Dams on the Peace²⁰

The W.A.C. Bennett Dam has altered the flow patterns of the Peace River.

• Annual flow has not changed significantly, but peak spring and summer flows at Peace Point are about 50% of natural flows, and flows in the winter can be 7.5 times greater than under pre-dam conditions.
• Behind the dam is British Columbia's largest reservoir, Williston Lake, which covers an area of 166,000 ha.
• The dam can store the equivalent of 1.5 times the mean annual flow of the Peace River at the BC-Alberta border.
• It is one of the world's largest earthfill structures, stretching two km across the head of the canyon and standing 183 metres.
• The Peace Canyon Dam, downstream from the Bennett Dam, does not regulate flow, but it can still influence water quality. ²¹
• A third dam and hydroelectric generating station, known as Site C, is scheduled to be constructed on the Peace River in northeast BC.²²
• Glacier Power received approval in 2009 to complete a run-of-river hydroelectric dam on the Peace River near Fairview, but it has not yet been built.²³

Predicted Natural Flow at the Town of Peace River