WATER RESOURCES PLANNING IN THE FRASER RIVER BASIN: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE 1948-1989 by JEFFREY B. BARRONS B.Sc, Science Education, Oregon State University A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1989 (c) Jeffrey B. Barrens, 1989 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date IS CrJpW \°£A DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis was to assess the evolution of water resources planning in the Fraser River basin. This assessment was done by first, identifying the principles of water resources management and detailing their history of acceptance in the water management literature. The history of water resources planning in the Fraser River basin, more specifically the history of area planning in the basin, is then examined. The plans were then assessed using the principles of water resources planning as the criteria. The primary conclusion drawn from the assessment is that the evolution of water resources planning in the Fraser River basin has paralleled that of water resources planning in the literature as it pertains to the acceptance of the principles of water resources planning. The thesis concludes by offering insights into what seemed to work and what did not work in incorporating the principles into water resources planning and management in the Fraser River basin. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT*' ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 THE NATURE OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 1 1.2 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 3 1.3 METHODOLOGY 4 1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 4 1.5 ORGANIZATION 6 CHAPTER 2 THE' PRINCIPLES OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT IN HISTORY 8 2.1 THE STRATEGIES OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 8 2.1.1 Single Purpose Construction 11 2.1.1.1 Public Construction 11 2.1.1.2 Private Construction 11 2.1.2 Single Means Multiple Purpose Construction 12 2.1.3 Single Purpose Projects using Multiple Means 12 2.1.4 Single Purpose Projects using Multiple Means including Research 13 2.1.5 Multiple Purpose Projects using Multiple Means 13 2.2 THE EVOLUTION OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES IN NORTH AMERICA 14 2.2.1 Pre-I900s 14 . 2.2.2 1900-1930 16 2.2.3 1930-1945 18 2.2.4 1945-1960 22 2.2.5 1960-1970 23 2.2.6 1970-Present 25 2.3 SUMMARY 30 CHAPTER 3 THE PRINCIPLES OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 32 3.1 DEFINING THE PRINCIPLES 32 3.1.1 Basin-Wide Planning 34 3.1.2 Multiple purpose planning 34 3.1.3 Local Institutions 35 3.1.4 Integration 36 3.1.5 Multiple means planning 37 3.1.6 Multiple Objective Planning 38 3.1.7 Multiple Objective Evaluation 40 3.1.8 Public Participation 40 3.1.9 Implementation Strategy 42 3.1.10 Review Process 43 3.1.11 Water as an Economic Good 44 3.2 SUMMARY 45 CHAPTER 4 THE FRASER RIVER BASIN CASE STUDY 47 4.1 DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION OF THE FRASER RIVER BASIN 47 4.2 WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 49 4.2.1 The Constitutional Foundation 50 4.2.2 Federal Legislation and Institutions 50 4.2.3 Provincial Legislation and Institutions 54 4.2.4 The Provincial Hierarchy of Water Resources Planning 59 4.3 PLANNING STRATEGIES USED IN THE FRASER BASIN 62 4.3.1 Strategic Planning 62 4.3.2 Preplanning Studies 64 4.3.3 Environmental Assessment and Review Process 64 4.3.4 Integrated Watershed Management Plans 65 4.4 SUMMARY 66 CHAPTER 5 HISTORY OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT IN THE FRASER RIVER BASIN 67 5.1 WATER RESOURCE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO 1948 67 5.1.1 Dyking and Drainage 67 5.1.2 Channel Improvements 70 5.1.3 Power Development 71 5.2 WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 19 48-PRESENT , 72 5.2.1 Flood Management 72 5.2.2 Power Development and Diversions 82 5.2.3 Water Resources Planning and Management in the Lower Fraser Valley 84 5.2.4 Water Resources Planning and Management in the Interior 88 5.3 SUMMARY 91 CHAPTER 6 AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PLANS 93 6.1 DOMINION-PROVINCIAL BOARD, FRASER RIVER BASIN 95 6.3 FLOOD CONTROL AGREEMENTS 99 6.4 COQUITLAM RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT STUDY 102 6.5 FRASER RIVER ESTUARY STUDY 105 6.6 THOMPSON RIVER PREPLANNING TASK FORCE REPORT 109 6.7 NICOLA BASIN STRATEGIC PLAN 111 6.8 FRASER DELTA STRATEGIC PLAN 114 6.9 THOMPSON-BONAPARTE STRATEGIC PLAN 116 6.10 LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN 118 6.11 SHUSWAP LAKE STRATEGIC PLAN 120 6.12 NORRISH GREEK INTEGRATED WATERSHED PLAN 1 22 6.13 NECHAKO RIVER MANAGEMENT PLAN 124 CHAPTER 7 ANALYSIS OF THE ASSESSMENT 127 7.1 BASIN-WIDE PLANNING 127 7.2 MULTIPLE PURPOSE PLANNING 132 7.3 REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS 133 7.4 INTEGRATION 138 7.5 MULTIPLE MEANS PLANNING 141 7.6 MULTIPLE OBJECTIVE PLANNING 142 7.7 MULTIPLE OBJECTIVE EVALUATION 143 7.8 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 145 7.9 IMPLEMENTATION 148 7.10 REVIEW STRATEGY 149 7.11 ECONOMIC GOOD 150 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS 152 8.1 THE USE OF THE PRINCIPLES 152 8.1.1 Basin-wide Planning 152 8.1.2 Multiple Purpose Planning 153 8.1.3 Integration 154 8.1.4 Local Institutions 154 8.1.5 Multiple Means Planning 155 8.1.6 Multiple Objective Planning 155 8.1.7 Multiple Objective Evaluation 156 8.1.8 Public Participation 156 8.1.9 Implementation Strategy 157 8.1.10 Review Process 158 8.1.11 Treating Water as an Economic Good 158 8.1.12 Summary 159 8.2 THE PLANS 159 8.2.1 The Dominion-Provincial Board, Fraser River Basin 159 8.2.2 The Fraser River Board 160 8.2.3 Flood Control Agreements 160 8.2.4 The Coquitlam River Water Management Plan 161 8.2.5 The Fraser River Estuary Study 161 8.2.6 The Thompson River Basin Preplan , 162 8.2.7 The Nicola Basin Strategic Plan 162 8.2.8 The Thompson-Bonaparte Environmental Management Plan, The Shuswap Lake Environmental Management Plan, and The Fraser Delta Environmental Management Plan 163 8.2.9 The Chimney, Felker, and Brunson Lake Management Plan 164 8.2.10 Norrish Creek Integrated Watershed Management Plan 164 8.2.11 The Nechako River Management Plan 165 8.2.12 Summary 165 VI BIBLIOGRAPHY 167 CITED REFERENCES 167 STATUTES 176 Canadian and British Columbian Statutes 176 United States Statutes 176 PERSONS CONTACTED 177 VII LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1-EXAMPLES OF CANADIAN USES OF THE STRATEGIES OF WATER MANAGEMENT V - 10 TABLE 2-SELECTED FEDERAL AGENCIES' ROLES IN WATER MANAGEMENT 53 TABLE 3-THE HIERARCHY OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 61 TABLE 4-THE FRASER RIVER'S GREATEST FRESHETS AT MISSION 69 TABLE 5-AN ASSESSMENT OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING IN THE FRASER RIVER BASIN 94 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1-THE EVOLUTION OF THE STRATEGIES OF WATER MANAGEMENT FIGURE 2-A CHRONOLOGY OF THE PRINCIPLES' EVOLUTION FIGURE 3-ALTERNATIVE FLOOD CONTROL STRATEGIES FIGURE 4-A LADDER OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION FIGURE 5-THE FRASER BASIN FIGURE 6-THE FRASER BASIN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA FIGURE 7-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT REGIONS FIGURE 8-REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES FIGURE 9-STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING UNITS FIGURE 10-A CHRONOLOGY OF WATER RESOURCES AREA PLANNING IN THE FRASER RIVER BASIN FIGURE 11-LOCATION OF PLANS ASSESSED FIGURE 12-SYSTEM A FIGURE 13-SYSTEM E FIGURE 14-THE FREMP MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis is the result of a great deal of dedication on the part of my wife, Kelly, and on the part of Tony Dorcey who provided insights, patience and a great deal of time towards its completion. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 THE NATURE OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT Water resources management involves controlling. water as it passes through its natural cycle, with balanced consideration being given to its economic, social and environmental benefits (Grigg 1985). This management is a critically important human activity because, among many other important functions, the quality and quantity of water determines levels of public health, food production, productivity of industry, and energy production. Traditionally water management has dealt with small, localized issues (Sewell 1977), most often concerning supply allocation. Over time however, the matters confronting water resource management have become more complex and geographically diffuse, and management of the water resource has become more complicated. To cope with this expansion in management activity there has been a move to broaden its focus (Dorcey 1987a). Today, water resources management is comprised of a number of tasks, including planning, which are required to achieve societal goals (OECD 1980). In addition to planning, water resources management may include such activities as data collection, research, analysis, impact assessment, construction, operation and maintenance of facilities, monitoring, and enforcement.