Watch this new 11-min short documentary, "Rivers at Risk: Glacier & Howser Creeks," by POWERPLAY producer Damien Gillis on the battle to protect a treasured piece of Kootenay wilderness from private power development.  This video is the second installment in Save Our Rivers Society's new "Rivers at Risk" series, which profiles different rivers around BC threatened by private power development - told in the words of the local citizens batting to protect them.  Featuring stunning high definition footage of this spectacular BC wilderness, revered by outdoor enthusiasts.

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Five pristine rivers around Duncan Lake - near Kaslo in the spectacular West Kootenays - are threatened by a 120 MW private river power proposal by Axor Corp.  The plan is to divert up to 90% of each of these rivers, including beloved Glacier and Howser Creeks, into a 4.5 metre-wide 16 KM tunnel to generate electricity and private profits for Axor Corp. and its investors.  As the water will never return to the original creeks from which it is diverted (instead dumping it into the Lake below) this cannot be rightly called "run of river" power.  The impacts on the local environment - including further degradation from the 25 roads and 250,000 cubic metres of waste-rock muck generated by project - will further endanger resident blue-listed bull trout and other important ecological values.  One of the most environmentally troubling aspects of the proposal is the plan to get the power out of the valley by way of a 100 metre-wide 91KM transmission corridor carved out of old growth forests through the pristine Purcell mountain range.  But perhaps opponents' biggest concern is the erosion of democratic values and loss of public control over our resources, especially our watersheds.  In a time of climate change and shrinking natural resources, it's imperative that we hang onto our water and energy security - two values that are directly undermined by the BC Liberal government's secretive agenda to privatize our rivers and public power system under the false guise of "energy self-sufficiency" and "green power."  As this video and the situation around the Glacier/Howser proposal illustrate, there is nothing in this private river power scheme that benefits the public or the environment.

Join us in five different West Kootenay communities for a premiere of this video and presentations by Rafe Mair, Damien Gillis, Lee-Ann Unger of the West Kootenay EcoSociety, and the COPE 378 "Take Back the Power" campaign:

NELSON:              Sunday, November 30  7 PM - Nelson United Church
NAKUSP:              Tuesday December 2  7 PM - Bonnington Arts Centre
MEADOW CREEK:   Wednesday, December 3  7 PM - Lardeau Valley Hall
KASLO:                 Thursday, December 4  7 PM - Langham Theatre
ROSSLAND:          Friday, December 5  7 PM - Rossland Miner’s Hall