This adventure lab will take you on a tour of the dams and power stations along the Kootenay River between Nelson and Castlegar. The Kootenay River drops 117 meters between the Kootenay Lake outflow at Nelson and its confluence with the Columbia River at Castlegar. The rapid elevation drop and heavy seasonal water flows create ideal conditions for water power production. There are eight power plants along this section of the Kootenay River that have a capacity of 1100 megawatts of energy; enough power to supply half a million homes. The Lower Bonnington rock-filled timber crib dam built in 1897 was the first of these dams to provide power for the Rossland mines in 1898; the 32 mile transmission lines were the longest on the continent at the time. The latest power station to be completed was the Brilliant Expansion Project which was completed in 2007, which doubled the generation capacity at the Brilliant site. Start this adventure in Castlegar and travel North (up river) towards Nelson.
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