Bala Falls- A Guest Post part 9

Much has been written and published about the Bala Falls Hydro Project. Since one side (those bitterly opposed to it) has had more coverage, and more money invested in it, than the other side, I thought I would post the full text of this letter-to-the-editor.

A different point of view.

By Mike Webb, resident on the Moon River, Bala Muskoka.

At risk of being lynched or labelled as someone who doesn’t care about the fate of the Moon River, there really is a point of view that runs contrary to the current popular position within the Bala community. Those of us that do have a more temperate or eco-friendly stance on whether or not there should be some hydro power utilization from the dam structures in town are probably in the minority, but we do have an opinion never-the-less. I care about the health of my Moon River very much as my home is closer to it than probably any one else and for a few weeks in spring every year I live “over the Moon”.

To address the “natural beauty” of the Bala Falls proponents, who would prefer hydro generation further down the river system and not in our backyard, I offer to take you downstream to Sandy Gray rapids or Flat Rock falls to see some real “natural beauty” on our river. Do not read in any way that I am diminishing the beauty of the north or south falls in town from this as that is not the intent. They do have a large man-made content, however.
The Muskoka Heritage Foundation/Muskoka Watershed Council supports the use of existing man-made dam structures for power generation rather than new construction on any natural rapids or falls in Muskoka. I happen to agree with them.

The Bala falls were a “natural falls” until about 1875 when dams were constructed to moderate water levels on Lake Muskoka for navigation. The river also benefited as spring time levels on the Moon varied up to sixteen feet before construction. Can any of us imagine the impact of a sixteen foot rise in water level now? My home would certainly be wiped out along with Park Road, River Street, Trafalgar Bay Road and how many more landmarks? There is a huge outcry now when the level is up four to six feet during the annual spring freshet. Wow! 16 feet!

Subsequent to navigation considerations this dependable head of water on Lake Muskoka was harnessed for electrical energy. First the Mill Stream then the north falls had generator facilities built. I grew up with the concrete pillbox generator facility adjacent to the falls, as did my father and my grandmother and indeed all of us who vacationed here for many of the last 90 years. Its presence until 1972 did not seem to dampen tourism or swimming or fishing as is being touted now. Old pictures will bear this out.
Hindsight would dictate that if the old plant had been repaired and modernized in 1972 this whole “save the falls” issue would be a non-issue.

Interesting, that the Bala Electric Light and Power Company, the builder and owner of these two facilities, was a private “for profit” company before being turned over to provincial authority in 1929. This point is mentioned to address the fact that we are a free enterprise country and either Ontario Hydro (OPG) or a private company could be selected to construct such a facility and hopefully do it for a profitable bottom line. I think I trust private enterprise over OPG (read taxpayer) in this matter!

Indeed the Mill Stream plant, originally built by Thomas Burgess, was refurbished and re-commissioned not that long ago by a private company to sell power to the grid to pay for their investment. I can recall town meetings on that project as well with noise, boat launch issues, construction, fish habitat, profiting from our water, etc, etc being the rhetoric of those meetings as well. That issue today is another non-issue.

Other public outcries in Bala I can recall are the water and sewer line modernization including the outflow pipe which dumps treated town sewage into the middle of our river. If ever there was a stage for a Moon River protest, it was that!
What with the town being torn up for months and traffic jams and dust and blasting, we and the businesses in town got through it and as a result of that public works project going ahead, now have cleaner water to swim and fish in because less untreated sewage flows into the river. An issue of concern back then but certainly a non-issue now.

To sum up my thoughts on whether or not I “support” or “advocate” a new electricity producing plant at the Bala falls might seem ambivalent.

Ideally I would like the status quo to prevail and not have any change to the area in question. However, I also recognize the need for all of us to do small steps to reverse the impact of non-renewable production of power. Coal fired electricity production must end and it is difficult for us to send a message to neighbours in the Ohio valley where there are new facilities being built to do just that, when we are objecting to a small scale step back in time to have a small footprint, renewable resource facility here in Bala. If you have not seen Al Gore’s,
An Inconvenient Truth. I urge you to see it.

From meetings I have attended, Swift River Energy Limited have addressed objections and dealt with questions in a very professional fashion and I feel very comfortable with their proposal and honesty. If this project goes ahead it will not be the end of tourism for Bala or the Moon River and in fact there probably would be lots of benefits we would look back on and say, well that was kind of a non-issue wasn’t it.