The Peace/Williston Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (PWFWCP)

The program area comprises the watersheds of the Williston and Dinosaur reservoirs in north-central British Columbia. Together, the two reservoirs and their watersheds control water from a catchment area of approximately 70,000 square kilometres, an area twice the size of Vancouver Island. Inhabiting the streams, reservoirs, and lands of these watersheds are 24 fish species and 295 wildlife species ranging from the Arctic grayling, a prized fighting fish, to the almost unknown long-toed salamander.

The Peace river is the only river that rises west of the Continental Divide and flows east through the mountains to the Great Plains. This means the river was there before the mountains! Thus, as the mountains slowly grew the river continuously eroded its course to the east.

The Williston Reservoir and Watershed
The Williston Reservoir is the largest body of freshwater in B.C. It has a surface area of close to 1,800 square kilometres and a shoreline perimeter of 1,770 kilometres. The reservoir was created in north-central B.C. by the construction in 1968 of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam across the Peace River, which plunges from the Rocky Mountain Trench to the Mackenzie River system and the Arctic Ocean. The reservoir, with its three main reaches (Finlay, Parsnip, and Peace), is situated within the Rocky Mountain Trench between 55° and 57° latitude.

Prior to the creation of Williston Reservoir in 1968, the Finlay and Parsnip Rivers joined on the west side of the Rocky Mountains to form the Peace River. The Peace River (now the Peace Reach) passes through the Rocky Mountains from west to east; this is the only river that bisects the Rocky Mountains. The W.A.C. Bennett Dam now impounds a drainage area of approximately 70,000 square kilometres, forming Williston Reservoir with a storage volume of over 74 billion cubic metres. The Williston Reservoir is currently the 9th largest man-made lake in the world. After passing through the G.M. Shrum powerhouse, which generates 2,730 megawatts, water is discharged into the much smaller Dinosaur Reservoir. The G.M. Shrum and Peace Canyon powerhouses provide up to about 30 percent of British Columbia's power needs.

The topography of the Williston watershed varies from rugged mountains (Mt. Ulysses 3,024 m) to low-elevation flats and the Williston Reservoir (670 m) in the Rocky Mountain Trench. In addition to the Finlay and Parsnip rivers, other major tributaries in the watershed are the Table, Anzac, Misinchinka, Crooked, Nation, Manson, Omineca, Osilinka, Mesilinka, Ingenika, Akie, Ospika, and Nabesche Rivers.

The Dinosaur Reservoir and Watershed
The Dinosaur Reservoir (created in 1980) is a much narrower reservoir, confined by the steep walls of the Peace Canyon (Rocky Mountains) on either side. This 23-km waterbody is a run-of-the-river reservoir, capable of storing only 216 million cubic metres of water. After passing through the 700 MW power plant at the Peace Canyon Generating Station near Hudson's Hope, water is then discharged to form the Peace River that flows northeast past the community of Taylor, B.C. through Alberta to the Peace/Athabasca Delta and Mackenzie River before eventually draining into the Arctic Ocean. Water levels of the Dinosaur Reservoir fluctuate to a much lesser degree than the Williston Reservoir (e.g., 3 metres) but fluctuations can occur on a more frequent basis, often daily.

The Dinosaur Reservoir watershed, encompassing 750 square kilometres, is situated in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Its topography rises from the reservoir surface (503 m) to a few mountainous peaks in the west, including Mt. Gething at 1,823 m. The main tributaries to the watershed are Johnson and Gething Creeks.

Natural Faunal Break

The upper Peace consists of all waters tributary to the Peace River upstream of the Peace Canyon Dam. At first this definition may appear arbitrary but in reality it coincides to a natural faunal break. Before the construction of the Bennett and Peace Canyon dams there was a narrow gorge where the river cut through Butler Ridge (an eastern extension of the Rocky Mountain Foothills). Here, over a distance of approximately 20 km the river dropped about 70 m. Apparently, the chutes, cascades, and rapids in this section of the river prevented the upstream dispersal of Great Plains fish. Thus, for fish, the Peace drainage basin consists of two distinct sections - the drainage above Peace Canyon (the upper Peace), and drainage below Peace Canyon (the lower Peace). The lower Peace contains a typical northern plains fish fauna (e.g., pike, walleye, goldeye, troutperch, and spoonhead sculpin) all of which are absent above the Peace Canyon. Twenty-two fish species inhabit the upper Peace drainage system (see Fish List). Of these, 21 are indigenous and one (the brook trout) is introduced.

Vegetation
Vegetation in the program area varies from forests of various conifer trees (spruce, fir and pine) to shrubby areas and deciduous stands of aspen or cottonwood. Marshes, small and large streams, acid bogs, and lakes all provide wetland habitats for many of the fish and wildlife species.

Climate
The watersheds have long, cold winters, short growing seasons, and deep snow over most of their area. They lie within the Continental Subarctic Climatic Zone dominated by continental polar air. Daily temperatures may range from +33degrees Celsius in August to -49 degrees in January. Snow begins falling in October and increases in depth until March. The Williston Reservoir usually freezes over in late November or early December and breaks up with the spring thaw in mid-May. Due to the release of water from the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, the entire Dinosaur Reservoir does not usually freeze.

Communities
Located in the watersheds are the communities of Bear Lake, Kwadacha, Germansen Landing, Hudson's Hope, Mackenzie, Manson Creek, McLeod Lake, and Tsay Keh Dene.
There are also remote logging camps throughout the program area.

First Nations
First Nations with interests in the watersheds are the McLeod Lake Band, West Moberley First Nation, Saulteau First Nation, Kwadacha First Nation, Tsay Keh Dene First Nation, Doig River Band, Halfway River Band, Blueberry Band, Treaty 8 Tribal Council, and the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council.

Access
About two-thirds of the Williston and Dinosaur watersheds are now accessible by road, primarily gravel roads. There are no roads in the upper Finlay River drainage and no road access to the north shore of the Peace Reach, although forest harvesting takes place north of the Peace Reach via barge or fly-in access. Boater access to the reservoirs themselves is limited to a few boat launches. Strong currents caused by the generating station mean extreme caution should be used when navigating on the Williston Reservoir.