Ontario Power Generation and Hydro Quebec,
We urge you to do what is in your power to save the American Eel.
The American Eel, a species listed as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and as Endangered in Ontario, has experienced dramatic population declines. In Ontario, the population has declined by more than 99 per cent. One of the greatest threats to American Eels has been hydrodams, which block the migration of juveniles, and kill adults as they travel through turbines. To help save this species, we urge you to turn off your generators at night and spill water during the adult eel migration season to help save this species.
You have been working on cost effective solutions to help the American Eel for more than a decade now. It is important to take steps to find technologies that will save the eel, however, you are moving at such a slow pace that the American Eel cannot afford to wait any longer.
The Ontario Waterpower Association has identified multiple technologies that can help save the American Eel. They identified spilling water as an effective way of getting adult eels safely around dams.
Until you put a technology in place that will help to save the eel, we urge you to turn off your generators at night. American Eels migrate over a three month period during the summer season – namely from July to September. We know that 75 per cent of American Eels migrate at night which is off peak in terms of energy demands for your company.
If you simply spill water at night during this three month time period instead of running your water through turbines, you could effectively reduce a great proportion of the eels killed. You could reduce mortality by 38 per cent if you turn your generators off for just half the night. Alternatively, you could simply turn off your generators during the night for half the summer season. Or you could reduce mortality by 75 per cent if you turn your generators off for the entire night all summer.
We realize that this could come at a cost to your company, but compared to other mitigation options that are available to you, such as turbine replacement, turning off your generators at night is the most cost effective and the best interim solution until more cost effective solutions can be developed.
If you don’t have better alternatives in place, please spill water at night so we can give the American Eel a chance of surviving.