Jul 122020
The proponent continues to claim they will operate their hydro-electric generating station as “run-of-river” – that is, it would simply pass the water that would have flowed down the Bala falls.
This is a lie, as confirmed by this document which:
- Is an agreement the proponent signed with Ontario Power Generation which in point 3. requires that when there is less than 26 m³/s of flow (which as shown here would happen on more than a third of summer days), the Bala generating station must be operated in cycling mode.
- This means that the proponent would stop flow all night and morning allowing the water level of Lake Muskoka to rise and then begin operation without warning starting at about 11:00 am – when they are paid 50% more for the electricity produced and when people would most likely be in the water nearby.
- This means that the proponent would stop flow all night and morning allowing the water level of Lake Muskoka to rise and then begin operation without warning starting at about 11:00 am – when they are paid 50% more for the electricity produced and when people would most likely be in the water nearby.
- The proponent must comply with as required by the environment approval provided by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
So on more than a third of summer days, the proponent would start operation – without warning – of their dangerous generating station just when people would be in the water near-by. The proponent’s denial and lying about the dangers they have created by their unprecedented construction of a hydro-electric generating station in the middle of an extremely-popular in-water recreational area shows a flagrant lack of concern for public safety.