BC Hydro recently submitted its Duncan Dam Draft Water Use Plan (WUP) to the provincial government.
The WUP incorporates the recommendations made by the Duncan Dam WUP Consultative Committee (CC). The Plan will now be reviewed under the terms of the Water Act before any changes are made to BC Hydro’s operations.
The 40m high, 800m long Duncan dam is located 42km north of Kaslo and has a 45km long reservoir that provides 1730m3 of storage for flood control.
The water planning process for BC Hydro’s Duncan Dam facility was publicly announced in August 2001. In April 2004, the 12 member Duncan Dam WUP Consultative Committee reached a conditional consensus on a preferred operating alternative for the Duncan Dam facilty and a specified program of monitoring and physical works.
‘Water use planning is a new approach to making decisions on how to allocate provincial water resources,’ said BC Hydro Duncan Dam WUP project manager Sue Foster. ‘The recommendations of the Consultative Committee reflect changing environmental and societal values – a key policy direction sought by government in undertaking this process.’