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PoliticsFirstNations7TuesdayJuly22013HighwaterinFortChipcouldbringpoliticalchangesNewriverchannelchangingdeltaACFNreserveboundariesByMEAGANWOHLBERGWiththehighestwaterlev-elsseensince1997anewchanneloftheAthabascaRiverhasquicklyformednearthecommunityofFortChipewyanchangingnotonlytheenvironmentofthedeltabutreserveboundariesfortheAthabascaChipewyanFirstNationACFN.ACFNsreserveboundar-iesareshapedbynaturalfea-turesofthelandscapesuchasbodiesofwaterwhichchangeovertimeandhavedonesosinceitwasrstsur-veyedin1931.WhenthereservewasrstcreatedAlbertamanagedtokeepcontrolovermin-eralrightsaswellascontrolovertheAthabascaRiverandanywaterconnectedtoLakeAthabascasoasthosewaterbodieschangesodoesthelegalsituation.OvertheyearsthosewaterbodieshavechangedalotsaidJohnRigneydi-rectorofspecialprojectsforACFN.Somearenolon-gerwaterbodiesinwhichcasethatbecamereserveland.Nowanewwaterbodyisopeningupbeinganewchannelanditwillresultinalegaldecisionofsomesortatsomepointoverjurisdiction.ItmeansalittlechangeinboundariesbecausethewaterbelongstoAlbertasoifanewrivercutsthroughthatpartsAlbertas.WehaventhadanybigargumentswithAlbertayetorinthepastbutthatmaybejustbecausetherehasntbeenanyactiv-ityyetmineralactivityinthedeltaheadded.ThenewchannelwhichrunsoveranarrowbandoflandbetweentheriverandEggLakewasrstspottedonMay26atapproximately20feetwide.ByJune23Rigneysaiditwasover20metreswide.Thewaterwasspillingoverasectionofbankoveranentirekilometreoftheriverbanksothatwholeriverbankissaturatedal-mostlikesoup.Oncethewaterrunsthroughitiftherootsdontholdititjustwashesoutthedirt.ThosewithcabinsalongtheAthabascaareseeingsomeoodingbutmostarebuiltonhighgroundwiththeexpectationofeventualhighwatersandRigneysaidtheresbeennothingmajor.BCHydrobeganreleasingwaterfrombothitsBennettItssomethingthatsoonerorlatersome-onesgoingtohavetoputonamapandthatlltriggersomething.Theseareslowchangestheytakeagenerationsothereslotsoftimetoadapt.JohnRigneyAthabascaChipewyanFirstNationSothatswhatshappen-inghesaid.RainshavecausedtheAthabascatooodalloverthedeltasoquicklyinthecaseofthenewchannelthatitswashingthetreesout.RigneysaiditsentirelypossiblethattheAthabascaRivercouldbecomedivertedalongthatcourseoverthenextdecade.ThatsaidnooneinFortChipewyaniscomplaining.Thethinkingisthedeltaisallaboutchangeandchangeishealthyinthedeltahesaid.EggLakewherethechan-nelrunsthroughhistoricallyproducedthousandsofmusk-ratsbutaccordingtolocalsmuskratshavebeennearlyextirpatedfromthedeltaduetolowwaterlevelscausedbytheW.A.C.BennettDamup-streamonthePeaceRiver.Rigneysaidthenewchan-nelwillhelpcreatesmallerperchedbasinscreatenewvegetationandgivepeopleanewrivertotravelonandbuildtheircabinsalongside.andPeaceCanyondamsonJune26.Thedamsareex-pectedtospillatotalof2150to3000cubicmetrespersecondm3sofwater.ThemaximumnormaldischargefromthePeaceCanyonbycomparisonis1982m3s.Thespillwhichmaycon-tinueuninterrupteduntilmid-AugustcouldcauseLakeAthabasca-alreadyathighlevels-torisemoreincreas-ingwaterlevelsintheentiredeltaandhavingoneoftwoconsequencesaccordingtoRigney.Ifitstaysnearfloodstagefortwoweeksthenwaterwillseepthroughthegroundandllupsomeoftheperchedbasinsthesmalleronesandifitoodsoverthelandthenevery-thingwillbelledup.Ithastogetreallyhightodothatlikeitdidin97-thatsthelasttimetheyhadabigspillfromthedam.Addaercenortheastwindtothemixandthecommu-nitycouldseesomemajorfloodingbutRigneysaiditsallamatterofwhatifItsallreallydynamicatalltimeshesaid.Lastweekalmostallcabinsitesalongtheriverhadsomeood-ingbutoodingisexpectedandnotusuallyaproblem.Anythingbuiltinthedeltaistemporarybecauseev-erythingischanginginthedeltaallthetime.Itsaverydynamicplace.AsfortheshiftingofACFNsreserveboundar-iesRigneysaiditstoonewadevelopmentforanyactionrightnow.Hesuspectsanypoliticalchangeswilllikelybeslowones.Itssomethingthatsoonerorlatersomeonesgoingtohavetoputonamapandthatlltriggersomething.Theseareslowchangestheytakeagenerationsothereslotsoftimetoadapt.PhotosJohnRigneyThenewchanneloftheAthabascacutsthroughthetreesbetweentheriverandEggLake.Itwentfrombeing20feetwideto20metreswidewithinamonth.TheAthabascaRivernearEggLakeisatfullcapacityspillingoverthebankforabout1km.ThankyoutoallandthosewhotravelledtobewithusduringFRANKIEWILLBESADLYMISSEDChristaVernMarvinandfamilymembers.THANKYOUSOMUCHCecilFrankPhillips