Updates
– December 2011 letter from Manitoba Water Stewardship
This Dec 2, 2011 letter from a Water Stewardship official replies to some of the questions sent by the Interfaith Task Force to Minister Christine Melnick last May (see that letter here).
– Clean Environment Commission requests information from Manitoba Hydro (Nov 2011)
As part of the upcoming public hearings into Lake Winnipeg Regulation, the Clean Environment Commission – which will be conducting the hearings – filed the following information request with Manitoba Hydro.
– September 2011 letter to Premier
See the letter sent by 10 organizations calling on Premier Selinger to broaden the scope of the promised public hearings into Lake Winnipeg Regulation.
The Issue In Depth
In Simple Terms
Government licensing and regulation can be a tangle of acronyms, complexities and legalities. But beneath it all lie critical issues. Simple explanations are tough, but public understanding is important.
Below is an attempt to provide a clear, concise explanation of a current licensing process for Manitoba Hydro's most environmentally significant projects. Included is correspondence between our Task Force and government, and our formal submission to government.
The Projects
Manitoba Hydro began operation of its Churchill River Diversion (CRD) and Lake Winnipeg Regulation (LWR) projects in 1976. These are the two elements of Manitoba Hydro's operations that have the greatest environmental footprint and impact. (The projects are described here.)
Government Permission
Manitoba Hydro could not build these projects and alter water levels without government permission. This permission came primarily in the form of Water Power Act licences. (The Environment Act, which would have applied, did not come into being until 1988.)
The Water Power Act
The Water Power Act (WPA)–enacted in 1930 and subsequently revised–is essentially a resource allocation law. The WPA licences for CRD and LWR permit Manitoba Hydro:
– to alter water levels within specified parameters,
– use specified lands for water storage and facilities, and
– use the infrastructure for the purpose of generating electricity.
The Act also specifies water rentals that Manitoba Hydro pays to the province for use of water.
– See the Manitoba Government web section on WPA licensing.
– See the 1973 Interim WPA licence for Churchill River Diversion.
– See the 1970 Interim WPA licence for Lake Winnipeg Regulation.
35-year Interim Licences
According to WPA procedures, Manitoba Hydro was granted interim licences for its projects with the understanding that final licences would be issued once the projects were completed, if all conditions of the interim licences were met. No final licences have yet been granted.
That means Manitoba Hydro has operated the most environmentally harmful elements of its operations under interim licences for almost 35 years.
Currently: Final Licensing Underway
In May 2009, Manitoba Hydro finally requested a final Water Power Act licence for CRD.1 That process remains underway. The government has not indicated when it expects the process to be completed.
The process includes constitutionally mandated consultations with affected Aboriginal peoples. It does not include public hearings of any kind.2 (See the official views of the Assembly of First Nations and other Aboriginal bodies regarding licensing and environmental review of Manitoba Hydro operations here.)
Manitoba Hydro also requested a final WPA licence for Lake Winnipeg Regulation on December 22, 2010, and Premier Selinger has said that process will include public hearings.3
Questions
– Will final licences reflect the need to address the severe, widespread and
ongoing harm caused by the projects?
– Will final licences reflect the evolution in environmental values and practices
since the 70s, or will they simply be licences for business as usual?
"Manitoba Hydro states that 'no operating changes are being requested for the final licence.' That, in our view, is precisely the problem." – Interfaith Task Force on Northern Hydro Development 2010 submission to government
Environmental Oversight
The 1992 Report of the Auditor General of Canada said in relation to Manitoba Hydro's northern operations:
"We found no evidence that a comprehensive environmental impact
assessment had ever been performed."
Though many studies of CRD and LWR have been done, never has there been a comprehensive environmental assessment.
In 2004, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC)–a panel appointed by government under the Environment Act with a mandate to facilitate public involvement in environment-related decisions–recommended the following with respect to CRD and LWR:
- that Manitoba Hydro resolve "outstanding concerns with respect to the very significant effects of
these projects;"4
- that Manitoba Hydro obtain final Water Power Act licences;
- that Manitoba Hydro obtain Environment Act licences; and
- that the licensing processes include "an operational review" (review of how the projects manipulate water levels), and "any required environmental impact assessments."5
Despite these recommendations, the government is not requiring licences under the Environment Act (which was enacted in 1988, well after the dams were built), telling our Task Force that retroactive licensing is a procedural impossibility, even though the former NDP Conservation Minister accepted a recommendation to bring existing projects under the Environment Act.6
Government ministers have assured our Task Force that environmental conditions can be included in a Water Power Act licence, even though the act is explicitly not an environmental law.7
As for an operational review and environmental assessment as part of the WPA final licensing process for CRD, the government has not responded to our Task Force's requests for such steps.
The Crux
Despite their massive size and 30-year track record of severe impacts, the Churchill River Diversion and Lake Winnipeg Regulation projects have never been subjected to a comprehensive environmental impact assessment, have inexplicably operated under interim Water Power licences for 35 years, and are not licensed under Manitoba's primary environmental legislation.
While some mitigation measures have been put in place, much of the damage remains unaddressed. Now, Manitoba Hydro wants a green light from our government to continue with business as usual in northern waterways.8
While Hydro says "No operating changes are being requested for the final licence,"9 our Task Force believes change is exactly what is needed.
The Assembly of First Nations and other Aboriginal bodies have called for increased efforts to assess and address hydro impacts in Manitoba. See their resolutions here.
Evolving Best Practices
With respect to the current licensing process for CRD, surely the evolving body of best practices with respect to environmental assessment and regulation should be applied to a project that drastically alters the second largest river in the province, the fourth largest lake as well as the Rat and Burntwood rivers. Surely the manner in which our provincial utility operates the diversion should be transparently reviewed to see if there are reasonable ways to reduce the harm.
Political Solutions to Environmental Problems
The view of our Task Force is that the serious ongoing environmental disruption caused by Hydro's northern operations should be addressed. Existing harm should be fixed, to the extent possible, and ongoing harm should be decreased.
The approach of government and Hydro relies less on addressing actual damage in the waterways and more on offering compensation to affected peoples in the immediate vicinity of the impacts.
While compensation is essential, it does not replace or fulfill the governmental responsibility for environmental health. Political solutions to environmental problems do not necessarily help the fish, moose or muskrats.
In a letter to our Task Force, Water Stewardship official Steve Topping says that "negotiated agreements" with hydro-affected communities "fully address the adverse effects of the Churchill River Diversion Project."10 We would suggest this is somewhat like saying that providing financial compensation to everyone affected by climate change constitutes a solution to global warming.
Final licensing of Manitoba Hydro's northern system can be reduced to a process of political management or it can become a chance to reckon with the environmental impacts of hydro.
– Aboriginal resolutions regarding review of hydro operations
– Interfaith Task Force submission to government regarding CRD licensing
– Correspondence between our Task Force and the government regarding CRD licensing
– Manitoba Government web section on Water Power Act licensing
– Manitoba Hydro's request for final licence for CRD
Read more:
Interviews
Articles
Aboriginal Views
Documentaries
Hot Button
Focus main page
Views & Interviews Home
Top
Notes
- Manitoba Hydro's May 6, 2009 request for a final Water Power Act licence for Churchill River Diversion.
Return to text above.
- The public process consists of an informational website and provision for members of the public to submit written comments to Manitoba Water Stewardship.
Return to text above.
- Sources: Letter from Manitoba Hydro to Manitoba Water Stewardship, December 22, 2010. "Hydro facing stormy waters," Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press, January 4, 2011, page A4.
Return to text above.
- Source: Report of Public Hearings: Wuskwatim Generation and Transmission Projects, Manitoba Clean Environment Commission, September 2004, page 117.
Return to text above.
- The full recommendations are as follows:
Recommendation 7.6
The Clean Environment Commission recommends that:
The Government of Manitoba require Manitoba Hydro to resolve all outstanding issues with regard to the Churchill River Diversion, Augmented Flow Program and Lake Winnipeg Regulation. Following resolution of these issues, Manitoba Hydro should apply for the appropriate final licences for these three operations under The Environment Act and The Water Power Act as soon as possible. – Report of Public Hearings: Wuskwatim Generation and Transmission Projects, Manitoba Clean Environment Commission, September 2004, page 117.
Note: The Augmented Flow Program is an expansion of the range of water levels within which Manitoba Hydro can operate CRD. It is, in essence, part of CRD for the purposes of WPA licensing.
Recommendation 7.7
The Clean Environment Commission recommends that:
The application for the approval of final licences for Churchill River Diversion, Augmented Flow Program and Lake Winnipeg Regulation should include a review of the terms and conditions, an operational review and any required environmental impact assessments. Clear guidelines should be developed with respect to what constitutes conformance to and/or violation of the terms of the licences. – Report of Public Hearings: Wuskwatim Generation and Transmission Projects, Manitoba Clean Environment Commission, September 2004, page 117-118.
Return to text above.
- See pages 3 and 4 of our Task Force's June 11, 2009 letter to then-Minister of Conservation Stan Struthers.
Return to text above.
- Government comments noted in this paragraph are from meetings that representatives of the Interfaith Task Force have had with Minister Stan Struthers (Conservation) on September 21, 2009 and Ministers Blaikie (Conservation) and Melnick (Water Stewardship) on February 24, 2010.
Return to text above.
- A slide presentation on the Manitoba Hydro website (undated, but evidently created after May 2009) says: "Manitoba Hydro is requesting a Final Licence for CRD as operated for the past 23 years. . . . No operating changes are being requested for the final licence" (accessed January 2011).
Return to text above.
- Ibid.
Return to text above.
- "It is also important that Manitoba Hydro has negotiated agreements with communities principally affected by AFP, including South Indian Lake, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and York Factory First Nation. These agreements fully address the adverse effects of the Churchill River Diversion Project, including the annually approved Augmented Flow Program." – From an August 4, 2010 letter from Steve Topping, Manitoba Water Stewardship official to the Interfaith Task Force. See the complete letter here.
Return to text above.
Top
RSS feed