Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson ( Jun 09/00) - The water levels on the Mackenzie and Liard rivers are lower than usual this year and at least one Fort Simpson businessman is feeling the effects.

Ken Brown, who runs a river-guide and fishing business, said he would normally be out on the river by now because the water levels are usually higher.

"I don't even know if it's worth starting it up for business, maybe for pleasure, but I'm not going to be in a hurry," he said.

Brown noted that Harris Creek, a popular fishing spot on the far side of the Mackenzie from Fort Simpson, used to be 2.5 to three metres deep about a decade ago. Today it's not navigable by boat because it's too shallow, he said. The same holds true for Six Mile, he added.

"It's getting worse every year ... I trace it back to that B.C. (Bennett) dam, no ifs, ands or buts," he said, adding that when the dam developed holes three or four years ago the water level on the Mackenzie rose substantially.

Les Shaw, director of marine services for the Department of Transportation, said the Bennett Dam has been a contentious issue among Deh Cho residents for a long time. Constructed in 1968, the dam controls the flow of the Peace River, which feeds the Slave River and Great Slave Lake, where the Mackenzie originates.

Shaw said he met with concerned representatives of NTCL (Northern Transportation Company Ltd.) on this same topic last week. He suggested that there should be a memorandum of understanding among the provinces and territories affected by the dam.

"There's got to be a mechanism there where, if our waterways here get to the point where we can't use them, we could twig them to open the dam up and allow a certain amount of water to come through in order for us to operate again," he said, adding that ferry interruptions at Fort Providence last month were definitely the result of an ice jam, however, not low water levels. "We have enough water at this point."

Dave Read, a community relations employee with B.C. Hydro, said the Williston Basin, which supplies the Bennett Dam's reservoir, only accounts for 11 per cent of the Great Slave Lake's water supply.

Roger Pilling, of Water Surveys Canada's Fort Simpson office, agreed that the Bennett Dam only has a minor effect on the Mackenzie River, which is currently at about 70 per cent of its normal level.

"Mainly, it's just been two really dry years in northern Alberta. The inflow from the south has been reduced significantly," Pilling explained.

He added that the past few weeks of cool weather have also resulted in late snow melt in the mountains. Run-off from that snow will eventually raise the water levels. Even so, the rivers are still expected to be lower than normal, he added.

Back at the Bennett Dam, Read said he's aware of inquiries about the dam's operations from a transportation company on Great Slave Lake and one call from the NWT government. If a formal request to increase the flow of water was received, Read said it is possible that it could be done -- to a degree.

"What we always have to do is balance the needs of downstream communities with the needs of the upstream communities," he said.

"Sometimes their wish list is not compatible."

The Bennett Dam's water reservoir has a capacity of 74 billion cubic metres. The reservoir is 300 kilometres long, has a maximum depth of 175 metres, and an average seasonal fluctuation of 17 metres, according to Read.

Electrical power is generated by turbines driven by the water. He noted that shipping on the reservoir would be readily impeded by lowering the water level in the dam in order to raise the Mackenzie River's level.

"If we were able to release another 300 cubic metres per second (cm/s), if that was going to make a difference and really help you, that would be one consideration. But if it was going to take another 3,000 cm/s to really make a difference down where you are, then that would probably be unrealistic," he said.