BC HYDRO HAS BEEN releasing a higher amount of water, as a test flow, down Canada’s Puntledge river to allow chinook salmon to move upstream and spawn.
The flows are a component of the consensus water use planning process for the Puntledge river, completed in 2003, that saw various stakeholders and First Nations agree to recommendations including summer pulse flows for fish. The Water Use Plan was submitted to the government in December 2003 and is anticipated for approval some time this year, when it will become part of BC Hydro’s operations. These test flows, as with the two pulse flows in 2003, help in determining the benefits for fish.
The minimum fish flow requirement below the Puntledge diversion dam and the power house is 5.7m3/sec. The test pulse flow will increase flow into the Puntledge river to 10m3/sec and will be maintained for 48hr, including ramping up and ramping down.3
The Puntledge river facility can
generate up to 24MW of electricity.