Nerding out about dams

Today, I had an email from a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter who is working in a TV documentary about dams. He had interviewed me last autumn in Nelson, sitting on a very cold rock beside the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. I wore several layers, insulated gloves, a hat and boots. Being from Quebec, the journalist wore only a wool sweater over a t-shirt. I liked him. He was smart, deeply interested in the ecological impact of dams, and understood immediately the national importance of The Columbia River Treaty (CRT). For both the U.S. and Canada.

Today’s question seemed simple. Just how many dams are there in the Columbia River watershed? “Ahhh,” I typed……Here is my response to him, for all the CRT nerds out there lurking behind concrete walls. Or for anyone else who wants to understand more about the upending of an entire ecosystem, including its once-16 million-strong wild salmon.

“The count of dams is complicated because EVERYTHING about the Columbia’s modern system and the CRT is complicated. It also depends on whether you are talking about dams or generating stations. (Not all dams have power generators in Canada).  Or whether you are talking about the “Canadian” Columbia basin or the “American” one. All big dams have big ecological consequences.  One could argue that storage reservoirs have the worst consequences.”

I’m interrupting here – to add that Canada has three dams associated with the Columbia River Treaty. This map’s yellow stars indicate treaty dams.

And to share a boots-on-the-ground image of Canada’s storage reservoirs, drained and ready to store water. This used to be a river valley described as ‘a Canadian everglades.’

Back to the email response:

“This wiki article does a reasonable job breaking down the various ways of counting dams.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dams_in_the_Columbia_River_watershed.  Please also consult the map at the front of my book A River Captured  to understand the sheer concentration of projects in the upper Columbia in BC/Canada.

In summary: 60 major dams/generators in the entire Columbia River watershed on the mainstem or its major tributaries.  14 of those are in BC. 

Over 400 dams of various sizes throughout the entire watershed.  

In BC – only Mica, Revelstoke and Keenleyside dams are on the main stem of the Columbia.”

I signed off and pushed send. A day in the life of a writer. A day in the life of a river that needs our engagement, attention and love.