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dam-l (Fwd) WCD to Study Thailand's Pak Mun Dam and Mekong/Mun River
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 18:40:36 -0700
From: patrick@irn.org (Patrick McCully) (by way of Aviva Imhof <aviva@irn.org>)
Subject: WCD to Study Thailand's Pak Mun Dam and Mekong/Mun River
Basins
To: irn-mekong@igc.org
The following press release is taken from the web site of the World
Commission on Dams www.dams.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 Mar 99
World Commission to Study Thailand's Pak Mun Dam and Mekong/Mun River
Basins
The World Commission on Dams is pleased to announce the WCD's
independent study of Thailand's Pak Mun Dam and related aspects of the
Mekong/Mun river basin.
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 report will provide a framework for future
decision-making on dams, which epitomise the
many conflicts at the heart of debates over
sustainable development. However, it should be
noted that the Commission is not judicial in nature
and will not adjudicate on disputes over dams. The
WCD case studies will underpin that final report by
illustrating 'lessons learned' in terms of the myriad
impacts -- positive and negative -- of dams on
people, the environment, and economies.
The 4200-kilometre-long Mekong starts life in
Tibet and passes through Yunnan province in China
and a small section of Burma before forming the
border between Thailand and Laos. It enters
Cambodia at the magnificent Khone waterfalls
before slowing its pace in the nine arms of the
low-lying Mekong delta in southern Vietnam, and finally discharges into the
South China Sea. The Mekong is the third largest river in Asia, after
the Yangtze
in China and the Ganges in India, and by far the largest unexploited
river in the
world. The Mun River tributary is the largest in north-east Thailand,
with a
catchment of about 70 per cent of the overall north-eastern region.
Historically, the swelling of the Mekong tributaries signalled the end
of the
difficult dry season and the return to drought-stricken eastern Thailand
of more
plentiful times -- water for rice paddies, bathing, celebrations, and an
abundance of fish and other aquatic life. Damming its waters for
irrigation and
power generation has been considered by some to be key to Thai
development.
"Like all our case studies, the Pak Mun experience will illustrate the
challenges
in getting development right,"said the WCD Chair, Professor Kader Asmal,
who
is also South Africa's Minister for Water Affairs and Forestry.
EGAT, Thailand's national electrical utility, commissioned the Pak Mun
dam in
1994. Relative to the other WCD case studies, it is a newer and smaller
dam (17
meters high, 60-square-kilometre reservoir, installed generating
capacity of 136
megawatts and potential to irrigate 25,000 hectares). Pak Mun is unique
among
the case studies in that it is a 'run-of-river' dam. The WCD study will
analyse the
evidence about this type of construction which, according to its
proponents,
does not alter the river significantly.
Pak Mun incorporated some of the 'lessons learned' in constructing dams in
earlier decades and its social and environmental mitigation measures
accounted
for one-third of total project cost. For example, the number of people
displaced
by the dam was forecast as 20,000 but due to external pressure and the need
to preserve river-based tourist attractions, the project was reduced in
size and
so were the numbers displaced, to 1500. The study will include comparison
with, among others, the adjacent Sirindhorn dam, built 27 years ago. Pak
Mun's
builders offered a more comprehensive resettlement program for those
displaced by the reservoir and dam, including compensation that encouraged
dam-affected people in the Sirindhorn area to seek retroactive
compensation.
The effect of the dam on fisheries is one of the most contested issues
and the
case study will examine fish biodiversity, food security and income
generation
from fisheries. The impact of EGAT's fish hatchery in the reservoir and
its fish
ladders, devised to let fish pass over the dams, will be analysed.
"We're grateful for the support given to this case study by EGAT,
academics as
well as by non-governmental organisations and affected peoples groups" said
WCD Secretary-General Achim Steiner. " In order to help us focus this
study,
and to encourage a sense of ownership of the WCD's work, both the NGOs and
EGAT worked with us in establishing the study's parameters. We look
forward to
ongoing co-operation from all parties to the debate over dams in Thailand."
Parties involved in the Mekong/Mun River Basin who wish to make
submissions on this case study should visit the WCD Website at
www.dams.org, call the WCD in Cape Town at Tel 27 21 426 4000 fax
426 0036 or write the WCD at PO Box 16002, Vlaeberg, Cape Town 8018,
South Africa.
For media enquiries, please contact Kate Dunn at WCD kdunn@dams.org Cell
phone: 27 83 326 8825.
Dianne Murray, Coordinator/Webmistress
Dam-Reservoir Working Group; Ottawa, Canada
Dam-Reservoir Impacts and Information Archive
http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams