Power plant price climbs so eels can too

[Spiel]

Power plant price climbs so eels can too

 

 

November 26, 2009

MATTHEW VAN DONGEN / www.stcatharinesstandard.ca

 

 

This eel isn't electric, but it is sparking changes to a planned hydro-power dam on Twelve Mile Creek.

 

You may have never seen an American eel in Twelve Mile Creek -- the sinuous creature is rare and was recently added to the provincial endangered species list.

 

Frank Perri, general manager of hydro dam proponent St. Catharines Hydro Generation, has never eyeballed an eel either.

 

But experts say the creek is both home and highway to the elusive eels, so the planned four-megawatt green power facility will likely boast a million-dollar bypass.

 

"I call it an eel-fish passageway," said Perri, who described it as a series of stepped "resting pools" to help creek denizens move upstream around the $38- million dam -- or downstream without being sucked into hungry turbines.

 

Perri said he expects the project "to be closely watched" for its response to the new provincial direction to protect the endangered eel.

 

The pricey channel is not exclusively reserved for eels, however. The bypass will also help spawning fish and prevent many aquatic movers-and-shakers from ending up as gull food under the dam.

 

But as part of the project, Perri said various government ministries are also suggesting the addition of a specific "eel ladder" at the existing Heywood power plant in Port Dalhousie.

 

Believe it or not, determined eels already climb the almost four-metre-high city weir in Port Dalhousie just to get into Twelve Mile Creek, said Ken Cornelisse, a planning supervisor with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

 

He said ministry sampling over 25 years has "consistently found eels" in the creek from Martindale Pond to the headwaters near Short Hills Provincial Park.

 

Not in bunches, of course. Creek searchers are lucky to find a couple of the quick, often- small creatures in any given year, although one caught last year measured close to a metre in length.

 

That's kind of the point, Cornelisse noted.

 

"The American eel is endangered, which means the population is declining in Ontario. We need to maintain their access to their habitat and if possible improve that access."

 

Ian Barrett has a soft spot for the plucky endangered American eel.

 

The aquatic biologist with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority said the slippery creature will try to climb any barrier with a wet surface in its quest for habitat, sometimes even dragging itself over land to isolated ponds.

 

That's usually at the end of an incredibly long migration from its birthplace in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, where they also return to breed and die.

 

"You have to admire the adaptability of a creature like that," Barrett said. "They already overcome quite an array of challenges."

 

The now-rare eel used to be common in Lake Ontario. Even in the 1980s, it was one of the top three most valuable commercial catches in Ontario's fishing industry.

 

Perri said no plans for fish or eel protection are finalized yet. St. Catharines Hydro Generation hopes to submit a final environmental screening report for the hydro project early next year.

 

Cornelisse said eel ladders are just one way the province is trying to help the population climb.

 

But if the means seem too expensive, consider the eel is a top predator that likes to chow down on invasive species like the gobie.

 

"It's important to maintain the biological diversity of species," Cornelisse said. "Eels are ecological indicators of environmental health."