Keeyask Generation Project Physical Environment Supporting Volume
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June 2012 KEEYASK GENERATION PROJECT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTING VOLUME INTRODUCTION PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION I This page is intentionally left blank. June 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT APPROACH ............................................................ 1-2 1.1.1 The Physical Environment in the Keeyask Study Area ....................... 1-2 1.1.2 Scope of the Physical Environment Assessment ................................. 1-4 1.1.2.1 Scope of the Project ........................................................................... 1-4 1.1.2.2 Scope of the Assessment .................................................................... 1-5 1.1.2.3 Spatial Scope ...................................................................................... 1-6 1.1.2.4 Temporal Scope ................................................................................. 1-6 1.1.3 Assessment Methodology .................................................................... 1-7 1.2 SOURCES OF INFORMATION .............................................................................. 1-8 1.3 SUMMARY OF PROJECT COMPONENTS RELEVANT TO THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................. 1-10 1.4 STUDY INTEGRATION AND PEER-REVIEW PROCESS ...................................... 1-10 1.5 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 1-12 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION I June 2012 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1A: LIST OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT TECHNICAL MEMORANDA PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION II June 2012 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1.1-1: Factors Considered in Assessment of Residual Environmental Effects .................................. 1-9 Table 1.4-1: List of Independent Peer Reviewers Used to Review the Physical Environment Technical Work Developed by the Physical Environment Team .......................................... 1-11 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION III June 2012 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1-1: Physical Environment Studies and How They Interact............................................................... 1-3 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION IV June 2012 LIST OF MAPS Page Map 1.1-1: Physical Environment Study Area ................................................................................................ 1-13 Map 1.1-2: Project Footprint During Construction Phase – Site Level ..................................................... 1-14 Map 1.1-3: Project Footprint During Operations Phase – Site Level ......................................................... 1-15 Map 1.1-4: Project Footprint Overview – Construction and Operation Phase ........................................ 1-16 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION V This page is intentionally left blank. June 2012 1.0 INTRODUCTION This Physical Environment Supporting Volume (PE SV) is one of six volumes produced in support of the Keeyask Generation Project: Response to EIS Guidelines. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been developed by the Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership (the Partnership) as part of the regulatory review of the Project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and The Environment Act (Manitoba). The EIS consists of the following: • A video, Keeyask: Our Story, which presents the Keeyask Cree Nations’ (KCNs) history and perspectives related to hydroelectric development. Presented through the prism of their holistic Cree worldview, it explains the journey taken by the KCNs as they evaluated their concerns about the Project, the nature of their participation as Partners, and the decisions they ultimately made to support the Project. • An executive summary. • The Keeyask Generation Project: Response to EIS Guidelines document, which addresses guidelines issued by Canada and Manitoba in response to an application by the Partnership for environmental approvals under the government regulatory environmental assessment process. This response includes findings and conclusions, with charts, diagrams, and maps to clarify information in the text, and a concordance table to cross-reference requirements of the EIS Guidelines with information in the EIS. • The KCNs’ Evaluation Reports providing each of the KCNs’ own evaluation of the effects of the Project on their communities and Members and including Aboriginal traditional knowledge (ATK) relevant to the Partnership’s response to the EIS Guidelines. Six supporting volumes were developed by the Manitoba Hydro environmental team in consultation with the KCNs and their Members, to provide details about the Project Description (PD SV) and about the research and analysis of the following topics: • Public Involvement Program (PI SV), • Physical Environment (PE SV), • Aquatic Environment (AE SV), • Terrestrial Environment (TE SV), and • Socio-economic Environment, Resource Use, and Heritage Resource (SE SV). The supporting volumes have been reviewed, commented on, and, as appropriate, finalized in a manner consistent with the arrangements of the Partnership. This supporting volume examines the effects of the Project on the physical environment and describes: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION 1-1 June 2012 • The existing environment that could be affected by the Project, including the current situation, past influences that have shaped the existing environment, as well as how the existing environment may evolve in the future without the Project. • The nature and estimated effects of the Project within the context of mitigation measures that will be used to reduce effects. • Residual effects remaining after mitigation. • Monitoring plans designed to track actual effects and unanticipated effects. The PE SV is organized into the following key topic areas: • Climate; • Air quality and noise; • Surface water and ice regimes; • Physiography (including surficial geology, topography, soils, etc.); • Shoreline erosion processes (both mineral soil and peatland); • Sedimentation; • Groundwater; • Surface water temperature and dissolved oxygen; • Debris; • Sensitivity of effects assessment to climate change; and • Effect of the environment on the Project. The assessment has been conducted in consideration of guidance documents from Canada and Manitoba related to environmental assessments and in response to the Federal Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines for the Keeyask Generation Project, as described in Chapter 1 of the Keeyask Generation Project: Response to EIS Guidelines document. 1.1 OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT APPROACH 1.1.1 The Physical Environment in the Keeyask Study Area Within the Project study area, the physical environment along the lower Nelson River system has been altered in the past, and continues to be influenced by changes brought about by the operation of Churchill River Diversion (CRD) and Lake Winnipeg Regulation (LWR), which were commissioned in the mid-1970s. The CRD and LWR resulted in substantial changes in water regime and ice processes along the river system. The CRD and LWR, as well as the generating stations built on the Nelson River, PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION 1-2 June 2012 form part of the existing environment and are assumed to continue to operate into the future with or without the Project. The Keeyask physical environment forms the foundation of the biological and many of the socioeconomic activities that occur in the area. The interactions of the various physical processes with the proposed Project were studied to create a comprehensive understanding of the existing physical environment so that the effects of the Project on the physical environment could be predicted. Figure 1.1-1 illustrates the various physical environment studies and how they interact with one another. The consideration of Project effects on the physical environment includes the physical changes to the land as a result of constructing the principal structures and supporting infrastructure (see PD SV). Construction will require the extraction of materials such as rock, sand, gravel and clay. As a result of building and operating the Keeyask Generating Station (GS), the water regime (water levels and variations, water depth, river flows, water velocities) and ice conditions will be changed. By raising the water level upstream of the dam, Gull Rapids will be flooded out, land will be flooded, new shorelines Figure 1.1-1: Physical Environment Studies and How They Interact PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION 1-3 June 2012 will develop and erosion of mineral shorelines as well as peatland disintegration will occur. Erosion and peatland disintegration will cause material to enter the waterway and affect sedimentation, dissolved oxygen, and debris conditions. Changes to the water levels in the river will also cause subsequent changes in groundwater levels adjacent to the reservoir. 1.1.2 Scope of the Physical Environment Assessment 1.1.2.1 Scope of the Project The scope of the Project covers all of the physical works and activities involved in the construction and operation of the Project, including: • Temporary and permanent access roads to the Project site and within the construction area. • Supporting infrastructure (e.g., construction camp, contractor work areas, etc.). • Major civil works for the principal structures (e.g., dykes, powerhouse, spillway etc.). • Source areas for construction material (e.g., borrow pits and rock quarries). • Impoundment