The great divide: how a tiny dam has created an ugly rift in Hants County, with politicians fanning the flames

(Updated July 6, 2023) It was advertised as a simple “meet and greet” on June 17 with Dominic LeBlanc at the firehall in Canning, Nova Scotia.

LeBlanc is the federal minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and of infrastructure and Communities, and he was hosted by MP Kody Blois and the Kings-Hants Federal Liberal Association.

Federal minister comes to town, and he and the area MP shake some hands.

But that usually low-key glad-handing with the locals turned into a fractious event that led to a complaint to the RCMP about an assault by one of Blois’ assistants, and to renewed tension in the community.

At issue is the the fate of the artificial freshwater Lake Pisiquid, which owes its existence to a closed sluice gate on the Avon River aboiteau (small dam) that is part of the Windsor Causeway.

On one side are those who support the closed aboiteau and the man-made lake, among them some farmers and local business people. On the other are those who want the sluice gate opened. The latter includes local fishers like Darren Porter, First Nations Grandmothers, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, the non-governmental organization Oceans North, and many ecology-minded citizens.

On the Saturday afternoon of the meet and greet, about three dozen people gathered in the Canning firehall, some hoping to hear from Blois on where he stood on the divisive issue.

Porter, who says he is a registered Liberal, was among them. He tells the Halifax Examiner there were also some older white people, at least one African Nova Scotian woman, and several people from First Nations communities there, among them Nikki-Marie Lloyd from Annapolis Valley First Nation, who was there with her aunt and grandmother.

An Indigenous person who has asked not to be named for fear of attracting hostile reactions in the community, was also there. That person, whom I’ll call Hayden, tells the Halifax Examiner that LeBlanc was not in the hall where the chairs had been set out and people had assembled. Rather, the meet and greet with LeBlanc was in the board room and one had to be a registered Liberal on a list to attend.

Hayden says that before heading into the private meeting, Blois agreed to spend some time fielding questions from people in the main firehall, including from fisherman Darren Porter who has long been a supporter of opening the aboiteau to ensure fish passage between the Avon River and the Minas Basin in the upper Bay of Fundy. 

Hayden recalls that one of Blois’ assistants was “quite agitated” as the MP answered questions, and kept asking people not to film with their phones, even as she did so herself.

Meanwhile, because others were heading into the board room, Hayden decided to follow and opened the door. At that point, Hayden says, Blois’ assistant “grabbed my arm.”

Hayden decided to report the incident to the New Minas RCMP, saying “If I’m going to see this lady in the community, I want her to know that that’s absolutely unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour. And it’s not to be tolerated.”

The RCMP officer who took the report later called Hayden back.

According to Hayden, “The first question he asked was if we were intoxicated.”

Hayden continues:

I was immediately confused because that doesn’t seem like standard protocol. I don’t know why anybody would assume anybody would be intoxicated on Saturday afternoon at a public event … So I immediately just ended the conversation because it didn’t seem very professional or very respectful.

RCMP confirm ‘possible assault’

RCMP spokesperson Corporal Chris Marshall confirmed that Kings District RCMP did receive a report of “a possible assault in a building” in Canning, and notes the complainant did not wish to provide a statement or press charges.

The Examiner asked whether the officer asked Hayden about being intoxicated. Marshall’s reply in part:

During their conversation, our investigator asked many questions about the incident … In our investigator’s experience, alcohol is sometimes served at private events. Our investigator was trying to obtain context around the circumstances that lead [sic] to the possible assault. It should be noted that this was not the first question asked of the complainant, and our investigator asked if either party were intoxicated. At the time of the phone call, our investigator did not have any information with regard to the complainant’s race.

The Examiner also asked Blois about the incident. His reply:

Minister LeBlanc was scheduled to attend two meetings on the afternoon of June 17^th in Canning. A Kings-Hants Liberal Association invitation-only event was ultimately cancelled due to the presence of a number of uninvited people who disrupted the gathering. I replied to questions from the uninvited guests for over an hour on the issue of the Avon River. In addition, Minister LeBlanc had a private meeting in advance of that planned Liberal event in a board room at the facility to which my staff knew exactly who was invited and who had confirmed their attendance. I take a very dim view of anyone who would seek to intrude on a private meeting to which they were not invited. My staff should not be placed in a position where they feel intimidated or vulnerable for simply seeking to maintain the decorum of a meeting.

The notice of the meet and greet obtained by the Examiner doesn’t mention that the event was by invitation only.

But in speaking with the “uninvited people” who showed up, Blois confirmed statements he made in a 2021 letter that he wants to see Lake Pisiquid returned to freshwater.

Hants County divided

Blois is not the only politician taking sides on the contentious aboiteau and what matters more — a freshwater reservoir or fish passage and habitat. 

The issue has caused deep and often ugly divisions in Hants County. Those resurfaced in recent weeks after provincial Progressive Conservative politicians entered the fray, fanning the flames of division.

Related: Small dam, big controversy: How the contentious aboiteau at the Windsor Causewy could generate a national conversation about fish passage

The moderator of the Hants County and Beyond Facebook page recently warned followers that he was going to start “giving timeouts for hateful comments” on the page, something we’ll come back to in part two of this series.

First, though, a bit of background.

A renewed Avon River

In 2021, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) issued a ministerial order, which stipulated that Lake Pesikitk (Pisiquid) be returned to a “natural state where no water is being impounded above the causeway,” and that the aboiteau gates be opened full at outgoing tides, and for at least 10 minutes during incoming tides to ensure free passage of fish and protection of fish habitat.

The DFO ministerial order, renewed every two weeks, allowed the artificial lake to drain, which led to problems with dust in Windsor. Eventually native vegetation was planted to reduce the dust problems, and the tidal Avon River seemed to be healing.

The federal government had also stepped in to compensate local businesses for the loss of the lake.

In 2021 and 2022, both the federal and Nova Scotia governments plowed millions of dollars into the area to help out sectors harmed by the loss of the lake.

In May 2022, the Pisiquid Canoe Club received $632,500 from the federal government’s Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to relocate to another lake, and the province handed the club another $610,000 towards the move.

In 2021, Blois announced an ACOA grant of $1.1 million to West Hants Regional Municipality, to “divert Avon River to provide fresh water access for tourism and agriculture sectors.” This allowed Ski Martock to obtain the water it needed for snow-making from the river, after water levels in Pisiquid became too low to supply the water the ski hill needed. The same year, ACOA gave Ski Martock nearly $200,000 for snowmaking expertise and upgraded equipment.

Studies were ongoing to find a replacement structure for the aging and antiquated aboiteau, built in 1970 when the causeway went across the Avon River. Once a design was finalized, the Highway 101 twinning project could be completed.

For a time, it looked as if the dust was settling, literally and figuratively. Heated arguments over the aboiteau seemed to have abated.

It looked as if the Avon River would once again become a tidal estuary, restoring wetlands and salt marshes lost when the causeway was built. Salt marshes are extremely important in tackling the climate crisis, sequestering carbon at a rate 10 times greater than tropical forests.

In recent years, more than 10,000 barriers on rivers — everything from giant hydro dams to weirs and culverts — have been removed in the United States and Europe, in an effort to bring life back to dying rivers. 

A project to replace the causeway across the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick and replace it with a bridge linking Riverview and Moncton to restore tidal flow and fish passage was also highly contentious before it began, but is now considered a success story.

Enter Tim Houston

Then, in mid-May Premier Tim Houston and Melissa Sheehy-Richard, the Progressive Conservative MLA for the area, re-ignited controversy with a provocative video posted on Houston’s Facebook page with the pair in front of a “Save the Lake” sign.

Standing in what looks like a field of grass, Houston looks around him and says, “This used to be a lake. It’s not a lake any more. And it’s appalling.”

In a video that lasts just over a minute and half, Houston lays it on thick, blaming the federal government no fewer than six times for the “heartbreaking” loss of the lake.

“A few years ago the federal Liberals changed the Fisheries Act and later issued a federal ministerial order that changed how an aboiteau like the one planned here could operate,” said Houston.

Houston called on the federal government to make a decision on the aboiteau issue, “that respects the impact on the [Avon River] watershed.” That, Houston said, “means restoring the lake.”

Wildfire used as justification to close aboiteau

Two weeks later, Houston’s Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr, who is also in charge of Nova Scotia’s Emergency Measures Office, issued an order that the aboiteau be closed, and the lake be refilled, just as Houston desired.

Lohr used the ongoing wildfire crisis hundreds of kilometres away in Halifax, Yarmouth, and Shelburne Counties to rationalize his surprise order, declaring a state of emergency in the “area around and including Pisiquid Lake, Windsor, Hants County.”

Lohr said the order was “in response to safety issues by dry conditions causing wildfires across the province.” In a text message to Darren Porter, Lohr claimed he had had a request from the Windsor Fire Department for water resources in Lake Pisiquid.

There were no fires in Hants County at the time, and heavy rains were forecast. Windsor fire chief Jamie Juteau has categorically denied he ever asked Lohr to “reinstate” Lake Pisiquid.

Still, Lohr maintained the order was to “protect communities maximize the water supply resource available for our ongoing response” to wildfires.

Two weeks later, on June 15 when there were no more wildfires in the province, Lohr renewed the local state of emergency for Windsor.

Related: Province issues emergency order to close Windsor aboiteau

Related: EMO Minister John Lohr said he ordered the Avon River aboiteau closed after a request from the Windsor Fire Department. But Fire Chief Jamie Juteau says he never made that request.

Related: Minister Lohr takes heat for emergency order to open Avon River aboiteau, overriding DFO order

The emergency order from Lohr overrode the federal ministerial order that the aboiteau gates be open for incoming and outgoing tides.

With the sluice gates closed, the artificial lake has refilled, fish have died, and once again, the community is deeply divided.

Challenging the province’s emergency order

Darren Porter is challenging Lohr’s emergency order in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, and that will be heard on July 18.

The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs is also contesting the emergency order.

In a June 13 press release, Chief Gerald Toney of Annapolis Valley First Nation and Fisheries Co-lead for the Assembly said, “The Ministerial Order to open the aboiteau gates had been working and this emergency override is impacting the environment and killing fish. Every day we are getting reports that more and more fish are dying. We need a reversal of the emergency decision now.”

Then on June 20, the Assembly wrote directly to John Lohr:

Recently you have made the decision to extend the State of Emergency even though the wildfires have been tamed by our hard-working firefighters and their supporters. For this reason, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs URGENTLY request a meeting with you and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Politicians defend lake

Meanwhile, tempers are on the rise. Yet politicians are not attempting to cool them. Rather, they are doggedly taking the side of those who want to keep the freshwater body of water upstream from the causeway.

Houston even raised the “issue of the aboiteau in the Avon River and Lake Pisiquid” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 20 when Trudeau was in Antigonish for the Atlantic Economic Forum.

The Examiner contacted DFO with a list of questions about the ministerial order and whether it will be reinstated now that the risk of wildfires in Nova Scotia is low, noting that affidavits filed with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia state clearly Lake Pisiquid is not needed for fighting wildfires. We also asked about the about fish mortality after the aboiteau was closed.

The DFO reply was, well, not much of a reply. It suggests the federal department is not about to stand up to the provincial and federal politicians supporting the freshwater lake:

DFO remains committed to the protection of fish and fish habitat and the ongoing work with the Province related to the Avon River Aboiteau.

On June 13, 2023, DFO Conservation and Protection inspected the site and found deceased gaspereau. It is believed that a high tide brought the gaspereau into areas where they became trapped and died as the water receded due to dry conditions or lack of oxygen.

When DFO has clarity on the future of the Emergency Order, the Minister will review the situation, in consultation with First Nations, the province, stakeholders, and the local community.

DFO will continue to follow the situation closely.

Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC) is also staunchly defending Lohr’s decision. The Examiner asked for all the water withdrawal permits from the Avon River watershed, and received a list of five: Ski Nova (Martock), the towns of Windsor and Falmouth, Avon Valley Golf, and Linked Farms.

The NSECC spokesperson added that the withdrawals are for amounts between 300,000 litres to 11 million litres per day. Then, although the Examiner hadn’t asked about or even mentioned Lohr’s emergency order, the spokesperson added:

The decision to close the aboiteau was done in the interest of public safety to ensure adequate water supply is available for fires. The best time to restore a freshwater reservoir is before it is needed. The order will be renewed as long as it is needed for public safety.

Blois offers journalism lessons

It is curious that Tim Houston directed his ire about the state of the empty lake at the federal Liberal government, given that the Liberal MP for the area appears to share the views of the provincial Progressive Conservatives.

The Examiner asked Blois if his desire to see the lake refilled with fresh water contradicts the ministerial order issued by the DFO minister in the federal Liberal government, of which he is part. His reply:

My position to see the continuation of the freshwater resource that was created 50 years ago reflects the voices of many resident property owners who have been negatively impacted by the MO [DFO ministerial order]. The ideal outcome of the proposed new aboiteau structure is for improved fish passage, respect for Indigenous rights, and continuation of a freshwater resource that can be used to benefit the entire Upper Avon Valley. That outcome is referred to as the “Brackish Lake” scenario where there would be incoming tidal intrusion each cycle in the area of the Windsor waterfront.

Blois also said there can be no reinstating of the federal ministerial order, as Lohr’s emergency order “takes precedence” over that.

The Examiner also asked Blois about all the funds that ACOA has provided to Pisiquid Canoe Club and Ski Martock to help them adjust to a depleted Lake Pisiquid. The question was:

This suggests Pisiquid is no longer needed for canoeing or for Ski Martock. What are the uses you see for a man-made freshwater lake upstream from the Avon River causeway, which the federal ministerial order states should be restored to its natural state?

Blois didn’t like this question, replying:

Your question presents a very narrow view and understanding of the issues around the freshwater river and lake that was created 50 years ago. An agreement signed in 1968 between the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia stated that a dam and causeway would be built across the Avon River in order to “reclaim and develop marshlands”. In the ensuing 50 years, farming and residential development has occurred. The agreement did not contemplate the creation of an aquatic club nor the need to access fresh water for snow making at Ski Martock, but the evolution of those economic activities meant that when the MO was issued that there was an immediate negative impact on those activities. The voices of the agricultural community were not considered, and I note agricultural issues have not been raised in any of your questions. Climate change was not an issue in 1968 but it is now and the views of those who have invested in producing food in the region must be considered. The voices of property owners who built homes on a freshwater lake and river in the last 50 years are also relevant to this conversation. The issue of diminished property values is something they care about.

Blois didn’t like much about the questions sent to him, and he cautioned that his answers should not be selectively reported, so they are provided in full, along with the questions, in an endnote.[1]

Blois said the questions were “framed to reflect a particular perspective,” and offered some journalistic advice that the Examiner “engage with other stakeholders in the West Hants who would have a different perspective than how you asked these questions.”

In fact, we had been doing that all along.

The second part of this two-part series looks at some of what those people have to say, and at the dangerous levels of tension in the community.

No official records about Lohr’s emergency order

Update July 6, 2023 Following the June 1 announcement by Nova Scotia Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, John Lohr, who is also responsible for the Emergency Measures Office, that the Avon River aboiteau be closed, the Halifax Examiner filed a freedom of information (FOIPOP) request to the attention of the Emergency Measures Office for attention to the Emergency Management Office under Minister John Lohr for “all correspondence (emails, memos, reports, records or virtual or in-person meetings or phone calls) and documentation related to the Avon River aboiteau and whether it should be opened or closed in light of state of emergency caused by wildfires in the province.” It appears that Premier Houston’s government has no official records at all to explain or justify Lohr’s June 1 emergency order and decision to close the aboiteau. On June 6, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing wrote to say, “After a file search, we have located no records responsive to your application,” adding, “I am unaware of a department or agency which would hold such records.”

Lohr has now renewed the original emergency order for Windsor and environs twice, once on June 15 and again on June 29, trying to justify it because of “current ground and forest conditions together with the longer-term precipitation forecast result in an extreme risk of fire in the Province.” This, although CBC reports that June 2023 was the wettest since 2009, erasing all the precipitation deficits of early spring.

So not only is it obvious the decision to close the aboiteau and refill Lake Pisiquid was purely political, to please moneyed interests in Windsor, the lack of any official records about Lohr’s emergency order would indicate the whole thing was done without any real debate or legitimate reasons.

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Endnote

[1] This is the full reply from Kody Blois, along with the questions the Halifax Examiner sent to him:

Thank you for reaching out in relation to the Avon River Causeway. In reading your questions I have noted that they are framed to reflect a particular perspective. In the interest of journalistic balance, I would encourage you to engage with other stakeholders in the West Hants area who would have a different perspective than how you have asked these questions. I agree that they were lengthy questions and I hope you will appreciate that they required similarly lengthy answers. I trust they will not be selectively reported in a manner that might shift the context in which they are provided. 

 1.     At a Liberal Association meet and greet in Windsor on Saturday, you said that you want to see a return to fresh water and that you’ve made that position very clear. Why do you want to see a return to fresh water? When and to whom have you made that position clear?

I have stated my position on the issue of Lake Pisiquid and the Avon River publicly for several years, including in advance of the 2021 federal general election. My three priorities regarding this issue are 1) improved fish passage at the Avon River 2) respecting Indigenous rights, and 3) returning water in a significant way to Lake Pisiquid. In terms of the latter, that includes both saltwater intrusion in the lake and protection of the freshwater resource in the upper Avon River watershed area.

 2.     The June 1, 2023 provincial emergency order to close the aboiteau to refill Lake Pisquid overrides the 2021 Ministerial Order from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, issued under your Liberal government, which states that the aboiteau must be opened a minimum of 10 minutes through incoming tides to allow fish passage. Does your desire to see the lake refilled with fresh water contradict your own government’s Ministerial Order?

My position to see the continuation of the freshwater resource that was created 50 years ago reflects the voices of many resident property owners who have been negatively impacted by the MO. The ideal outcome of the proposed new aboiteau structure is for improved fish passage, respect for Indigenous rights, and continuation of a freshwater resource that can be used to benefit the entire Upper Avon Valley. That outcome is referred to as the “Brackish Lake” scenario where there would be incoming tidal intrusion each cycle in the area of the Windsor waterfront.

 3.     On June 13, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs called for the federal Ministerial Order to be reinstated, saying that “The recent change in operation of the gates at the Avon Causeway blocks fish passage and does not provide consistent and/or adequate flows downstream during low tide, impacting fish habitat and the ability for fish to complete their lifecycles. In 2021, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) issued a Ministerial Order to regulate gate operations to improve fish habitat and passage. To mitigate any impacts brought about by the federal order, Mi’kmaw representatives worked collaboratively with various stakeholders, agencies and levels of government to find solutions that also enhanced the ecosystem, such as seeing the sandbar and installing riffles so ensure Ski Martock could continue to operate. This work allowed for migratory birds to return to the area, fish habitat and the ability for fish to complete their lifecycles has drastically improved, and wildlife and vegetation has started to flourish.” Does your desire to have Pisiquid restored as a freshwater body contradict the stated wishes of the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaw Chiefs? Are you concerned at all about how this will affect fish and fish habitat?

The Emergency Order issued by the Government of Nova Scotia takes precedence over the DFO Ministerial Order, so this is not a matter of reinstating the federal Ministerial Order. The basis for the decision to issue an Emergency Order lies with the province and is not something I was consulted about. However, to be clear, when the MO was initially issued there had been no consultation with those stakeholders who were negatively impacted. The largest employer in the region was left to wonder if it would be able to make snow with the loss of its freshwater resource and a 50-year-old aquatic club suddenly lost its lake. Remedial actions were only taken when the consequences of the MO became apparent, illustrating that very little thought had been given to how the MO would impact the broader community. 

 4.     The Windsor fire chief has stated in an affidavit to the NS Supreme Court that neither he nor anyone in the department asked that the aboiteau be closed to create a reservoir for fire-fighting, and in a separate affidavit, Brett Tentanish, a firefighter with 32 years of experience in the Windsor area, wrote: “I am a Captain with the Brooklyn Fire Department (Nova Scotia), and former Deputy Chief of this fire department. This fire department is located approximately 10 kilometres from the town of Windsor. I have been previously employed as a Wildland Firefighter with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. I am a level 2 firefighter certified by the IFSAC (International Fire Service Accreditation Congress), and trained to the level of Crew Leader in wildland firefighting. I am also a graduate of the NS Community College Landscape and Horticulture Program. I have worked on several large forest fires in Nova Scotia, including wildfires in Porters Lake, Cow Bay and, more recently (May 2023), on the Tantallon fire, the Farmers Fire, and the Barrington Lake Fire. Based on my training and experience fighting wildfires, I know that West Hants has many water sources, both fresh and saltwater, that helicopters can pull water from to fire wildfires. Lake Pisiquid in Windsor is not required to fight wildfires in the area around Windsor. Based on my experience, Lake Pisiquid would never be used for fighting wildfire because other water sources are closer to the nearby forests where wildfire could occur.” These affidavits are part of a court case in the NS Supreme Court, seeking an end to the provincial emergency order to close the aboiteau. Do you support the provincial emergency order, or not?

 I do not have the information that Minister Lohr and the provincial government had when they made a decision to issue an emergency order regarding the operation of the aboiteau. I am only aware that it was taken at a time when the provincial forest fire index was extreme. I do know that a major fire a few years ago in Windsor required the fire department to draw water from Lake Pisiquid. In the absence of the information that formed the basis of the decision, and the fact that the matter is now before the court, I will not opine on the contents of affidavits that the court will ultimately consider in the context of the complete disclosure of the full decision-making process.

 5.     ACOA has already provided the Pisiquid Canoe Club $632,500 and Ski Martock has also received funds from ACOA to help it continue its snow-making in spite of the transition of Pisiquid back to a natural state, before the aboiteau was closed. This suggests Pisiquid is no longer needed for canoeing or for Ski Martock. What are the uses you see for a man-made freshwater lake upstream from the Avon River causeway, which the federal Ministerial Order states should be restored to its natural state?

Your question presents a very narrow view and understanding of the issues around the freshwater river and lake that was created 50 years ago. An agreement signed in 1968 between the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia stated that a dam and causeway would be built across the Avon River in order to “reclaim and develop marshlands”. In the ensuing 50 years, farming and residential development has occurred. The agreement did not contemplate the creation of an aquatic club nor the need to access fresh water for snow making at Ski Martock, but the evolution of those economic activities meant that when the MO was issued that there was an immediate negative impact on those activities. The voices of the agricultural community were not considered, and I note agricultural issues have not been raised in any of your questions. Climate change was not an issue in 1968 but it is now and the views of those who have invested in producing food in the region must be considered. The voices of property owners who built homes on a freshwater lake and river in the last 50 years are also relevant to this conversation. The issue of diminished property values is something they care about.

There are two issues at play in this matter. One is the current federal Ministerial Order and the second is the approval of a new aboiteau structure the province is seeking to construct to finish the twinning of Highway 101 at Windsor. Your question fails to recognize that there were thousands of fish killed during the implementation of the MO in the spring of 2020 and that anecdotally residents highlight the loss of a significant number of freshwater species. My position on the MO is that I would like to see it amended in consultation with Indigenous partners to return more water consistently to the Avon River. In relation to the province’s proposed new aboiteau, I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to improve fish passage, ensure we respect Treaty Rights, but also make sure we are not upending and disrupting the development that has occurred in the last 50 years that the 1968 Fed-Prov agreement expressly encouraged.

I have had literally thousands of conversations on this issue, including during thousands of door knocks in the federal election in 2021 when no single issue was raised more than this one. No one has spoken to as many people one-on-one as I have on this matter, and I can safely say that the majority of the community do not support the outcome imposed by the MO. They want water levels restored while also improving fish passage and ensuring Indigenous fishers have an ability to exercise their Treaty Rights. The impacts of climate change, the fact that our weather will continue to be warmer, drier, and the fact that Falmouth and the Avon Valley will continue to grow, means that preserving and maintaining freshwater for farming, for residential communities and recreational activities, while keeping fish passage and Indigenous Rights at the heart of the decision, is the best pathway forward to reconcile the many interests at play. Too much of the conversation has been predicated on a binary choice, of fish passage versus protecting freshwater, when I believe there is a pathway that can respect both concerns.