Whitehorse dam licence must account for climate change and flood risk, residents say

At least one residents' association is calling on the Yukon Water Board to come up with stricter conditions for Yukon Energy's Whitehorse hydroelectric dam, saying the effects of climate change are far too great to keep with the status quo.

Doug Phillips has lived upstream from the dam, on the shores of Marsh Lake, for more than 28 years and is part of the South McClintock and Army Beach Water Committee. He says many residents want concrete plans enforced by the regulator.

The Southern Lakes region, including Marsh Lake, has been prone to flooding in recent years during the spring and summer melt and area residents fear the flood risk will continue to grow as the climate changes. Some feel that Yukon Energy can do more to offset that risk by the way it operates the Whitehorse dam.

Phillips says that the company has so far not done enough to answer those concerns. 

"A lot of our workings with Yukon Energy in the past have been built on trust and the trust has been eroded," he said. 

"We don't have that trust anymore."

The committee was present at a recent Yukon Water Board hearing into the dam, the same hearing where Yukon First Nations spoke of decades-long impacts on salmon, culture and rights. 

Yukon Energy is seeking a new, 20-year licence term. Its proposal is in front of the Water Board, now tasked with determining whether to issue a licence and what it should look like.

During the hearing, South McClintock and Army Beach Water Committee members said there needs to be a more proactive approach when it comes to climate change. That looks like Yukon Energy and the territory collecting more data about water levels, and increasing monitoring efforts which would help residents better prepare for high and low water events.

"We feel that the Yukon government and Yukon Energy doesn't have a handle on the snow load in the Yukon in the mountains in the winter that feeds one of the largest lake systems or the largest lake system in the Yukon," Phillips said.

Phillips said he's watched the lake water slowly but surely encroach on his property. He said his property line is now about 4.5 metres into the lake. 

Phillips was there during the 2007 and 2021 floods in the Southern Lakes region, the latter of which required assistance from the Canadian military to keep properties from further inundation, resulting in millions in dollars in damages.

Phillips said those sort of severe floods shouldn't happen again. He said residents need action, not lip service. 

"They [Yukon Energy] recognize that there's dramatic changes with respect to climate change. It doesn't make sense to propose the same water level with the same rules, the same regulations, no mandatory requirements. You know, the days are over when Yukon Energy can manage the lake solely for power."

Yukon Energy not in control — nature is

Michael Muller, Yukon Energy's vice president of planning, environment, health and safety, said the company has no control over the amount and timing of water flowing into the Southern Lakes system.

"That's determined by weather," he said. "It's determined by snowpack, it's determined by temperature, it can be determined by precipitation. We know that all of this is being influenced by climate change."

Muller said when there are flood waters, the extent Yukon Energy can influence levels is less than 10 centimetres. 

Phillips told CBC News Yukon Energy during those events Yukon Energy should focus on lowering levels in Schwatka Lake, the dam's reservoir downstream from Marsh Lake. 

Muller said that view is valid, but "not particularly constructive."

That's because he said the company would need to operate at low supply levels for months to make a difference, which would cost more from taxpayers.

"Looking at snowpack, looking at temperature, looking at precipitation, modelling water levels is what we do," Muller said. "So we're doing that. We're doing it right now, We're doing it better than we've ever done, right? We have better tools, we have more information."

Still, in terms of how the dam itself is operated, he acknowledged "we're doing many of the same things that we've been doing for 20 years."