1. BC HYDRO EXPERIENCE WITHENVIRONMENTALMANAGEMENT, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Sokhem PechHatfield Consultants and M-POWER Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy Phnom Penh, CambodiaDecember 7-9, 2011 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.

2. Presentation Outline Introduction BC Hydros Water Use Plans Fish and Wildlife CompensationProgram Environmental Impacts ofHydropower Addressing HydropowerEnvironmental Issues, esp. Fisheries Lessons Learned for the MekongRiver Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 2 3. BC Hydro Commercial Crown corporation owned by the Province of British Columbia Operates 30 hydroelectric facilities in 25 watersheds Produces between 43,000 and 54,000 GWh annually Serves 95% of the population of source knowbc.com British Columbia ~ 1.8 million households Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 3 4. Canadian Regulatory Environment Regulatory framework for hydropower development: Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) and BC Environmental Assessment Act issues Environmental Assessment Certificates Fisheries Act Section 35.1 states No person shall carry on any work or undertaking that results in the alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat BC Water Act requires the development of Water Use Plans (WUPs) for power and other water control facilities in order for water licenses to be granted. Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 4 5. BC Hydro Environmental Management System Water Use Plans (WUPs) Fish and Wildlife Compensation Programs Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 5 6. BC Hydro WUP Consultative Committee Recognizing multiple water use objectives Tradeoff analysis Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) or Multi- Attribute Tradeoff Analysis (MATA) e.g., Balancing flow for fisheries benefit with financial cost in Bridge River, BC. Monitoring, compliance and review Annual monitoring reports reviewed by consultative committee e.g., Alouette River substrate quality reports Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 6 7. BC Hydros Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program Objective: is to restore, to the extent practicable, fish and wildlife resources that have been adversely affected by the original footprint development of hydroelectric facilities. Over 700 projects completed and more than $100 million invested since 1988. Neilson Lake Wetland Enhancement Project (Hengeveld and Corbould, 1998) Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 7 8. Hydropower projects impact the environment in several ways. BC Hydro considers impacts: At Reservoirs changes in waterlevels impacting spawning, plantlife and nutrient levels At Dams migration is prevented Clearing for power lines reducesstream shade and watertemperature Northern Statimc Fisheries, 2009 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.8 9. How does BC Hydro address these environmental impacts? Operation strategies and environmental management and monitoring programs Restoration projects Nutrient restoration Limnological and water quality monitoringPhotos courtesy of Alouette River Management Society Fish-friendly technologies: Upstream/downstream passage Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.9 10. Environmental management, monitoring and operation Hatfield Consultants created the environmental management plan and completes the daily monitoring activities at BC Hydros Waneta dam expansion. Adaptive flow management: monitoring effect ofdifferent base flow onsalmonid smolt production Traps used to enumerate Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. Westslope Fisheries, 2009smolts10 11. Restoration Projects Example - Gravel replacement to rehabilitate Sockeye Habitat in Gates Creek Spawning Channel Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. Source: Northern Statimc Fisheries, 2009 11 12. Nutrient Restoration and Monitoring Liquid nitrogen andphosphorus are added toreservoirs to enhanceproduction Water quality, zooplankton,phytoplankton and fisheriesare monitored regularly, as perEMMPs. Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, 2009 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.12 13. Upstream/Downstream Passage Upstream passage: Trap and transport Pool-type fish passes Nature-like bypass channels Downstream passage: Physical Barriers Behavioral Barriers Source: ARMS (n.d) Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.13 14. Trap and transport Fish are collected at fishfences and trucked upstreamor downstream facilitatingmigration and stockingprograms.Photos courtesy of Alouette River Management Society Photos courtesy of Alouette River Management Society Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.14 15. Pool-type fish pass Fish pass through several smalldrops forming a series of pools Accommodates fish of differentsizes & swimming abilities Offers resting areas Source: Hasler et al, 2009 Source: Anderson, 2009 Source: NSW Government http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/habitat/rehabilitating/fishways)c Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.15 16. Nature-like bypass channels Energy dissipated through series of riffles Main disadvantage is the space requirement BC Hydro built nature-like bypass on the Quinsam River in British ColumbiaSource: Sinclair and Van Tine, 2006 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 16 17. Physical Barriers Measures to prevent fish from passing through turbines: High velocity turbine screens (Eicher Screens). Source: Hay and Company Consulting, 2001 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved.17 18. Behavioural Barriers Measures to prevent fish from passing through turbines using visual, auditory, electrical and hydrodynamic stimuli: Louvre screens U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation, 2006 Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 18 19. Other key considerations BC Hydros environmental priority is to achieve no net incremental environmental impact by 2024 when compared to 2004. Extensive consultations with First Nations, Environmental Consultants, Local Communities and RBOs is undertaken. When negative impacts cannot be avoided, work to minimize and offset them and sustain resources. Work cooperatively and transparently with stakeholders and First Nations on resource use, management, and conservation to increase public benefit from affected resources. Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 19 20. Lessons Learned for the Mekong River Assessing impacts and developing mitigationmeasures for proposed hydropowerdevelopment is extremely complex. >1,500 fish species + livelihoods of millions ofpeople + economic and social considerations. Baseline data are lacking, especially use offisheries resources (TEK), fish migrations,habitats, compensation flow requirements,reservoir fish production, etc. International best practices must be followed. Time is of the essence. Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 20 21. Thank You!Thomas BoivinHatfield Consultants MekongVientiane, Lao PDRtboivin@hatfieldgroup.com+856 20 23229998Sokhem PechHatfield Consultants CanadaNorth Vancouver, BC, Canadaspech@hatfieldgroup.com+1 604 926 3261www.hatfieldgroup.com Hatfield Consultants. All Rights Reserved. 21