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Columbia River Water Use Plan

  • Project includes hydroelectric facilities at Mica, Revelstoke and Hugh Keenleyside dams.
  • Project initiated August 2000 and completed June 2004.
  • Consultative Committee Report and draft Water Use Plan submitted to the Comptroller of Water Rights in May and August 2005, respectively.
  • Executive summary [PDF, 165 KB] of Consultative Committee Report [PDF, 36.0 MB] provides an overview of the water use planning process and outcomes.
  • Water Use Plan [PDF, 1.2 MB] Columbia River Project accepted by the Comptroller of Water Rights and implemented in January 2007.
  • Water Use Plan Addendum [PDF, 270 KB] for Revelstoke Unit 5 dated June 2007.
  • Water Use Plan Addendum [PDF, 310 KB] for Mica Generating Unit 5 and Generating Unit 6 dated April 2010.
  • Columbia River WUP Order [PDF, 670 KB]

Columbia River updates

Five-year review of Arrow Lakes Reservoir soft constraint targets

BC Hydro hosted a session in Nakusp on April 2-3, 2014 with representatives from government, First Nations, non-governmental organizations, stakeholders, and interested residents to review the last five years of Arrow Lakes Reservoir operations. The session reported out on BC Hydro's performance in meeting a suite of soft constraint targets and progress to date for various monitoring projects and physical works projects underway in Arrow Lakes Reservoir. For more background on the Arrow Lakes Reservoir Soft Constraint Targets Review, please refer to the Fact Sheet  [PDF, 157 KB].

The soft constraint targets, monitoring projects, and physical works were recommended by the Columbia River Water Use Plan to benefit various reservoir interests including recreation, wildlife, fish, vegetation, culture and heritage, erosion, and power generation. For each interest, a handout was developed that describes the soft constraint target(s), reports on performance, and provides information on the status of related monitoring projects and physical works.

The session also provided information on BC Hydro's Arrow Lakes Reservoir operations. Below are links to the agenda and meeting session presentations:

Arrow Five year review agenda [PDF, 291 KB]

For a summary of the participants input, please refer to the Participant Input Summary  [PDF, 825 KB]