de navette est assuré de nouveau cette année pour permettre aux kayakistes et aux canoéistes de contourner le barrage et d’accéder de façon sécuritaire à la rivière, loin des dangers éventuels du chantier. Ce service permettra aux usagers d’accéder à la rivière à partir du lac, de même qu’au point en aval du barrage qui est le plus près et le plus sécuritaire.

Le service de navette, qui offrira une camionnette sur demande, sera disponible du 15 mai au 15 novembre 2008. Ce service permettra aux usagers de contourner le barrage en toute sécurité, en kayaks ou en canots, loin de la zone de construction. La navette, offerte aux plaisanciers qui arrivent au quai municipal de Laniel en provenance du lac Kipawa, sera disponible entre 9 h et 18 h, tous les jours, y compris les fins de semaine. La navette quittera le quai municipal de Laniel à destination du relais routier situé à environ trois kilomètres au nord de Laniel, aux abords de la route 101. Les usagers devront faire la demande de service de navette en composant le numéro 819-629-4476. On posera la signalisation nécessaire pour diriger le grand public.

Pendant le Festival de la Kipawa, du 26 au 28 juin 2009, le service de navette offrira deux camionnettes chaque jour de 8 h à 18 h. La navette partira du stationnement de Laniel et se rendra jusqu’à la station Télébec adjacent au pont près de la route 101. De plus, TPSGC installera une zone de mise à l’eau des embarcations à un relais routier situé à environ trois kilomètres au nord de Laniel, aux abords de la route 101. Les festivaliers seront invités à se rendre au relais routier par leurs propres moyens pour accéder à la rivière de 8 h à 18 h chaque jour. Veuillez prendre note qu’il ne sera pas permis de camper au relais routier.

Pour obtenir plus de renseignements sur ce service, veuillez téléphoner au Centre national d’appels de service de TPSGC, au
1-866-664-6608.

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
Get your bumper sticker and show your support for the Kipawa Legal Fund ! - send $5.00 in a Stamped, self addressed envelope to: Peter Karwacki Box 39111, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 7X0