Wilsey Fish Passage Project
What we're planning
We're looking at how we can best allow spawning salmon to access spawning habitats in the Shuswap River above Wilsey Dam.
We're building on the work of the Wilsey Dam Fish Passage Committee. That work explored a number of options to restore fish passage and recommended construction of a fishway channel to allow salmon to bypass the dam.
Considerable investment would be required to build a fishway channel and refurbish Wilsey Dam and the Shuswap Falls powerhouse. To ensure we're making the best decision for the facility, the first step of the project will look at whether decommissioning or refurbishment is the best option.
Wilsey Dam and the Shuswap Falls powerhouse are located on the Shuswap River about 35 km east of Vernon along Highway 6.
We expect to complete our studies and identify a preferred option to achieve fish passage sometime in 2023.