This is my input to the Columbia Treaty negotiators
Kootenay Lake has been dammed to death. One of those dams, the Duncan, produces no electricity, and destroyed what was a very large and very rich ecosystem largely to support hydroelectric generation south of the border. Kootenay Lake is paying the price by the loss of its fishery.
The Duncan Dam should be removed and the valley restored to its former glory. According to an article I recently read, the idea to take out the Duncan Dam was raised but BC Hydro vetoed it. We can’t continue to allow the Hydro generators to call the shots. The Duncan valley and Kootenay system are too valuable for us to continue to allow the Americans to use them as a big storage tank.
The kokanee are gone, and the giant Gerrards won’t be far behind if we don’t do something drastic to save them. The current recovery plan is to fish out the rest of the fish in the lake. It ain’t gonna work. The little bit of feed left in the lake is being eaten by the shrimp we introduced. The only way to save this ecosystem is to restore at least some of the spring food surge. I urge you to do what is right and take out the damn Duncan Dam.
Rod Retzlaff
Glade