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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