West Kootenay residents concerned about low water levels in Arrow Lakes

Some residents of B.C.'s West Kootenay region say they're worried about water levels in the Arrow Lakes amid a historic drought and high temperatures that triggered an early snowpack melt.

They're calling on B.C. Hydro, which uses the Arrow Lakes as a reservoir to generate power, to do more to preserve valuable salmon habitats and recreation spots.

However, the provincial utility company says they're limited by unprecedented drought conditions and water they have to contractually release to the U.S. under the cross-border Columbia River Treaty.

As that treaty is renegotiated into the next year, Kootenay residents say they hope ecosystems and their concerns make their way to the negotiation table.

Victoria Youmans of Nakusp, B.C., who helps run the Slow the Flow of Arrow Lakes Facebook group, says she's worried about whether Kokanee salmon — which spawn in the lakes and nearby tributaries — can move and reproduce as per usual with the low water levels.

"Our habitats are suffering, our fish are suffering, people's properties are being ruined — it goes on and on," she said.

"Some people, they're pretty close to not even [being] able to access their houses across the lake, because their boat launches are out of water."

Youmans says residents in the area have mistrusted B.C. Hydro for historical reasons.

In the 1960s, more than 2,000 residents were displaced due to widespread flooding brought upon by the Columbia River Treaty, which called for the creation of multiple reservoirs to mitigate uncontrolled floods and to generate much-needed hydroelectricity at the time.

B.C. Hydro helped build the dams and hydro-electric generation stations under the treaty, including the Keenleyside Dam at the outflow of Arrow Lakes.

"There's no reason that we have to be losing what last ecosystems we have here," Youmans said.

Local councillor says no short-term fix

Aidan McLaren-Caux, a District of Nakusp councillor who also sits on the Local Government Committee for the Columbia River Treaty, says current lake levels are the result of impacts of climate change, especially with the lack of the rain in the region and low level of snowfall in the winter.

While he recognizes residents' concerns, he says the situation is made more complicated by the treaty.

Under the terms of the deal, the Americans have tremendous sway regarding when water is released for power generation and flood control — and they pay hundreds of millions of dollars for that power.

"We're renegotiating it with the most powerful country in the history of the planet," McLaren-Caux said. "They're on their 18th or 19th round of negotiations. It's been going on for several years."

Canada and the United States began negotiations to modernize the treaty in 2018, addressing concerns over downriver environmental impacts and Indigenous rights.

McLaren-Caux says while there is no short-term fix for the low water levels, ecosystems, cultural values, and salmon populations are indeed part of renegotiations — something he dubbed a "bright light," with a ratification of the new treaty expected in 2024.

B.C. Hydro conducts water surveys

Mary Anne Coules, with B.C. Hydro's community relations team, said water levels in the Arrow Lakes reservoir currently stands at 1,400 feet (426.72 metres), lower than average for this time of year.

She said she acknowledged resident concerns over water levels and Kokanee salmon.

Coules said the power utility negotiated with the U.S. to hold some water back in Arrow Lakes earlier this year, releasing water from elsewhere in the system to meet treaty obligations.

She also said biologists are being dispatched to the lakes and nearby tributaries to survey water levels and Kokanee salmon spawning points.

"What we know from past years is that reservoir levels have not been shown to significantly affect Kokanee numbers," she said. "There's other factors that are more important [than] reservoir conditions."

Coules acknowledged, however, that low water levels remain a concern for the utility heading into fall.

"We have taken a number of steps to support Arrow [Lakes]. That being said, we can't override Mother Nature," Coules said. "These are conditions we're seeing across the province.

"Unfortunately, there's only so much we can do and so much flexibility we have in drought conditions."