The downtown beaver dam will become a hydro dam if the city’s plans for a new power plant go ahead on Twelve Mile Creek.

On the upside, it may be possible to monitor the movements of the threatened American eel on a hi-tech sonar version of candid camera, according to a report from St. Catharines Hydro Generation.

The city-owned power generation company has just released for public comment an environmental screening report on its proposed $38-million, four-megawatt dam.
The report lists the environmental pros and cons of the dam, which would be built near the Wellandvale bridge, but suggests the eco-benefits of clean energy outweigh “the negative adverse effects” of the project.

General manager Frank Perri said the company and its consultant, Hatch, have suggested several “mitigation measures” to handle potential environmental problems like fish death and blocked migration by the threatened American eel.

A $1-million “fish ladder,” for example, will help the provincially protected eel and other fish move around the hungry turbines of the hydro generator. Erecting a traditional screen in front of the turbines may not be practical or affordable, however, because of the large amount of debris that flows down the rushing creek.

Instead, Perri said the company is pitching a unique, hi-tech solution: using sonar to detect the elusive eel before it’s sucked into the dam.

“In theory, if the sonar identified an eel, we could shut down the turbines,” he said.

The screening report says some fish death is probably inevitable. But Perri said the company is conducting studies to determine exactly how often vulnerable species like brook trout show up in the rapid-filled section of creek.

“We don’t think they have a large presence there,” he said, noting brook trout are a cold-water species and only the upper reaches of Twelve Mile Creek meet that definition.

The company will also need a special provincial permit to “intentionally damage or destroy … the habitual dwelling on a fur bearing mammal.”

That would be the Twelve Mile Creek home of the city’s notorious downtown beavers, which dodged death just last year after council voted to stop trapping the property-destroying rodents.

“The beaver dam is right where the power house would go — literally right on the spot,” said Perri. “I guess they would have to build another home.”

The report points to several eco-benefits of dam construction, beyond green electricity.

For example, the dam would reduce the dramatic drop in area water levels when Ontario Power Generation periodically turns off the taps at the upstream Decew plant.

Construction will require removal of two weirs, which will quiet two rapid-filled creek areas and make fish movement easier.

The screening report is only one hurdle on the road to dam-building, Perri said. The province needs to agree to buy power from the plant, and the company must negotiate a low-interest loan for most of the cost with the Ontario Strategic Infrastructure Financing Authority.

If all goes according to plan, work could start this year.

To read the report or provide comment before the March 5 deadline, visit http://shicklunahydro.comor contact Hatch environmental co-ordinator Noel Boucher 905-374-5200.