A few retired geologists let curiosity get the better of them and have now found themselves in phase four of a geothermal energy project near Kootenay Lake.
The goal, said Gord MacMahon, lead volunteer researcher, is tapping into geothermal energy and using the hot water to heat buildings, or for industrial purposes.
The focus area is a known warm spring near Crawford Creek, on the central, east side of Kootenay Lake.
“After a thermal survey [of the area], we actually saw three more springs in the same area,” he said.
They’re not super hot, said MacMahon – temperatures range from 17°C to 31°C – but they’re obviously connected to something that is.
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In phase four, they hope to gather enough data to justify drilling a well in search of hotter waters. With high enough temperatures and substantial flow rates, a project could be developed for commercial use.
“There’s a wide range of different direct use applications, but a greenhouse that can grow food year-round would be one of the more appealing outcomes,” said MacMahon.
The project began in 2019, when MacMahon started chatting with other retired geologists in the area.
In 2021, curiosity spurred MacMahon, Dan Gatto, and Sonni Greene to begin analyzing data with Selkirk College. In phase two, they hired a Selkirk College geology summer student to complete reconnaissance geological mapping and geochemistry work.
The results from phase two were enough to support their hypothesis of an active thermal system. Phase three started last year – another summer student, and more detailed, sophisticated mapping and geochemistry work.
MacMahon said phase three also included some “pretty interesting geophysics results” with the University of Victoria.
“And so when you roll all that up, it continues to make the story compelling, which is why we’re now in phase four,” said MacMahon.
Phase four is going deeper with isotope geochemistry and even more specialized geochemistry work with students from the University of Calgary, University of Ottawa, and Selkirk College.
“If we can identify certain isotope ratios [near Crawford Creek] that are similar to known hot springs, then it will further validate our thinking,” he said.
To do so, the team explored Dewar Creek hot springs in the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park. The horseback trip out to the second hottest hot springs in BC, at 83°C, was an adventure, said MacMahon.
South Kootenay Lake Community Services is providing administrative support for the project, while funding has come from the RDCK, the Province’s Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP), Geoscience BC, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Federal funding through Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) has helped fund summer students’ salaries each summer.
But otherwise, it is completely volunteer-driven, said MacMahon.
“It’s been like a part-time job without pay,” he said. But they’re all enjoying the fascinating work and discoveries. Getting back out into the field is a highlight for MacMahon.
“And we’ve worked with some really bright young students, and that’s rewarding too, to see them learning and to learn from them,” he said.
