BC Hydro to spill at both Hudson's Hope dams

The spill may continue, uninterrupted, until mid-August depending upon inflows into Williston Reservoir. 

According to Hydro, by spilling now, before the Williston Reservoir is full, Hydro can release a smaller amount of wate,r minimizing the likelihood of a larger spill later on in the season.

Hydro says the spill planned to start tomorrow shouldn’t cause flooding and communities down stream have been notified.

The current inflow forecast for the Williston reservoir is 125 per cent of normal for the remaining runoff season, which has been caused by higher than average snowpacks and recent rainfall throughout the B.C. Interior.

B.C. Hydro is expected to spill between 570 and 1,415 cubic metres per second (m³/s), (20,000 to 50,000 cubic feet per second) of water at both dams. Including the water used by the generating units, total discharge downstream of Peace Canyon Dam is expected to be between 2,150 and 3,000 m3/s (75,000 and 105,000 cfs). By comparison, the maximum normal discharge from Peace Canyon Dam is 1,982 m3/s.

For safety reasons, the public is reminded that they should stay away from the spillway structure at either facility and cannot stop on the W.A.C. Bennett Dam crest road to view the spill.  Safe locations for public viewing of the spills are at the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Visitor Centre or the Peace Canyon Dam Visitor Centre.

The last spill of this kind was in 2002.