Wabagishik Rapids, Vermilion River
Hydropower has been aggressively greenwashed for decades, despite well-documented, significant, and ongoing adverse environmental effects from its impoundments and peaking operations.
The negative environmental effects of hydro dams, reservoirs, and operating strategies can be extensive, affecting many kilometres upstream and downstream of the dam. That series of five cascading projects, six counting Vale’s Wabagishik Generating Station, would have been strung out for over 130 km of river, impacting from Capreol, all the way out to where it joins the Spanish River. It would have dramatically changed the Vermilion on many levels, stirring up contaminated sediment and impacting local residents who rely on the River for drinking water.
Proponents often claim hydro projects will last for 100 years, but there is a dark side to that.
Over the last three decades, a growing body of independent peer-reviewed research reports that hydroelectric reservoirs can be a significant and ongoing source of GHG emissions in boreal, temperate, and tropical regions. In fact, reservoir methane emissions can rival or exceed those coming from natural gas facilities over a 20-year horizon (e.g., DelSontro et al., 2018; Beaulieu et al, 2020; Scherer & Pfister, 2016).
