Working Hard to Safeguard Paddling Assets for All Canadians

All about Whitewater

All about Whitewater
A Blog about River Preservation and the need to protect our free flowing whitewater resources

Friday, August 3, 2007

Inflatables on the Ottawa?








Clearly: inflatables are not allowed.




Private Inflatables on the Ottawa River: is this good or bad


Get involved in access issues by networking with other interested and effectives parties.

Question: is there a need to continue to work with Ottawa River rafting companies to secure access for private inflatables? Controlled access and egress seems to limit competition.

OWL provides private kayak access to the river at McKoys. This is an invaluable kayaker resource that should be preserved and protected.
Wilderness Tours has recently hosted the World Freestyle championships and provides kayak take out at "Black's" another invaluable resource. Thanks to farmer Black and Joe Kowalski.

On the other hand, private inflatables (Shredders, duckies Etc.) are not currently allowed at kayak/C1 access in favour of the LaPasse put-in
and take out on some public access above Portage.

Private companies have the right to decide who uses their property and facilities, including deciding how cars are parked on their
access roads and what kind of craft is going in and out.

Some may see the limiting of private inflatables use of the river by controlling access as a very serious access issue other may care less.

Private rafters are legitimate river users and that may consider a ban on private rafts as unreasonable restriction flying in the face of access responsibilities of commercial riverside landowners : which at present are moral and ethical rather than legal or practical.

But the whitewater section of the Ottawa river is not a park. Its banks are under municipal and or private jurisdiction and organization. There is no responsibility to provide access for all.

True public access to the Ottawa river would have to be provided by a level of government acting in the public interest. Until that step is taken controlled access and egress and the threat of blocked access will
allow operators to pick and choose who can run a river that is being and essential create a situation where the river itself has become a privately owned resource.

Whitewater Ontario is very interested in all aspects of river development which may impinge upon the traditional rights of whitewater recreational and commercial paddlers. We wish to establish a dialogue with key Ministry (MNR) Contacts and take steps to ensure that Whitewater Ontario and/or its affiliates will be considered as potential intervenors, committee members and stakeholders of record for the development of new water management plans in the province. As whitewater paddlers, our interests often overlap with the interests of hydro-power development. But we understand that is the reality of resource use today, and that the best development is a development that takes into consideration all of the values of a resource. Whitewater Ontario would like to be directly notified, via email dispatches, of pending river development projects that may impinge upon traditional whitewater paddling activities including bridges, or dams, which may curtail traditional navigation as described under the Navigable Waters Protection Act and any shoreside development which may curtail traditional access and portage rights. To this end, Whitewater Ontario is working to beome a stakeholder of record on all new site applications. We believe the number of new site projects that paddlers will have concerns about will be small but we will be able to provide assistance in the public consultation, environmental assessment and impact assessment phases.

Outside of Ontario we are dismayed by the case the of a Quebec river, the Kipawa, which is currently being argued in federal court, where a dam owner completely ignored the navigation rights of paddlers in contravention of the Navigable Waters Protection Act.

Your assistance would be appreciated in achieving these objectives by becoming more involved with Whitewater Ontario as an active member, working on committees, projects, or as a member of the executive decision making group.

For ongoing information be sure to contact our office administrator, Donna Boadway, or me as the president of Whitewater Ontario. I have a personal blog, whitewaterontario.blogspot.com and there is the official site of Whitewater Ontario: www.whitewaterontario.ca

Thanks again for becoming a member
_________________
Working hard to safeguard paddling assets for all Canadians


Pete

1 comment:

Peter Karwacki said...

Private Inflatables on the Ottawa River: is this good or bad


Get involved in access issues by networking with other interested and effectives parties.

Question: is there a need to continue to work with Ottawa River rafting companies to secure access for private inflatables? Controlled access and egress seems to limit competition.

OWL provides private kayak access to the river at McKoys. This is an invaluable kayaker resource that should be preserved and protected.
Wilderness Tours has recently hosted the World Freestyle championships and provides kayak take out at "Black's" another invaluable resource. Thanks to farmer Black and Joe Kowalski.

On the other hand, private inflatables (Shredders, duckies Etc.) are not currently allowed at kayak/C1 access in favour of the LaPasse put-in
and take out on some public access above Portage.

Private companies have the right to decide who uses their property and facilities, including deciding how cars are parked on their
access roads and what kind of craft is going in and out.

Some may see the limiting of private inflatables use of the river by controlling access as a very serious access issue other may care less.

Private rafters are legitimate river users and that may consider a ban on private rafts as unreasonable restriction flying in the face of access responsibilities of commercial riverside landowners : which at present are moral and ethical rather than legal or practical.

But the whitewater section of the Ottawa river is not a park. Its banks are under municipal and or private jurisdiction and organization. There is no responsibility to provide access for all.

True public access to the Ottawa river would have to be provided by a level of government acting in the public interest. Until that step is taken controlled access and egress and the threat of blocked access will
allow operators to pick and choose who can run a river that is being and essential create a situation where the river itself has become a privately owned resource.

Whitewater Ontario is very interested in all aspects of river development which may impinge upon the traditional rights of whitewater recreational and commercial paddlers. We wish to establish a dialogue with key Ministry (MNR) Contacts and take steps to ensure that Whitewater Ontario and/or its affiliates will be considered as potential intervenors, committee members and stakeholders of record for the development of new water management plans in the province. As whitewater paddlers, our interests often overlap with the interests of hydro-power development. But we understand that is the reality of resource use today, and that the best development is a development that takes into consideration all of the values of a resource. Whitewater Ontario would like to be directly notified, via email dispatches, of pending river development projects that may impinge upon traditional whitewater paddling activities including bridges, or dams, which may curtail traditional navigation as described under the Navigable Waters Protection Act and any shoreside development which may curtail traditional access and portage rights. To this end, Whitewater Ontario is working to beome a stakeholder of record on all new site applications. We believe the number of new site projects that paddlers will have concerns about will be small but we will be able to provide assistance in the public consultation, environmental assessment and impact assessment phases.

Outside of Ontario we are dismayed by the case the of a Quebec river, the Kipawa, which is currently being argued in federal court, where a dam owner completely ignored the navigation rights of paddlers in contravention of the Navigable Waters Protection Act.

Your assistance would be appreciated in achieving these objectives by becoming more involved with Whitewater Ontario as an active member, working on committees, projects, or as a member of the executive decision making group.

For ongoing information be sure to contact our office administrator, Donna Boadway, or me as the president of Whitewater Ontario. I have a personal blog, whitewaterontario.blogspot.com and there is the official site of Whitewater Ontario: www.whitewaterontario.ca

Thanks again for becoming a member
_________________
Working hard to safeguard paddling assets for all Canadians


Pete

Canadian Rivers

Canadian Rivers
I speak for river users too!

The Queen is not amused!

The Queen is not amused!
http://www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca/

The Damned Dam - 2005 -

The Damned Dam - 2005 -
22nd Annual Kipaw Rally has modest turnout. - 23rd does better

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

Whitewater Ontario

Whitewater Ontario
Working Hard to Protect Canada's Paddling Resources

Whitewater Ontario - Mission Statement

It is Whitewater Ontario’s mission to support the whitewater paddling community through the promotion, development and growth of the sport in its various disciplines. We accomplish this through the development of events, resources, clubs, and programs for personal and athletic development, regardless of skill level or focus, to ensure a high standard of safety and competency; We advocate safe and environmentally responsible access and use of Ontario’s rivers. Whitewater Ontario is the sport governing body in the province, and represents provincial interests within the national body Whitewater Canada and the Canadian Canoe Association http://www.whitewaterontario.ca/page/mission.asp

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican
If Hydro Quebec is not actively pursuing Tabaret what is that bite out of Opemican for?

Kipawa Dam: After

Kipawa Dam: After
Laniel Dam at 2006 Rally

Where is the Kipawa

Where is the Kipawa
Kipawa flows into lake Temiskamingue, running from Kipawa Lake, under hwy 101 in Quebec

Kipawa Dam

Kipawa Dam
laniel dam at 2004 River Rally

Tabaret is a Bad Idea

About the Kipawa



The best thing paddlers can do to help the cause of the Kipawa:

1. attend the rally and bring others including non paddlers to attend and buy beer and have fun

2. write your MP /MNA and raise the issue and post your objections -1 letter = 200 who didn't write

3. Write Thierry Vandal the CEO of Hydro Quebec strongly opposing the 132 MW standard decrying the use of "diversion" as the most environmentally inappropriate method of power production

4. Write Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec protesting that either the algonquin or the tabaret project will eliminate all other values on the Kipawa River by turning it into a dry gulch.

5. See if you can get other allied groups interested by showing your own interest, ie the Sierra Defense Fund, Earthwild, MEC, and so on.

6. Demand further consultation

7. Currently we are at the point where we need to sway public opinion and raise awareness.

However, if all else fails, don't get mad, simply disrupt, foment, and protest . The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Have you read Edward Abbey?

Important Addresses
CEO,Hydro Québec, 75 boul René Levesque, Montreal, P.Q., H2Z 1A4Caille.andre@hydro.qc.ca



Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Two)

Les Amis de la Riviere Kipawa is poised to use an application to the Federal Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to ensure the Minster does what he is supposed to do, protect the public's right to navigate the water control structure at Laniel, Quebec using the Navigable Waters Protection Act. (see http://www.kipawariver.ca/)

In the now gutted Navigable Waters Protection Act lay the means by which the Minister of Transport could keep the public right of passage down our great Canadian Heritage, our rivers and streams which are threatened especially by resource corporations and power brokers such as Hydro Quebec.

These powerful entities continue to petition that 'this' river or 'that' stream is not navigable and therefore not protectable.
I don't say that dams and bridges should not be built, only that if they are, historical navigation rights should be considered and preserved by making reasonable accommodations for recreational boaters.

It is the Minister of Transport, in exercising the right to allow or disallow work on or over a navigable waterway is what keeps boats and recreational boaters plying our waterways.

To many recent cases launched in the Federal Court concerning the Navigable Waters Protection Act, most recently the case of the Humber Environment Group of Cornerbrook Newfoundland versus the Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper Company indicates that the important oversight is not being faithfully performed. Have we really come to the point now where we must say "such and such a stream is one foot deep, possessing so many cubic feet per second flow and so on?" The answer to this is... YES!

The honourable Mr. Justice John A. O'Keefe, ruled that it had not been shown that the river was navigable. How convenient was that to the Minister? But either the Minister of Transport acts to protect our rivers and streams as a public right or he does not and that means rivers and streams currently enjoyed by kayakers and canoists.

Enough of the cheating, and double-talk. Canadians! our rivers and streams are our own, lets urge the Minister of Transport and the our government to protect them.

Peter Karwacki

Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Three)

10 Reasons WhyTabaret is a Bad Idea1) Tabaret is too big. The station is designed to useevery drop of water available in the Kipawawatershed, but will run at only 44 percent capacity.We believe the Tabaret station is designed to usewater diverted from the Dumoine River into theKipawa watershed in the future. 2) The Tabaret project will eliminate the aquaticecosystem of the Kipawa River.The Tabaret project plan involves the diversion of a16-km section of the Kipawa River from its naturalstreambed into a new man-made outflow from LakeKipawa. 3) Tabaret will leave a large industrial footprint on thelandscape that will impact existing tourismoperations and eliminate future tourism potential. 4) The Tabaret project is an aggressive single-purposedevelopment, designed to maximize powergeneration at the expense of all other uses. 5) River-diversion, such as the Tabaret project, takinglarge amounts of water out of a river’s naturalstreambed and moving it to another place, is verydestructive to the natural environment. 6) The Kipawa River has been designated a protectedgreenspace in the region with severe limitations ondevelopment. This designation recognizes theecological, historical and natural heritage value ofthe river and the importance of protecting it.Tabaret will eliminate that value. 7) If necessary, there are other, smarter and morereasonable options for producing hydro power onthe Kipawa watershed. It is possible to build a lowimpactgenerating station on the Kipawa river, andmanage it as a “run-of-the-river” station, makinguse of natural flows while maintaining other values,with minimal impact on the environment. 8) The Kipawa watershed is a rich natural resource forthe Temiscaming Region, resonably close to largeurban areas, with huge untapped potential fortourism and recreation development in the future.Tabaret will severely reduce this potential. 9) Tabaret provides zero long-term economic benefitfor the region through employment. The plan is forthe station to be completely automated andremotely operated. 10) The Kipawa River is 12,000 years old. The riverwas here thousands of years before any peoplecame to the region. The Tabaret project will change all that.

Problems on a local River?

  • There is more to do as well but you have to do your research and above all, don't give up.
  • IN the meantime prepared a document itemizing the history of navigation of this spot and its recreational value. Use the Kipawa river history of navigation as a guide: see www.kipawariver.ca
  • Under the Ministry of Environment guidelines you have a set period of time to petition the change under the environmental bill of rights, you may have limited time to take this action. But it involves going to court for a judicial review of the decision.
  • 4. contact the ministry of natural resources officials and do the same thing.
  • 3. contact the ministry of the environment and determine if they approved the project
  • 2. determine if the dam was a legal dam, approved under the navigable waters protection act.
  • 1. research the decision and timing of it to determine if an environmental assessment was done.

Minden Ontario

Minden Ontario
Gull River Water control at Horseshoe lake

A History of Navigation on the Kipawa River

Prior to the environmental assessment there was no signage at the Laniel Dam

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!
Send $25 and a stamped self addressed envelop for the Tshirt, and for the bumper sticker, a stamped and self addressed envelope with $5.00 for the bumper sticker to Les Amis de la rivière Kipawa, 80 Ontario St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 1K9 or click the link To purchase a Les Amis "T" contact Doug with the following information: Number of shirts:Sizes: Ship to Address: Method of Payment: cash, cheque and paypal, Shipto address:

Bumper Stickers Now Available

Bumper Stickers Now Available
Get your bumper sticker and show your support for the Kipawa Legal Fund ! - send $5.00 in a Stamped, self addressed envelope to: Peter Karwacki Box 39111, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 7X0