Plans to redirect Gladstone Creek toward the Aishihik hydro facility are ringing environmental alarm bells.

NDP Leader Liz Hanson is calling the Gladstone Creek diversion proposal an "ill-conceived, rushed scheme.

"Connecting these two watersheds has the potential to cause irreversible harm to fish populations and fish habitat,” she told the legislative assembly during question period.

She pointed to initial reports from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) before accusing the government of rushing to action in light of an energy supply scramble.

"It is really because this government hasn't planned very well for future energy needs of this territory that the Yukon Energy Corporation is finding itself scrambling today to keep pace with the rapidly growing demand for power,” she said.

The government is "pushing projects that may not be suitable or viable and is ignoring advice and failing to work collaboratively with other government agencies,” she said.

Rather than have Environment Minister John Edzerza offer a response, Premier Dennis Fentie stood to address Hanson's question.

"To make suggestions that this project is proceeding in fact would be incorrect,” he said. "This is but one of many options the energy corporation is working on.”

Yukon Energy officials have said the company is looking at a number of energy supply options, including geothermal, wind, waste-to-energy, and enhancing existing hydro stations.

The Gladstone Diversion project, as it is known, would see a canal constructed to divert water from the upper lengths of Gladstone Creek to Isaac Creek, which flows into Sekulmum Lake and then into Aishihik Lake.

If the project was selected as a viable option to proceed with, it would undergo reviews from the Yukon Socio-economic Assessment Board and the overseeing regulator, the Yukon Utilities Board.

It would also need a water licence.

If chosen as a possible alternative, diverting Gladstone water through to the Aishihik turbines would produce an additional 18 gigawatt hours of electricity annually.

Hanson cautioned the project could turn out to be an environmental catastrophe.

"Connecting these two watersheds has the potential to cause irreversible harm to fish populations and fish habitat,” she said.

Hanson's concerns stem from a letter sent to Yukon Energy's Hector Campbell from the DFO. Campbell is the corporation's director of resource planning and regulatory affairs.

The letter, obtained by the Star and dated Sept. 30, 2010, says the project is likely to result in significant environmental impacts.

"The transfer of pathogens and parasites from one watershed to another could have irreversible impacts on downstream fisheries,” writes Susan Farlinger, regional director for DFO's Pacific region.

The connected watersheds contain salmon and freshwater fisheries used by First Nations, recreational fishermen and international commercial harvesters.

Farlinger also points out that changing the water levels and directional flow in the Gladstone and Isaac creeks would result in "the harmful alternation, disruption or destruction of fish habitat.”

Fentie told the legislature his government would not rush to begin any work on projects without properly assessing environmental impacts.

"There is a litany of regulatory processes that must be gone through, including the concerns and issues of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that come out of the Fisheries Act,” he said.

The process for investigating the Gladstone diversion project's viability is still open-ended as research is compiled, say Yukon Energy officials.