ARROW LAKES NUTRIENT RESTORATION PROGRAM

The Fisheries Authorization provisions developed for the Arrow Lakes Generating Station required implementation of a compensation plan for increased entrainment mortality resulting from the plant. Arrow Lakes Power Corporation (a subsidiary company owned by Columbia Power Corporation (Columbia Power) and Columbia Basin Trust (CBT)) agreed to provide funding support for a nutrient restoration program for the Arrow Reservoir with the objective being “to provide sufficient productivity increases in Arrow Lake Reservoir to compensate for fish losses through power plant entrainment.” Since the program’s inception in 1999, Columbia Power and CBT have contributed over $1.5 million to the Upper Arrow Lakes Nutrient Restoration Program

The Upper Arrow Lakes Nutrient Restoration Program is a joint initiative of the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, the Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and is recognized as one of the largest successful lake restoration projects in the world.

Each year from April until September, a liquid nitrogen-phosphorous mixture is dispensed into the lake from the Galena Bay ferry as it makes its run from Galena Bay to Shelter Bay. These nutrients are essential to aquatic ecology and Arrow Lakes were found to be deficient. The nutrients added provide sustenance to various populations of invertebrate species that thrive in the lake. These minute creatures contribute directly to the maintenance of a healthy food chain. Studies have proven that the program has had positive results. Kokanee salmon numbers have increased and other predator fish have also benefited. In the early years of the program, bull trout were 20-30% heavier for a given length, and rainbow trout 17-24% heavier than in pre-fertilization conditions.

The Upper Arrow Lakes Nutrient Restoration Program is producing both environmental and social benefits. By increasing the number and average size of fish in the Arrow Lakes system, the program is benefiting the local sport fishery and is also providing an improved food source for wildlife such as bears and eagles.