Posted by: Phoenix77
Dropping Lake Level Kills Fish Fry - 11/03/08 09:30 AM
Dropping Lake Level Kills Fish Fry
PORT ALBERNI -- A decrepit dam is being blamed for a drop in water levels on Great Central Lake, stranding salmon fry and killing fish eggs, forcing hatcheries to scramble to rescue their incubating stocks.
The Great Central Lake Dam was built in 1954 to release water at low-flow times to flush the Alberni Harbour of Dioxin-filled black liquor released as effluent from the Kraft paper-making process.
That process is now long gone, and engineers worry a heavy rain event could cause the dam to break, endangering lives and properties downstream.
Now owned by Catalyst, workers have been removing sections of the dams wooden gates, slowly increasing the outflow and dropping the water level of Great Central Lake by one metre.
Effects of the drop has been deadly to some coho fry stranded in small pools, and sockeye salmon eggs drying on newly bared beach, and both easy prey for birds.
Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District's Sproat Lake Director Penny Cote is demanding Fisheries and Oceans act immediately to rescue stranded fish and develop a remediation plan.
PORT ALBERNI -- A decrepit dam is being blamed for a drop in water levels on Great Central Lake, stranding salmon fry and killing fish eggs, forcing hatcheries to scramble to rescue their incubating stocks.
The Great Central Lake Dam was built in 1954 to release water at low-flow times to flush the Alberni Harbour of Dioxin-filled black liquor released as effluent from the Kraft paper-making process.
That process is now long gone, and engineers worry a heavy rain event could cause the dam to break, endangering lives and properties downstream.
Now owned by Catalyst, workers have been removing sections of the dams wooden gates, slowly increasing the outflow and dropping the water level of Great Central Lake by one metre.
Effects of the drop has been deadly to some coho fry stranded in small pools, and sockeye salmon eggs drying on newly bared beach, and both easy prey for birds.
Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District's Sproat Lake Director Penny Cote is demanding Fisheries and Oceans act immediately to rescue stranded fish and develop a remediation plan.