West Canada Creek (NY) Call to Action

There was once a time when West Canada Creek flowed free, its pristine waterfalls cascading over 450 million-year-old limestone rocks. Descending more than 300 feet, the waterfalls at Prospect and Trenton were so powerful and impressive that tourists flocked to the area to view some of the largest waterfalls East of Niagara. 

In 1901 the Trenton Falls Hydroelectric Project was completed. Water in West Canada Creek was diverted and the river dewatered, siphoning nearly the entire flow away from the massive falls. A national treasure was silenced and the river was left dry, locked away behind barbed wire fences of the dam owner.

Several paddlers descended the Prospect section of West Canada Creek in the summer of 2021 as part of a whitewater boating study required in the federal relicensing of the hydroelectric dams. The boating study demonstrated that the Prospect Gorge, including the grandeur of Prospect Falls, is a hidden gem of the Adirondacks but also off limits to the public due to the dam owner’s prohibition. American Whitewater has been working to restore open public access and aesthetic flows at Prospect Falls and Trenton Falls, and scheduled boating opportunities in Prospect Gorge and on the river below Trenton Falls Gorge.

Meanwhile, Erie Boulevard Hydropower (a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable Power) filed a Settlement Agreement with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation that bars the public from the river and they now seek to incorporate those settlement provisions into a new 40-year Federal Energy Regulatory Comission license for the project. 

“The settlement agreement leaves West Canada Creek dewatered with all flows being diverted,” says Bob Nasdor, American Whitewater’s Northeast Stewardship Director.  “This eliminates all boating at Prospect Gorge, it eliminates opportunities to view water flowing over an extraordinary series of falls and canyons, and bars the public from viewing Trenton Gorge for almost all year.”

The settlement agreement flies in the face of DEC’s mission, “to conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being,”

Elected officials must hear from the public on this issue now. Without immediate action, waterfalls and gorges in West Canada Creek will remain locked away and silenced. We’ve made it super simple to send a message with our easy-action form. Take action today! The deadline to comment is April 18.