Kenney Dam - Environmental Impacts

Environmental Impacts

Construction of the dam involved flooding 32,000 acres of land in order to create the Nechako Reservoir. This flooding impacted surrounding agricultural land and caused the loss of 8.7 cubic meters of timber. The reservoir also disrupted existing ecosystems, and impacted animals such as beavers, Canadian geese, ducks, moose, and about 100 trumpeter swans, equivalent to one eighth of Canada's swan population. The Nechako Reservoir took four years to fill, during these four year there was no flow running from the Nechako Reservoir for 50 miles between the dam and the Nautley River. The fish left in this section of the river remained trapped and died. Local animals that relied on that section of the river were also forced to migrate. In the first two years of operation, smelter emissions from the new Aluminum plant in Kitimat were believed to have caused further forest depletion, health problems for local workers, and harm on aquatic ecosystems.