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dam-l Instream flows of LHWP/LS
This appeared in the Sept/Oct edition of "Work for Justice", the
publication of Transformation Resource Centre in Maseru.
If Mashai Dam were to be built, it would have major impacts on people
living downstream. Discerning the nature and extent of these social
impacts is the task that fell to Christian Boehm, David Hall and their team
at Sechaba Consultants.
For the past two years, Metsi Consulting, an international consortium
comprised of Southern Waters (RSA) and Snowy Mountains Engineering
Corporation (Australia), has been engaged in an LHDA-commissioned study of
Instream Flow Requirements (IFR) for the Senqu River and other rivers
affected by the LHWP. Sechaba Consultants is a sub-contractor on this
project.
The purpose of the IFR is to predict the state of the river given several
different potential scenarios. For example, what would happen to the
river's ecology if it no longer floods or if the river's low level is
reduced? Further, what are the consequences to riparian populations if
such changes would occur, and what would be the costs of mitigating these
impacts? These are the questions that the IFR study attempts to answer.
"This is the first time that such a comprehensive IFR has been done
anywhere in the world," says Boehm, "We've gathered huge amounts of data.
The critical thing is what governments and policy makers do with all the
numbers that we've come up with."
Scientists from a wide range of disciplines participated in the study;
hydrologists, geomorphologists, sedimentologists, botanists, wildlife
specialists, anthropologists, public and animal health experts, and
economists. They gathered information from eight sites along the river
system; from Ha Seshote to Quthing. Part of Boehm's job was to quantify
each studied household's use of river resources. The use of every plant
and animal was measured as well as cultural uses of the river like baptism.
So, when large dams are built, what are the most serious impacts to the
people that live immediately downstream? The flow of the river is greatly
reduced close to the dam wall, gradually increasing farther away from the
wall as other tributaries feed into the basin. People living in the high
impact zones close to the wall see the river's water quality reduced. This
is a problem for communities living downstream from Mohale Dam on the
Senqunyane River. These villages draw their drinking water from the river
year-round. When Mohale is completed, they will face serious health risks.
A large number of wildlife species (as well as domestic animals) are
dependent on the river's flow. Many fish species are negatively affected
by reduced flows, but these same flow reductions are occasionally ideal for
insect pests. Certain fly species could increase, causing a risk to
livestock. Many plant species are also negatively affected when river
flow decreases. Trees, especially willows, exhibit stunted growth.
The IFR study is responsible to estimate the cost of preventing,
compensating, or mitigating these negative impacts. "People living
downstream need to be compensated for these losses," says Boehm, "they were
used to living with the river flowing at a certain rate, and then someone
builds a dam and everything changes."
This is something that NGOs and civil society should advocate for and that
should be included in any future versions of the LHWP treaty. No
reparations to downstream communities have yet been done at Katse, Muela,
Mohale or Matsoku even though impacts have been or will be significant.
According to Boehm's calculations, 6-8% of Lesotho's population lives
downstream of these projects, so providing compensation and mitigation
measures would be an expensive undertaking, but prevention is less costly
than a cure. The socio-economic costs of reducing river flows without
dealing with the negative consequences would probably far outweigh the cost
of mitigation and compensation measures. Regardless of economic costs, the
IFR shows that impacts on downstream communities are real and must be
genuinely addressed if the LHWP takes seriously its commitment to treat
affected people fairly.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
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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