Supporting sustainable hydropower operation and development in British Columbia through research on fish entrainment and fish responses to gas supersaturation

在加拿大，60%的发电量来自水力发电。特别是不列颠哥伦比亚省，有几个大的流域已经进行了水电开发，其他大型项目也在考虑之中。BC Hydro是该省的主要水电公司，在利用科学证据指导水电设施的选址、开发和运营方面有着悠久的传统。目前，BC Hydro正在探索一个名为“Site C清洁能源项目”（Site C）的“大型项目”的开发，该项目是BC和平河上的第三座大坝和发电站。站点C出现的两个特殊问题是鱼类夹带风险（ENT）和大坝下游总溶解气体（TDG）的升高及其对鱼类的影响。BC Hydro在和平河流域有两个现有设施-WAC 班尼特大坝和和平峡谷大坝。WAC班尼特大坝和相关的威利斯顿水库已被确定为几个关键鱼种夹带风险研究的优先目标。和平峡谷大坝被确定为大坝下游的TDG可能升高到潜在有害水平的地点，对居民鱼类造成未知的后果。考虑到班尼特和和平峡谷大坝内及其周围的鱼类群落与C区开发内及其周围的鱼类群落相似，并且这两个项目位于同一条河流上，对班尼特（ENT风险）和和平峡谷（TDG）的重点研究将解决这些大坝特有的问题，并产生直接为C区项目开发提供信息的知识。我们已经建立了一个团队，包括行为生态学家，种群建模师，鱼类生理学家和水利工程师，以解决复杂的ENT和TDG问题。未能解决这些问题将使BC Hydro难以确定潜在的缓解或抵消方案，这些方案是他们继续运营其设施和开发新设施所必需的。该项目将涉及与一个多方利益攸关方技术小组的大量互动，以确保成果既具有相关性又能迅速调动。

In Canada, 60% of electricity generation is from hydroelectric sources. British Columbia in particular has several large watersheds that have been subject to hydropower development, with other large projects under consideration. BC Hydro, the primary hydro utility in the province, has a long tradition of using scientific evidence to guide the siting, development and operations of hydropower facilities. At present BC Hydro is exploring the development of a "mega-project" called the "Site C Clean Energy Project" (Site C) which is a proposed 3rd dam and generating station on the Peace River in BC. Two particular issues that have arisen for Site C are fish entrainment risks (ENT) and elevation of total dissolved gasses (TDG) downstream of the dam and their consequences for fish. BC Hydro has two existing facilities in the Peace River basin - the WAC Bennett Dam and the Peace Canyon Dam. The WAC Bennett Dam and the associated Williston Reservoir have been identified as priority targets for research on the entrainment risk for several key fish species. The Peace Canyon Dam has been identified as a site where TDGs downstream of the dam can be elevated to potentially harmful levels, with unknown consequences for resident fish. Given that the fish communities in and around the Bennett and Peace Canyon Dams are similar to what would occur in and around the Site C development, and that the two projects are located adjacent to one another on the same river, focused research on Bennett (ENT risk) and Peace Canyon (TDG) would address those dam-specific issues and yield knowledge that would directly inform the development of the Site C project. We have established a team combining behavioural ecologists, population modelers, fish physiologists and hydraulic engineers necessary to address the complex ENT and TDG issues. Failure to address these issues will make it difficult for BC Hydro to identify potential mitigative or off-setting options which are necessary for them to continue to operate their facilities and to develop new ones. The project will involve significant interaction with a multi-stakeholder technical team to ensure that results are both relevant and rapidly mobilized.