cian tS nee it ton: PAGE Saturday, August 15, 1992 @ z i a = = 3 _ OurViEWS AdrianRAESIDE Reliahic Rankin f the City of Castlegar was looking to polish its tarnished image following the discovery of the secret Price Waterhouse report, it couldn’t have picked a better way to, do it. The city hand-picked lawyer Murray Rankin to resurrect its sagging image. One of the individuals behind B.C.’s new privacy act, Rankin has enough credibility to pull this exhaustive exercise off. Rankin has promised to be meticulous in his handling of the 35- page report. And why not, he’s being paid by the hour at $190'an hour. Despite the unnecessary expenditure — which could have been avoided altogether had the city revealed the study following its completion two years ago — Rankin will make the most of this opportunity. Like the report itself, Rankin will pull no punches in his review of the in-house study of the city’s operations which cost taxpayers $24,000. He is committed to the ideals of public information and that will become evident when the report finally surfaces. So determined to provide the public with information it has every right to, Rankin is now willing to put his reputation on the line. Thursday Rankin said he would open himself to criticism should the public not be satisfied with his final analysis. It’s a shame the city wasn’t willing to do the same when it wrote the $24,000 cheque two years. e ae RRR SQW % EE Wada Reflections of a summer vacation Some thoughts upon my interesting hikes. return to Castlegar after two weeks’ vacation: 1. Castlegar has so many things to offer visitors, beginning with its natural beauty. We have terrific hiking trails around here, but so often only the locals know them — and even then only a few locals. I’ve always believed that we should be promoting those trails better, so that visitors are given one more Comments from the Crossroads But it’s one thing to produce the brochure; it’s another to get it into the hands of people I guess that’s what I’m trying to do now by telling everyone that the brochure is available at the local tourism centre (though when I called on Wednesday there was only one copy left. Hopefully, they will get more.) It may just come in handy the next time you're reason to stay in the area. For instance, there is a wonderful hike to Deer Creek Falls near Deer Park along a trail carved out by the Ministry of Forests. But no one I spoke with had even heard of it. This week I came across a brochure detailing all the forestry trails in the Arrow Forest District. Sure enough, the Deer Creek trail was included — along with all sorts of other, trying to figure out what to do with those long-lost relatives who turned up on your doorstep. 2. We could sure do a better job of displaying this area’s cultural heritage. Take the Doukhobor Historic Village across from the airport. The volunteers who have constructed, and maintain and help staff the facility have worked extremely hard over the years. please see NORMAN page 6 Street WALK aa Todd VanTamelen Vancouver “No, I don’t.” Doug Cummings Castlegar “No.” Diane Littlejohn Castlegar “It depends on how it all pans out.” Cathy Nixon Kamloops “No, I don’t. Mexico will be exploited.” Gunetion: Do you think a free trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is a good idea? Elmer Guindon Castlegar “No.” ’ 8 Saturday, August 15, 1992 Other EWS Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. V1N 3H4 or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9a.m. and 5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters toWH E ED iTOR Religious bigotry is alive and well Re Karl Kristiansen’s letter (The News, Aug. 5). I see that religious bigotry is alive and well here in the West Kootenay. Kristiansen, in his letter, would have us all believe that Moslems are all schimtar- swinging fanatics who would exterminate all us good Christian folk. In fact, the view that killing infidels will somehow get you into paradise is shared only by a few radical factions of Islam, and not by the Islam religion in general. Most Moslems would hardly appreciate being painted with the same brush as these factions, just as most Christians would object to being stood up alongside of Mr. Oral “give-me- money-and-I’ll-send-you-to- heaven” Roberts. Kristiansen then goes on to state that numerous atrocities have been committed against Christians by Moslems. This is more or less true. But, might I draw yo. attention to a little incident called the Holy Crusades, in which thousands of Moslems were slaughtered in the name of Christianity by someone named Richard the Lion-Hearted? Might I also point out that the greatest religious massacre in history, the Jewish holocaust, was committed by individuals who considered themselves Christians? Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing Christianity. Every religion has its share of atrocities committed by misguided zealots which the general membership must endure. But I think Mr. Kristiansen should read his own Bible a little more closely, especially Matthew 7:5, which reads “You hypocrites, first take the log out of your own eye, then you may see more clearly to take the speck out of your brothers. Better get the mirror and the tweezers, Mr. Kristiansen. Shannon Mitchell Arrow Lakes in B.C. Hydro’ S good hands In view of concerns about continuing low water levels and flows on the Columbia system, a river which is managed jointly under international treaty by Canada and the U.S.A., the following information may assist in gaining a fuller understanding of the situation. For example, several factors have contributed to the low level of the Arrow Lakes Reservoir, among them the steady deterioration of the runoff volume forecast for the Columbia basin over the season. The Jan. 1 forecast for the entire basin was for runoff to be approximately 85 per cent of normal. By June 1, the forecast had reduced to 64 per cent of normal. It is now likely that 1992 will be one of the driest years on record. As well, discharges from the reservoir were unusually low during the period mid- March to mid-May. Rather than requesting higher Arrow discharges during this period, the U.S. entity opted to purchase energy from various sources. The intent of their action was to save a volume of water for release during the latter part of May and June to support their power system during their “fish flush” period. During this period, the U.S. entity is obligated to pass a relatively high discharge down to the mouth of the Columbia River. The lower spring releases were re Sbcscted by us at the time, since low discharges were desirable for the Norns Creek rainbow trout spawning studies. As a result of low discharges during this period, the reservoir was at near record high levels until mid-May, filling from a low of 429.0 metres (1407.5 feet) on March 17 to a high of 434.7 metres (1426.3 feet) on May 14. Under the Columbia River Treaty, Assured Operating Plan (AOP) studies are undertaken six years in advance of each operating year. The AOP studies develop reservoir operating rules which optimize energy generation in the combined Canadian-American power system. Of the three treaty reservoirs in Canada (Mica, Arrow, and Duncan) and the four major reservoirs in the U.S. (Libby, Hungry Horse, Dworshak and Grand Coulee), the Grand Coulee reservoir is the furthest downstream and has the highest average discharge and therefore the greatest power benefits in keeping the reservoir high. To optimize energy generation, therefore, AOP studies give reservoir refill at Grand Coulee the highest priority of any reservoir in the Columbia River system. In three out of four years, this refill priority is unimportant, since reservoirs in both countries refill during the summer. However, in a dry year such as 1992, system reservoirs must be drafted (or refilled) proportionally according to the AOP/DOP rule curves. We made every effort to keep Arrow discharges as low as possible during the latter half of May and June. However, with... the U.S. entity’s rights of drafting all entitled Treaty water, discharges of 3,370 m3/s for the week of 14 June were required. Over the past several months we have been looking at every possible means to minimize the Arrow drawdown. The Arrow Reservoir drafted to its minimum level for the year, 428.9 m (1407.1 ft.) on June 29 and has been filling since then. Mica and Revelstoke project discharges have been increased substantially over the treaty-specified discharges, but without incurring additional B.C. Hydro spill risk or other financial risk to power system operations. This action has raised the Arrow Reservoir level at least 2.4 m (8 f .) over what is otherwise would have been. In addition, we are looking at opportunities for energy sales to the U.S. entry in lieu of releasing Arrow water in order to further improve the Arrow Reservoir level. J. Norman Olsen B.C. Hydro Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Norman continued from page 7 But, let’s face it, the village is only a shadow of what it could be. While in Manitoba this sum- mer I came across a brochure on the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. (Steinbach, by the way, is the same size as Castlegar — 6,700 people.) It interested our family enough to put it on our list of places to vis- it. For various reasons we didn’t have time, though we will try, to take it in the next time we're through that area. Here’s why: located on 16 hectares (40 acres), the village boasts 20 completely furnished buildings along with a fruit gar- den, stock pens, a steam engine, gas tractors and other machinery. The village grist mill is billed as the only such wind-powered mill in Canada. The brochure recommends set- ting aside an hour for the tour, more if possible. Td like to see the Doukhobor Village developed along the same lines, but with a restaurant in- cluded in the total operation. I think it’s criminal that this area is known for its unique Doukhobor food, but there isn’t a restaurant that provides it in a historical setting. And what better location for it than across from the regional air- port — where people from Trail, Nelson and points in between drop off and pick up their visitors? 3. Hooray for common sense. The Ministry of Highways is NOT planning to reroute semi- trailers from Warfield hill through Castlegar. Highways Minister Art Char- bonneau said the idea of rerouting the trucks through Castlegar “is not practicable” and would just transfer the problem from one community to another — which is what everyone was saying all along. In fact, Charbonneau said there wasn't one individual who thought rerouting was a good idea. Well...: almost. There was one individual: Ross- land-Trail MLA Ed Conroy. Conroy said the rerouting plan “makes sense” and called on us to help out, our neighbors in Warfield. Conroy defended his po- sition by saying that as the MLA for the riding, he had to see things in a broader perspective and not just from a Castlegar point of view. But — as Charbonneau made clear — you didn’t have. to be from Castlegar to see that the rerouting was a silly idea. Perhaps Conroy was trying to curry favor with the minister to push for the new Castlegar-Rob- son bridge. Or maybe he was try- ing to smooth over the rough patches the two had over the Rob- son ferry. Whateyer the reason, Conroy clearly made the wrong decision. Fair enough, that happens and it isn’t easy when you have to make all your decisions in public. What concerns me is that everyone else could see it was the wrong decision — except Conroy.