Read this story from Mark Hume in The Globe and Mail on one particularly bad example of ecologically disastrous private river power projects (IPPs) in BC. The Tyson Creek project in Narrows Inlet on the Sunshine Coast actually involves a lake with a massive hole drilled at the bottom - resulting in major siltation problems in the fish-bearing streams and inlet below.
"There have been growing concerns in British Columbia about the impact of private power projects on streams and rivers. But we should worry about our lakes, too, according to a file of internal government documents related to the Tyson Creek hydroelectric project.
The documents, obtained by Gwen Barlee of the Wilderness Committee, track the licensing, development and subsequent but temporary closing of the project when it caused the usually clear Tzoonie River to turn the colour of mud." (Nov. 27, 2011)