This is the Brilliant Dam which is situated just outside Castlegar, to the South West of Nelson. We took this picture at the weekend as we drove past. The huge volume of water is due to the snow run off finally heading down after the late thaw this year.
Here is some history of the Dam from the Touchstones Museum in Nelson "Constructed during WWII when lead and zinc were in high demand for the war effort and all of the other West Kootenay Power generators on the Kootenay River were working to capacity, the No. 5 Plant was completed and online in June of 1944. Construction crews consisted of many local Doukhobor men who were militarily-exempt. They provided 60% of the workforce during the project. Since equipment and machinery were in high demand during the war, permission for the project was not granted until September, 1942. Heavy snow in the winter of 1943 and sustained high water levels that spring delayed the project by a further six months.The dam is 42.6 metres high (140 feet) and spanned the width of the river, had a head of 28 metres (92 feet) and came online with two turbines in operation. The dam has eight sluice gates and four operating units.
In 2003, the Columbia Power Corporation began the Brilliant Expansion, an improvement to utilize the excess water beyond the capacity of the original plant. The excess water that spills through the sluice gates will be diverted through a tunnel south of the existing plant, passed through the turbine and discharged below the outlet of the dam. This will result in increased power generation during high water and less spillage, resulting in healthier fish habitat downstream".
As you can see from the picture it is quite impressive and can generate a huge amount of power for the area.
Staying on the theme of water we thought we would just show you the difference in the levels of water in the Kootenay Lake caused by the snow thaw from the mountains. Here is a picture from early May at Kokanee Provincial Park beach, when the lake levels were low. 
Followed by the same shot this weekend. As you can see the Lake is full to brimming and still very beautiful - this is our Sunday afternoon walk on the beach!
It is amazing to see especially as the size of the lake is 100km long and 5km wide making it the largest natural lake in British Columbia.
Here in Nelson we are looking forward to the start of our kerbside recycling which begins in two weeks time. This will be a great development for us making recycling plastic, paper and other stuff much easier and it saves the planet as we won't need to take our 4.4L V8 engine downtown to the recycle depot! Our Photo Editor still thinks that a 3L BMW straight 6 would be much more fuel efficient especially as we are now paying 136cents per litre for gas, although I am not convinced that we would get all our ski/snowboard gear into a sports car and sucessfully make it up the ski hill road during the winter. We are still having various conversations about a summer car as I fancied a little Pontiac Soltice in the absence of George the mini.
That is all for this week. Hope the weather is treating you all well.
Let us know what you are up to.
Rachael, Shaun, Harley and Phantom
