{{Short description|Human settlement in British Columbia, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Location map|Canada British Columbia|lat=53.3359|long=-127.5700|width=200|caption=Location of Kemano in British Columbia|label=Kemano}}
'''Kemano''' was a settlement situated 75 km (47 mi) southeast of Kitimat in the province of British Columbia in Canada. It was built to service a hydroelectric power station, built to provide energy for Alcan to smelt aluminum from its ore. The Kemano Generating Station is built 427 m (1,400 ft) inside the base of Mt Dubose in a blasted cavern. It produces 896 MW of power from its eight generators, each of which has a capacity of 112MW.
==History== right|thumb|350px|Kemano Beach, the former townsite is located further inland. The plant comprises a 16 km (9.9 mi) long tunnel, the width of a two-lane highway, drilled and blasted through the coastal mountains to carry water to the penstocks of the Kemano powerhouse. The water plunges 800 m (2,600 ft) to drive the generators. The two 287 kV power transmission lines travel 82 km (51 mi) from Kemano to Kitimat<ref name=trans>[http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/kitimat/transmission.html The Transmission Line] ''Royal BC Museum''. Accessed: 16 February 2012.</ref> across some of the most rugged mountain territory in British Columbia, along the Kildala Pass, about 1,500 m (5,000 ft) above sea-level. Voice communication over the power lines was the only form of fast contact between the sites. Between 1951 and 1954, 6,000 construction workers built the Kenney Dam, tunnel, powerhouse, transmission line, smelter, and townsite. There remains no road to Kemano; everything had to be brought in by air or sea. Construction equipment and supplies were barged over Tahtsa Lake to the eastern end of the tunnel.<ref name=kend>Kendrick, John. [http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/kitimat/happen.html Making It Happen] ''Royal BC Museum''. Accessed: 16 February 2012.</ref> Sixteen people died making the tunnel.<ref name=tun>[http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/kitimat/tunnel.html The tunnel] ''Royal BC Museum''. Accessed: 16 February 2012.</ref> In 1956 the smelter complex consumed 35% of yearly electric energy in British Columbia.<ref name=power>[http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/kitimat/powerhouse.html The Powerhouse] ''Royal BC Museum''. Accessed: 16 February 2012.</ref>
The first Kemano Project, known as Kemano I, resulted in the flooding of {{convert|339|sqmi|km2}} of the Nechako Reservoir, within Cheslatta territory.<ref name=kend1>[http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/northwest/kitimat/reservoir.html Reservoir and Dam] ''Royal BC Museum''. Accessed: 16 February 2012.</ref> This reputedly removed approximately 75% of the flow of the Nechako, which is or was an important salmon river. Expansion on the project, known as Kemano II, has been contested in the Canadian courts by members of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation with a group of Elders who have filed a Statement of Claim with the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Kemano itself is a name for a tribal subdivision of the Henaksiala, part of the Haisla group, and was a community in its own right after many of the coastal tribes withdrew during the influx of colonists post-1780, to remove themselves from the threat of diseases and the alien culture. Kemano Indian Reserve No. 17 is located at the site of the Henaksiala village, though most Haisla in the region today live at Kitamaat Village, near Kitimat.
The company town of Kemano was originally built in the 1950s and was home to a thriving small community, featuring a guesthouse, a shop which sold everything from candy to guns to socks to hats, a golf course, curling rink, bowling alley, and a church. When the power station was automated, the town eventually closed its doors as a community in 2000, the residents were moved out, and the majority of houses (including the school) were burnt down as a training exercise for selected fire departments from all of BC. The plant still exists and is operational on a shift system.
==Climate== {{Weather box |location = Kemano |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan record high C = 12.2 |Feb record high C = 13.5 |Mar record high C = 18.3 |Apr record high C = 28.0 |May record high C = 33.3 |Jun record high C = 36.0 |Jul record high C = 37.8 |Aug record high C = 35.0 |Sep record high C = 33.9 |Oct record high C = 23.0 |Nov record high C = 15.0 |Dec record high C = 11.5 |year record high C = 37.8 |Jan high C = 1.1 |Feb high C = 3.6 |Mar high C = 7.6 |Apr high C = 12.6 |May high C = 17.0 |Jun high C = 20.2 |Jul high C = 22.3 |Aug high C = 22.1 |Sep high C = 17.4 |Oct high C = 10.4 |Nov high C = 4.1 |Dec high C = 1.3 |year high C = 11.6 | Jan mean C = -1.5 | Feb mean C = 0.4 | Mar mean C = 3.3 | Apr mean C = 7.2 | May mean C = 11.1 | Jun mean C = 14.4 | Jul mean C = 16.5 | Aug mean C = 16.4 | Sep mean C = 12.7 | Oct mean C = 7.2 | Nov mean C = 1.9 | Dec mean C = -0.8 | year mean C = 7.4 |Jan low C = -4.0 |Feb low C = -3.0 |Mar low C = -1.1 |Apr low C = 1.8 |May low C = 5.2 |Jun low C = 8.5 |Jul low C = 10.5 |Aug low C = 10.6 |Sep low C = 7.9 |Oct low C = 4.0 |Nov low C = -0.4 |Dec low C = -3.0 |year low C = 3.1 |Jan record low C = -24.4 |Feb record low C = -24.0 |Mar record low C = -18.9 |Apr record low C = -7.8 |May record low C = -3.3 |Jun record low C = -0.6 |Jul record low C = 2.2 |Aug record low C = -0.6 |Sep record low C = -1.1 |Oct record low C = -14.5 |Nov record low C = -25.0 |Dec record low C = -21.5 |year record low C = -25.0 |Jan precipitation mm = 249.8 |Feb precipitation mm = 170.6 |Mar precipitation mm = 137.5 |Apr precipitation mm = 100.3 |May precipitation mm = 68.7 |Jun precipitation mm = 62.5 |Jul precipitation mm = 61.9 |Aug precipitation mm = 76.9 |Sep precipitation mm = 162.5 |Oct precipitation mm = 317.7 |Nov precipitation mm = 293.1 |Dec precipitation mm = 285.4 |year precipitation mm = 1986.9 |Jan rain mm= 190.2 |Feb rain mm= 136.3 |Mar rain mm= 122.2 |Apr rain mm= 98.1 |May rain mm= 68.7 |Jun rain mm= 62.5 |Jul rain mm= 61.9 |Aug rain mm= 76.9 |Sep rain mm= 162.5 |Oct rain mm= 315.2 |Nov rain mm= 257.6 |Dec rain mm= 219.6 |year rain mm= 1771.6 |Jan snow cm= 59.7 |Feb snow cm= 34.3 |Mar snow cm= 15.3 |Apr snow cm= 2.2 |May snow cm= 0.0 |Jun snow cm= 0.0 |Jul snow cm= 0.0 |Aug snow cm= 0.0 |Sep snow cm= 0.0 |Oct snow cm= 2.5 |Nov snow cm= 35.5 |Dec snow cm= 65.8 |year snow cm= 215.3 |precipitation colour = green |rain colour = green |source 1 = Environment Canada<ref name= "climate">{{cite web |url =http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=396&lang=e&province=BC&provSubmit=go&page=101&dCode=0| title = Kemano | work = Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010| publisher = Environment Canada| language = English, French| accessdate =24 September 2015}}</ref> |date=September 2015 }}
==See also== * Cheslatta River
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/accepted/?id=d759a638-d7c6-4155-97d7-3925b00b01bf PDF]- Article about the burning of the town * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100729085353/http://www.riotintoalcaninbc.com/pages/our-products/power-operations-watershed-management.php] – Rio Tinto Alcan BC * {{BCGNIS|3166|Kemano (Community)}} * {{BCGNIS|33802|Kemano Indian Reserve 17}} * {{BCGNIS|39304|Kemano Beach (Landing)}}
{{Coord|53|33|59|N|127|57|00|W|display=title}}
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Category:Company towns in Canada Category:Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Category:Populated places in the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine