Project Description
Site C Technical Advisory Committee Process
The Site C hydroelectric project has long been an important and controversial option for meeting BC’s future electricity needs. The dam and generating station, once completed, will provide about 900 megawatts of capacity, and produce about 4,600-gigawatt hours of electricity each year. As a component of pre-environmental assessment activities, BC Hydro initiated a technical advisory committee (TAC) process to collect input and advice from First Nations and government agencies on environmental and social issues, key information needs, and opportunities to improve the design of the project.
Compass designed and led the technical advisory committees (TACs) for the proposed Site C project. Seven TAC processes were completed over a seven-month period for effects related to fisheries, wildlife, greenhouse gases, land use, heritage, community services and infrastructure, and recreation. The TAC processes involved facilitating multi-stakeholder meetings and structured elicitations of expert information.
The information and advice collected informed BC Hydro’s recommendation to the government (and Cabinet’s subsequent direction) to proceed with a more detailed environmental assessment (Stage 3) of the Site C project. At the conclusion of this work, Compass was additionally asked by the BC Ministry of Environment (MOE) to help create a draft framework for developing fisheries and wildlife management objectives to guide MOE’s participation in on-going Site C consultations.
Related Projects: Water, Fish and Wildlife, Infrastructure, Environmental Assessment, Cumulative Effects, Indigenous, Structured Decision Making, Technical Working Groups
