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Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Subject: World Commission to Study Conflicts Over Grand Coulee Dam
Date: 3 Mar 1999 00:08:54 GMT
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Message-ID: <7bhuim$15rk$1@news.missouri.edu>
Environment [19]ENS -- Environment News Service
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 2, 1999 (ENS) - The World Commission on
Dams will be conducting an independent study of the Grand Coulee Dam,
located in Washington state in the United States, and related aspects
of the Columbia River Basin. The Grand Coulee is the largest concrete
dam in North America and the third largest producer of electricity in
the world.
This is one of up to 10 case studies of dams in major river basins
around the world to be undertaken by the Commission in preparation of
its June 2000 final report. The WCD will also study dams in Brazil,
Pakistan, Thailand, Norway, Zimbabwe/Zambia, South Africa, China and
Russia. The report will provide a framework for future decision-making
on dams, which are at the core of many conflicts over sustainable
development.
The WCD case studies will underpin that final report by illustrating
lessons learned in terms of the impacts, both positive and negative,
of dams on people, the environment, and economies. The role of the
Commission is not judicial in nature and will not adjudicate on
disputes over dams.
Instead, the WCD is addressing the many issues that have arisen around
dams such as the Grand Coulee - competing interests of urbanites and
rural dwellers; fish, farmers and utilities; industry and
environmentalists; indigenous people and more recent settlers.
The Grand Coulee has achieved legendary status in the United States
because of its size and the intense debate over its positive and
negative impacts.
It is of vital interest to the WCD because the Grand Coulee is a
mature dam in a mature democracy and economy in which debates over
re-licensing, decommissioning, protection of endangered species, and
recreational demands on water resources are more advanced than in
other parts of the globe.
"Our global review of dams will be all the richer for tapping into the
wealth of experience surrounding the Grand Coulee/Columbia River, and
the broader experience of the United States, one of the worlds major
dam-building nations," said Professor Kader Asmal, WCD chairperson and
South Africas Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry.
When completed in 1942, Grand Coulee was the largest hydro-electric
dam in the world and remains the largest in North America, trapping
the might of one of the planets fastest rivers. It was considered
proof of Americas unrivalled power to harness nature and was dubbed
the Eighth Wonder of the World.
The dam contains 12 million cubic yards of concrete, is 550 feet high,
500 feet thick at its base and 5,673 feet long. The dams Lake
Roosevelt reservoir stretches 150 miles. Grand Coulee has installed
hydro-electric production capacity of 6,800 megawatts, which powered
economic growth in the Pacific Northwest region.
Like most major river basins in the world, the Columbia River basin is
at the center of debates about how to manage natural resources. People
are concerned with dams' environmental impacts, particularly on salmon
species whose migration is blocked by dams; loss of wilderness; high
levels of agricultural pollution in the basin; and the effects of
basin developments on the lives of indigenous people.
Farmers and those shipping goods by water from the interior to the
West Coast continue to laud the benefits of the dredged-out Columbia
River system, while others criticize the cost to taxpayers of
subsidizing that system.
Windsurfers and barge operators are fighting each other over rights to
navigate on the river.
In this study of the Grand Coulee and the Columbia River basin, the
WCD team will consult with people employed on the river;
non-governmental organizations involved in social and environmental
aspects of river basin use and management, particularly indigenous
peoples organizations and salmon preservation groups; government and
its agencies; farmers and shipping companies; hydrologists, engineers
and utilities; and local people otherwise affected in the upstream and
downstream areas of the dam.
"It is important for all parties to realize that the Commission
carries out its work independently," said Achim Steiner, WCD
Secretary-General. "The success of this process depends on
participation by a broad spectrum of interested parties."
Stakeholders involved in the Columbia River basin may contact the
World Commission on Dams. Contact: Jamie Skinner, email:
[20]jskinner@dams.org
© [21]Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.