If B.C. Hydro wants to dip into the Shuswap River, it’s being told to help the salmon.
The Regional District of North Okanagan will support Hydro’s application for a water renewal license subject to the inclusion of a fish ladder at the dam north of Lumby.
“We want to re-establish fish above the falls,” said Rick Fairbairn, rural Lumby director.
The dam was constructed at Shuswap Falls in 1929 and salmon and other fish species have been prevented from navigating the area since then.
RDNO and First Nations have been lobbying for a fish ladder for many years and the issue was discussed with former energy minster Bill Bennett and B.C. Hydro last year.
Fairbairn believes a fish ladder would benefit the environment and the local economy through tourism.
“It’s important for the ecology of the river. It (fish movement) is a natural progression that’s been interfered with,” he said.
For B.C. Hydro to use water to generate electricity, it needs a license from the provincial government. Three licences expire in 2018 and four are up in 2019.
The licenses allow the corporation to store 165,000 cubic metres of water and to divert 9.9 cubic metres of water per second, or 32 per cent of the currently licensed diversion from Wilsey headpond to the Shuswap Falls generating station.
