Concerns over planned or catastrophic discharges into Harper Creek

We have been property owners, recreators, and observers in the Barriere River valley for 50 years.  During that time we have appreciated the beauty of the area and the slow recovery of the natural setting following the removal of the dam at the month of North Barriere Lake and extensive logging up the Harper Creek valley.   We have been particularly encouraged by the number of salmon species returning to spawn in River.  Those species returned in much smaller number in our earlier years in the valley.  The return of the sockeye salmon is an event we look forward to, as do the many fishers angling for the large trout tagging behind the spawners.  We noticed last year that there was a very large return of pink salmon downstream of North Barriere Lake and the month of Harper Creek.  The number of post-spawning dead pinks was noteworthy not just because of the odour created but more importantly the food and nutrient input they made to the ecosystem.

Although we have been fortunate to see an increasingly rich natural environment in the Barriere valley, the area has become a victim of changing and erratic weather patterns that impact streamflow volumes and timing.  We have seen a number of large and harsh fires since the 2003 Barriere fire.  In the same year a fire started near the east end of North Barriere Lake and burned well into the Fall and almost to the height of land above Vavenby (the proposed ore shipping point of the Taseko mine).  The increased erosion and sediment load entering the river and lake has been noticeable over the last 10 years.  This fire was one of the 2003 harbingers of the fire storm era we seem to have entered.  The interior wet belt areas, of which the Barriere Valley is one, again seem to be highly susceptible to these fires due high historic fuel loads, warmer winters and summer droughts that we didn't observe in the seventies and eighties.  Our fear is that the fish populations and water quality will inevitably be affected.  
 

if we look ahead and think about the impacts to the Barriere Valley environment that will continue and accelerate due to climate change, it seems very shortsighted to exacerbate these negative changes by adding metered mine waste, periodic tailings releases, and the potential for catastrophic dam failure into the mix.  Harper Creek is a major tributary to the Barriere River but has increasingly erratic flows.  The creek flows and temperatures this year were cause for concern as creek fly fishers would attest.  Harper Creek enters the Barriere River in a key location.  Any detrimental material entering the creek will impact all fish in the system not to mention the domestic water supply for the community of Barriere and upstream rural residents.

i think the bottom line to this note of concern is that there should be no discharges into Harper Creek, period.  I only hope that the designers of any tailings dam also do their due diligence and strongly consider the periodic heavy snow years we see in the Barriere River uplands including Dunn Peals Provincial Park which is just southwest of the proposed miming complex.  We can have mountains of snow that these days can melt rapidly and unpredictably.

Thank you for your consideration.  Let"s not risk a beautiful valley for 25 years of mining, minerals and profits.

Rod & Carol Willis