The Fondation Rivières submitted a brief to the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE) concerning the hydroelectric development project of the Ouiatchouan River in the historic village of Val-Jalbert, of which here are the conclusions.
The documents, information and exchanges carried out in the evaluation of the project made it possible to identify a series of major and unacceptable consequences. This project foresees completely marginal economic benefits of at most 8.42 $ per citizen per year in 10 years!
Several pieces of information are missing from the file in order to assess all the issues of the project. Various ministerial opinions also highlighted these insufficiencies in information, but ministerial directives resulted in an admissibility notice being issued prematurely.
Economy
Let us first point out that the 2009 cost estimate was not updated following all the modifications made and that it was not submitted in the form of a submission form (provided for in the BPR mandate ). This does not verify what is included and that contingencies are clearly underestimated at only 10 %. Additionally, all financial data is expressed as cash flow, which misleads the profitability perspective. According to the promoter's updated data, the benefits for all communities after 20 years will only be on average 648,510 $ instead of 1,491,706 $ as presented to the population.
Environment
Regarding environmental aspects, the project would cause the drying of the Ouiatchouan River over 900 meters, the Maligne and Ouiatchouan Falls, with a flow rate of only 0.3 m3/s for 79 % of time. The developer in no way considers that this area upstream of the waterfall, in the Park, constitutes a significant tourist attraction, currently
and to become, in all seasons. The flow rate proposed by the promoter only meets profitability objectives. No demonstration has been made showing a certain viability at this level despite the request from the MRNF.
Culture
The historical heritage of the site, of national interest, would for its part be considerably altered with the introduction of inappropriate architectural elements (contemporary building in the heart of the historic Village, water intake, access path, evacuation canal) , modification of the beauty of the places (drying of the river, deforestation, embankment, etc.) and the introduction of interpretation activities on the production of hydroelectricity. However, the preservation of historic character requires full respect of all these aspects.
Transparency
The management of the project also appears riddled with conflicts of interest: multiple companies, conflicting interests with the mission of preservation and sound management of the Park, award of contracts without call for tenders or without competition, problematic and undefined flow management, etc. In addition, the administrative structure of the promoter will cause major expenses. Operating costs are also estimated at 1.2 M$ from the first year. Several recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into Hydro-Québec's electricity purchasing policy from private producers should be considered in such cases.
Finally, the pre-consultation procedure and the surveys demonstrate that the population was not informed of the consequences of the project. Several citizens also felt that they were not in a position to comment. The pre-consultation period organized by DPI essentially constituted a promotional campaign based on fragmentary information. Significant concerns were expressed there. But a real referendum consultation was not held.
