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dam-l Repeat of Alternatives story


You may have received a scrambled version of this earlier.


Cheaper Alternatives to Dam, Water Pipeline Proposed
by Lori Pottinger

A Namibian nongovernmental organization has proposed alternative sources of
power and water that could be developed instead of the controversial Epupa
hydroelectric scheme and the Okavango water pipeline, an October 7 article
in The Nambian reports (www.namibian.com.na).

In an open letter to the Namibian government, Earthlife Africa's Namibia
branch states that a package of alternatives would effectively cut the cost
of the existing schemes by around N$966 million (N$1 = US$0.214).

"We believe that the time has come to look at all four projects together:
Epupa, Kudu, the Okavango, and desalination," the Earthlife letter states.
"The many changes since each was begun, however, demand a critical
reevaluation of the national water and power issue. In our view, there is a
simple, cheaper and environmentally sensible way to integrate both power
generation and provision of water which would make both the Epupa and
Okavango projects unnecessary."

The Earthlife Namibia proposal points out shortcomings of the proposed
Epupa and Okavango projects, and proposes instead a package of
desalinization and natural gas projects. The group notes that although
Epupa dam is supposed to make Namibia self-sufficient in power, it could
fall short during periods of extended drought. And the Okavango pipeline,
they said, would disrupt the ecology of the Okavango Delta and set a
precedent for future increased water abstraction from the river.
Early studies for the dam recommend building the highest dam in Africa (at
203 meters), with a very large reservoir whose average surface area would
be about 300 million square meters--a size that project proponents say
would "drought proof" it. But as Earthlife points out, the disadvantages of
a large reservoir in one of the hottest and driest regions of Southern
Africa far outweigh its advantages. "Beyond social and environmental
disruptions, Epupa would waste a precious water resource for good. Also,
being located in a very hot and dry region, roughly 900 million cubic
meters of water would be lost by evaporation from the large dam surface.
This is 45 times the envisaged abstraction from the Okavango river,"
Earthlife said. Namibia has one of the highest evaporation rates in the
world, and has very few perennial rivers.

The organization said the Government would need N$2.67 billion for the
Epupa development, N$1.15 billion for the Okavango pipeline, and N$322
million to build a water desalination plant in Walvis Bay and at the Khan
dam in the Swakop River. This would total N$4.232 billion.

On the other hand, Earthlife's "integrated" development consisted of a
12-inch gas pipeline from Oranjemund to Walvis Bay for N$1.15 billion, a
250-MW gas power station plus desalination plant for N$966 million and a
water pipeline between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, which the organization
says should cost N$1.15 billion. This totals N$3.266 billion, which could
save the country N$966 million.

The group also reiterated its stance that the planned 750-MW Kudu gas power
now being studied would make the Epupa project superfluous, as it would
provide abundant and cheaper power with fewer environmental impacts. Kudu
is expected to cost N$2.2 billion to make Namibia self-sufficient in power
during the foreseeable future and have enough for some export of
electricity.

Earthlife Namibia's suggestions comes just after the Epupa feasibility
study was completed and given to the Namibian government to review. The
study will be made available on the internet after October 13
(http:\\burmeister.com.na). The feasibility study will be the subject of
public meetings in Namibian in October and November (see Headlines). While
the feasibility study is required to evaluate alternative sources of
energy, it does so only in the broadest sense; its guiding premise is to
review just large-scale dam options. "The objective of the feasibility
study is to provide Namibia and Angola with relevant information in order
to reach a decision concerning a future development of the hydropower
potential of the lower Cunene River," according to an October 1996 letter
by Arild Eik, then-acting director of the Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (NORAD), the lead donor agency funding the dam's feasibility
study.
-end

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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