Latest news with #hydroelectricdam
ABC News
21-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
China begins construction of Tibet mega-dam
China has begun construction of the world's largest hydro-electric dam along a river which runs through Tibet and India, despite concerns from its neighbours that millions of people could be negatively impacted by it. Once built, the dam could dwarf the record-breaking Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China and is expected to power the Tibetan region. It is planned to have five cascade hydro-electric dams, which together would generate as much energy annually as the United Kingdom consumes in a single year. Beijing has said the dam will help meet power demand in Tibet and the rest of China without having a major effect on downstream water supplies or the environment. Operations are expected sometime in the 2030s. But the governments of India and Bangladesh have expressed concerns about the project. The waterway being dammed, the Yarlung Zangbo, becomes the Brahmaputra River as it leaves Tibet and flows south into India and finally into Bangladesh. Non-government organisations say the dam will irreversibly harm the Tibetan Plateau and hit millions of people downstream. The chief minister of India's Arunachal Pradesh state, Pema Khandu, said earlier this year that such a colossal dam barely 50 kilometres from the border could dry out 80 per cent of the river passing as it passes through the region. Mr Handu also warned that the dam could potentially inundate downstream areas in Arunachal and neighbouring Assam state. India's foreign ministry in January said it had raised concerns with China about the project in Tibet, saying it will "monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests". China has meanwhile insisted the dam would not have any downstream impacts and would work closely with its neighbours. At the official event marking the start of construction on Saturday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang described the dam as a "project of the century". He added that special emphasis "must be placed on ecological conservation to prevent environmental damage," China's Xinhua news agency reported. Despite the potential for regional tensions, a number of Chinese companies in the construction sector saw their share prices rise on Monday. Government bond yields also rose across the board on Monday, with the most-traded 30-year treasury futures CTLU5 falling to five-week lows, as investors interpreted the news as part of China's economic stimulus. The project, overseen by the newly formed state-owned China Yajiang Group, marks a major boost in public investment to help bolster economic growth as current drivers show signs of faltering. "Assuming 10 years of construction, the investment/GDP boost could reach 120 billion yuan (AU$25 billion) for a single year," global bank Citi said in a note. "The actual economic benefits could go beyond that." Reuters/AFP
CBC
14-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Hard talk at Whitehorse dam hearing, with concerns about environment front and centre
To Harold Gatensby, the Whitehorse hydroelectric dam evokes a sense of loss. For years, Gatensby said, he's seen fewer animals like muskrat and the threatened chinook salmon. Some lakes, Gatensby said, have gone quiet. He blames what he calls the "largest factory of the North." "You're taking our lifestyle away," he said. "We're losing the way we want to live. "I want to live by the lake. I was raised up on the lake. I raised my children up on the lake. I know where the fish are, the moose are. I don't wanna let that go." Gatensby, a member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN), was one of dozens of people who spoke during the Yukon Water Board hearing into the dam. The hearing, likely the largest since the board's inception, is a vital part of the relicensing process. Yukon Energy's proposal has been moving along, having cleared the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board. The company wants a 20-year licence. Residents' associations, First Nations, the Yukon government and individuals all converged for more than a week of deliberations. Many are demanding system-wide changes, including increased water level data in the face of climate change and immediately coming up with ways to better protect fish. The hearing represented an opportunity for people to air grievances and suggest solutions. Together, those submissions will help the board decide whether to issue a licence and decide what conditions to place on that licence. Fish protections remain top concern The three First Nations present pointed to ongoing impacts to fish, especially the imperilled chinook salmon. For too long, First Nations spokespeople said, salmon and fresh water species have been sucked into the dam and killed or injured. New research suggests thousands of fish may be killed as they swim through the dam, with the biggest threat being the dam's four turbines. First Nations suggest Yukon Energy hasn't yet done enough to ensure safe passage. All are pushing for immediate changes. That includes shutting off certain turbines during key migration periods, revamping the fish ladder and changing the rate at which water flows through the dam, which Yukon Energy controls. Catherine Ford-Lammers, project lead with the C/TFN, said she's not putting her trust in Yukon Energy, but rather the board. Ford-Lammers said there continue to be too many unknowns, among them, undefined protections for chinook salmon and freshwater fish, with no associated timelines. That's why she wants the board to ensure strong protections for the land and water. "It is C/TFN's concern that without timelines and requirements, none of these improvements for fish and salmon will ever be fulfilled or fulfilled too late for the chinook salmon," she said. The Ta'an Kwäch'än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation have agreed to 20-year licence term. The C/TFN wants 10 years instead because, the First Nation says, Yukon Energy hasn't done enough planning to protect the environment to warrant a longer licence term. The First Nation also wants to see a new board created, made up of the three affected First Nations, and public oversight into the future. Seven calls to action Rea Mombourquette, with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, said the dam has long upended traditions by disconnecting citizens from the land and killing fish. She said it's also altered the environment, inundating blueberry patches and fish camps. Some of those are now submerged by Schwatka Lake, the dam's reservoir. The First Nation has issued seven calls to action. They include restitution for citizens long displaced by the dam, environmental harms including fish kill, affirming harvesting rights and public apologies. "Regardless of the outcomes this week, we are still here," Mombourquette said. "We are river people, even if most of us have moved away from the river. We are still salmon people, even if we cannot currently harvest or consume salmon. "Respected members of the Yukon Water Board, you have this week an incredible opportunity to take a meaningful step towards repair and towards reconciliation. Take it." Kwanlin Dün Elder Pat Joe called the Whitehorse dam a "monster." "Salmon is the reflection of our people. They've suffered like us. They've suffered too much." Yukon Energy responds Kirsten Hogan, a consultant with Yukon Energy, said the company has made progress in some areas like collecting data and adjusting flows to attract more fish to the ladder, which is being kept open for longer periods of time. Hogan said the company isn't "shirking responsibility." "What we know now is good information, and we know that we have more to learn," she said. "The board should be confident that the evidence presented by Yukon Energy supports a 20-year licence term." But Hogan admitted the company has introduced no new protections in the last two years. She said work is underway to change that, in a process that will happen over time. Hogan said effects need to be fully understood before mitigations are set in place. Jason Herbet, legal counsel with Yukon Energy, acknowledged the lasting impacts of the dam on the affected First Nations. "Members of the three nations have spoken very eloquently over the course of this hearing," he said. "I have been personally moved by their words. "At the same time, the Whitehorse Rapids Generating Station is a critically important generation asset in Yukon's deeply interconnected electrical system. Yukoners today have reliable access to affordable and mostly renewable electricity every day of the year." On Friday, the final day of the hearing, Piers McDonald, chair of the board, said the implications of the hearing are significant as they are vast. "In my public life, I can't think of a more significant time other than perhaps the land claims agreement negotiations," he said. "The outcomes will matter to people in this territory for generations to come."
CBC
19-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Thousands of fish could be killed at Whitehorse dam, new study suggests
Social Sharing Thousands of fish may be killed as they swim downstream through the hydroelectric dam in Whitehorse, a new study suggests — and that's something one environmentalist is calling "unacceptable." Prepared by the B.C.-based environmental consulting firm EcoFish under contract for Yukon Energy, the research is linked to the relicensing process for the dam, now in front of the Yukon Water Board. EcoFish has studied fish mortality associated with the dam before. Its latest research, though, estimates the number of fish that could be killed. The research, based on two years of field work as well as data going back several years, suggests that many fish are being unwittingly sucked into intakes such as the dam's four turbines — a phenomenon called entrainment. An estimated 25,063 resident fish, which include whitefish, grayling and Northern pike, are entrained each year, the study states. More than half of those — about 15,470 — could be killed. Then there are imperilled chinook salmon, with an estimated 43,000 to 203,000 juveniles entering the intakes annually, the study states. Between 13,000 and 62,000 of those will be killed, it says, representing about 30 per cent of all migrating juvenile salmon in the Yukon River. This would mean that if 200,000 juvenile salmon were to move downstream, it's likely that less than one per cent of those would return as adults to the Yukon-Alaska border or the dam because of all the other ways in which salmon could be killed during their lifecycles. Built in 1958, Yukon Energy's dam on the Yukon River is a crucial piece of infrastructure, generating enough power to supply on-grid residents with roughly 80 per cent of their electricity during the summer — equivalent to lighting up roughly one million 40 watt light bulbs. The dam has four turbines, a spillway and, at roughly 366 metres, what the company boasts is the "longest wooden fish ladder in the world." Fish entrained at the Whitehorse dam can be killed in different ways. "Overall, it was found that the greatest mortality risk to fish was due to strikes/collisions … followed by barotrauma, and shear stress," the study states. Barotrauma refers to injuries brought on by sudden changes in air or water pressure. The dam has four turbines, with the last one installed in 1985. The study says nearly 12,000 resident fish enter that route alone, and it's one of the more dangerous. The mortality rate for grayling swimming through the newest turbine is 85 per cent; for Northern pike, it's 99 per cent. Juvenile salmon were studied separately. The research suggests the larger they are, the higher the likelihood they are killed. For wild, one-year-old chinook, the mortality rate is 58 per cent. The study states fish are more likely to be sucked into the dam during spring and summer nights. With that, it recommends considering adjusting flows during sensitive migration periods. The study also suggests more research into fish ecology in Schwatka Lake, the dam's reservoir, and taking a hard look at the turbines. "Fish behaviour can also be influenced to try and guide fish away from potentially harmful passage routes," the study states. "This has been attempted using screens, flow deflectors, lights, electricity, and bubble curtains with some success." Researchers used discharge data between 2013 and 2024. They also took fish samples, hydroacoustic scans and deployed sensors down intakes at the dam, including the turbines and spillway. Researchers employed similar methods in a 2023 study. This time they were expanded. 'It's just insane how many' Sebastian Jones, a wildlife analyst with the Yukon Conservation Society, told CBC News the new research not only shows but confirms how perilous the dam can be for fish. "Some of these turbines are killing almost every freshwater fish that comes through them," he said. "It's just insane how many. That's unacceptable, I think that's a fairly reasonable conclusion." While mortality rates for juvenile chinook salmon are lower compared to freshwater fish like grayling, Jones said it's no surprise salmon upstream of the dam are "winking out." "There's no wonder there's no salmon left in the McClintock River that used to support fish camps." Roughly 88 per cent of the territory's electricity comes from renewable sources, primarily hydroelectricity. The territory has for years been aspiring to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with ministers saying the Yukon is on firm footing already because of its three dams. But Jones said dams aren't "green" — they come with significant environmental impacts. "So when we are contemplating expanding or building new hydro [dams] we need to bear that in mind, you know, are we prepared to wipe out fish runs?" he said. "They're very hard on rivers. "The research is valuable. It is important, and it will help us design a generating system that reduces the number of fish killed."
