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

Friday, November 30, 2012

BIll C-45 - a shambles of legislation deep sixes navigational rights for good

Elizabeth May tells it like it is:



The bulk of my amendments deal with the Navigable Waters Protection Act. The Conservatives have taken three runs at it through three different omnibus bills, the first being in 2009. The objective definition of what is “navigable” was changed to a discretionary definition wherein “navigable” would mean whatever the Minister of Transport says that it means.
In Bill C-38, just this past spring, the Conservatives took another run at the Navigable Waters Protection Act with the specific exclusion of pipelines as works or undertakings. Pipelines are no longer in the Navigable Waters Protection Act. These new amendments are certainly not about pipelines because the Conservatives took care of that in Bill C-38.
What this does is it takes an act that we have had since 1882 that directly comes from the Constitution of this country, that being the federal responsibility for navigation. The Navigable Waters Protection Act, which was brought in by Sir John A. Macdonald, has protected the rights of Canadians to put a canoe or kayak in any body of water and paddle from there to wherever they want to go. As Canadians, we have a right to navigation. This is now being superseded with the false story that there is somehow a burdensome regulatory amount of red tape that offends people in municipalities. Therefore, we need to blow apart the Navigable Waters Protection Act to say that a body of water is only navigable if it can be found in the schedule at the back of the act. Ironically, the 99.5% of Canadian waters that are not listed there are not ones near municipalities, cottages and people who want to build wharfs, but are in our wilderness areas where, without the Navigable Waters Protection Act, nothing stands in the way of obstructions to navigations for Canadians.
The government will tell us that is all right because Canadians have a common law right. If people have a couple of hundred thousand dollars and are prepared to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to defend their right to use a waterway that is not listed, they can do that. However, this is an egregious abdication of responsibility for a federal head of power that no other level of government has the right to step up and fill the void.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Solarized E-trike



Taken from: http://www.netnewsledger.com/2012/06/27/solar-simplification-its-finest/
http://netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SolarTrike.jpg

(parenthetical note: the design of this cart seems poor: how about this:



 e-trike model - Dragon

price was around $2800-tax included.

Stock Power Requirements 4-12v @ 20amphrs batteries in series to give a 48v system.

Retrofit:  3-50watt panels (each panel, 2.9amps @ 17v and weight around 12 lbs

Additional Material and  parts, aluminum angle iron, 5/8 aluminum rod, nuts and bolts

 tools for the build,  a cordless drill, files, hacksaw, hammer, punch.

Total assembly time was about five days.
Two days for bolting the three 50 watt panels together, and using the angle iron for added strength and rigidity.
Three days to build the mounting system to secure the panels to the deck of the e-trike.

The aluminum rod was used to attach the panels to the mounting brackets on the deck of the trike and allow the panels to be orientated to the sun when needed.


Total cost of the project, $3600.


extended the range from 50km (using only the batteries), to an estimated range of 200-300km on a sunny day and 75-100kms on really cloudy day.




http://netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Rick_Panels.jpg


associated links;

http://www.electric-bikes.com/trikes/trikes.html

The owner has plans:

A tow behind solarized trailer that can be used with a solarized e-trike, can easily be adapted to use as a mobile trailer to live in..

1. line the outside with cloroplast and line the inside with r5 ridgid insulation. use it to sleep in at night, body heat will keep u warm at night even in -30c, 

2. resisitive and passive solar gain from daylight for extra heat or energy to produce h2 for cooking.power to keep the e-devices top up.
3. collect the rain water, use the sunlight to sterilize it for consumption.

says the owner 


"use it as a home for a yr, $700 per month rent or morgage savings x 12months =$8400 per yr.
the solarized e-trike and solarized trailer for $5k, now gives a return of $20k+ per yr and growing.
that $5k investment now supplies transportation, electricity and a place to sleep and stay warm and dry. park it by a lake, u get to fish. park it by ur place of employment, pump ur wages into saving for a yr, use that $20k saving to buy a home."






Other solar powered electric bikes:
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11083/How-To-Make-A-Solar-Powered-Electric-Bike


The electric bicycle's efficiency translates into about 1000 miles per gallon gas, not bad at today's gas prices.  Electric bikes are fairly powerful and therefore need to store about 200-500 watt of energy in their batteries to travel the desirable range.
Some companies now offer roll-up solar panels from 25 to 75 watts of output. Three of those solar panels in series will provided the now common 36 volts used in most electric bicycles and could recharge your e-bike while at work. The solar panels roll up small enough to place on the rear rack including the charge converter. Non roll-up panels are more efficient but are not that easily transported, they might require to be installed at home or/and work.

There are prototype bicycle trailers like the Bob motor trailer which have an electric motor, batteries and fold-out solar panels - all mounted on the trailer that can be un-hooked from the bicycle in 5 seconds if not needed.
It is usually recommended to use batteries larger than needed for one trip, it allows you to ride on some of yesterday's sunlight in case you need to run home early or the sun has not been out at all. Most solar panels now do not need direct sunlight to work but will not quite run at 100% capacity on a cloudy day.(from http://www.nycewheels.com/solar-powered-electric-bike.html)


Photovoltaic panels are built in to the wheels, 
Solar charging station






Japanese 72 km/hr solarized ebike






Front and Back

250W motor






Link: http://www.solarbike.com.au

Now check out this bad boy from Stealth




And these power bikes


http://hi-powercycles.com/





Here is an oddity: ultra small wheels - incredible power





For more on this see:http://www.thekpv.com/




Bob Trailer accessory

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

College/University Degrees, Their Cost and their Worth...



Oh dear. We're educated but apparently that doesn't guarantee a job.

Our leaders are intelligent and educated but apparently corrupt.  What is the alternative, for them to be stupid and ignorant but clean as a whistle? What kind of world do we have when it takes 25 to 30 years to prepare an adult to function in the world? (a quarter of the expected lifespan) and once they become educated, they are under employed.

The system is broken folks.

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