
Traveling Troubled Water Before Manitoba Hydro flooded Southern Indian Lake—as part of the massive Churchill River Diversion—it was home to the second largest whitefish fishery in North America. It was also home to the thriving Cree community into which fisherman Les Dysart, pictured, was born. (Map here.)

Fuel Source At least a quarter of the water that will flow through the recently approved Keeyask dam will come from Southern Indian Lake (map here). Hydro’s “new era” dams plug directly into the damage shown in these photos, and the 800 square kilometres of flooding caused by Churchill River Diversion.

De-watered (Before) Where Southern Indian Lake empties into the Lower Churchill River, the Missi Falls Control Structure blocks most of the flow (map and description). Hydro holds water back in the lake so it can divert it southward to the big dams when needed. As a result, areas downstream of Missi Falls—areas used by the Cree—are “de-watered,” as pictured.

Flushed (After) The same location as the previous photo (note clothesline) after Hydro released a torrent of water from the lake in July 2014. Due to rain and the fact that Hydro had allowed the lake to get too high, it was forced to release water. Even so, it admitted violating the allowed levels of flooding on the lake.

Fighting for a Fishery In a 2013 article, fisherman Steve Ducharme said government should stop granting Hydro annual permission to deviate from the licence terms originally set out. These deviations occur with no formal regulatory process or oversight. Ducharme says a return to the actual licence terms would ease the tremendous stress on the lake and allow partial recovery of the fishery.
Manitoba Hydro is probably flooding or depleting the spawning areas at crucial times.
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