Manitoba Hydro Considering Building New Dams For The First Time In Almost 10 Years

After nearly a decade without putting a spade into northern dirt, Manitoba Hydro is drawing up plans to get back into the dam-building business.

And this time, the utility, the province and the aboriginal people who have suffered the ill effects of past megaprojects all promise that things will be different.

Manitoba Hydro president Bob Brennan said the Crown corporation is considering three proposals, any one of which could see construction start sometime in the next six to eight years.

Two of the plans involve generating electricity with relatively small dams on the Burntwood River. The third option, a 600-megawatt dam on the Nelson River near Split Lake, seems to be the front-runner.

Brennan said because dams involve billions of dollars and thousands of jobs it is prudent to plan well ahead. ``We are certainly looking at the opportunities that may be there for building dams and exporting power,'' he said recently.

The utility is still dealing with the fallout from flooding and pollution complaints from projects completed more than a decade ago. One community -- Cross Lake -- is to this day working to discourage potential buyers of Manitoba power.

The proposed Gull Rapids dam on the Nelson River in north-central Manitoba would be built about 60 kilometres downstream from the community of Split Lake, and people there are already talking to Manitoba Hydro about how the project could affect them.

Chief Norman Flett said the seductive prospect of jobs for the community of 2,000 is a powerful motivator to work with Manitoba Hydro rather than against the utility -- but there are still worried about how it could impact their lives.

``We won't allow this project to proceed unless our concerns are met, and we've made our position clear,'' he said.

Flett says there seems to be a new era of relations between aboriginal communities and Manitoba Hydro.

He said that what had been taboo issues like revenue sharing and partnership in the dam are now being discussed. He credited the NDP government for the change in attitude.

The dilemma facing the government is that not many customers are willing to sign a long-term power deal. Without a deal, there is a reluctance to undertake a massive construction project that could run into the billions of dollars.

And although construction is years away, the dirt is already flying south of the border.

The U.S.-based Sierra Club is lobbying the Minnesota government to pull the plug on hydroelectric contracts with Manitoba.

On its Web site, the organization claims Manitoba Hydro is ``destroying 32 million acres of boreal forest and devastating the lives of 12,000 Cree aboriginal people. And the problem is about to get worse,'' it warns.

But Flett said problems should be worked out because all parties are working together this time.

``We're looking for a way to make these things happen.''