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dam-l WCD and large dams article/LS
A not very good article on large dams from today's Business Day (SA).
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Do they hold water? Study and dam the consequences
Body examines impact of hydropower, writes Louise Cook
DAMS are among the man-made wonders of the world.
However, the nature of their construction could change after extensive
research by the World Commission on Dams. The commission is shining a
spotlight on the environmental and social impact of these structures.
"There is a place for dams in development, particularly in Africa," says
commission chairman and SA Education Minister Kader Asmal. "But they have to
be conceived and developed in the right way."
What is the right way?
Asmal says it means learning from past mistakes to avoid situations like the
forced removal of hundreds of farm workers to make way for the building of
the Gariep and Vanderkloof dams on the Orange River in the '70s.
In the case of the Gariep Dam, SA's largest, it was found that the dam
caused a proliferation of black flies, which feed on the blood of sheep and
cattle. The insects have caused heavy livestock losses. It costs R2m a year
to control the problem.
The Financial Times reports that in India, large numbers of villagers are
being removed by the construction of a series of dams along the Narmada
Valley.
In Turkey the building of the Ilisu Dam has heightened tensions with Syria
and Iraq. Damage to water supplies and a threat to the livelihood of farmers
in those countries could lead to war with Turkey, some argue.
"The reality in today's debate on dams is that it is civil society and the
private sector that will, to a large extent, determine whether governments
will choose a dam as their preferred option," says Asmal.
The rate of dam construction has come down since the '70s, when more than
5000 were built worldwide. Today there are about 1600 dams under
construction in 42 countries. India, China, Turkey, South Korea, Japan,
Brazil, Spain, Thailand and Romania are the main dam builders. They are
investing no less than $15bn in hydropower.
A fifth of the world's electricity is generated by hydropower, while most
large dams are built to provide water for irrigation and human consumption.
The World Conservation Union established the dam commission in May last
year. Its secretariat is based in Cape Town and its mandate will end in June
next year, when it will issue a report on its findings.
"We want to know how effective large dams have been in delivering a range of
development benefits like those anticipated at the start of projects 10, 20
and even 50 years ago, as well as the benefits one would expect of a dam
built today," says Asmal.
The commission is made up of representatives from governments,
nongovernmental organisations, academics and industry. According to senior
commission adviser Maeliodio Niasse, the commission aims to address
"conflicting viewpoints that have polarised the debate" and build a common
understanding among interested parties.
"Dams provide developmental and security benefits, but they can also mean a
loss of plant, animal and aquatic biodiversity and have significant human
impacts," he says.
About 4-million people worldwide are displaced on an annual basis as dams
begin operating, says Asmal. "We embarked on 10 case studies of individual
dams and their respective river basins…. In Africa, our main study is of the
Kariba Dam and the Zambezi river basin.
"The dam straddles Zambia and Zimbabwe and its history offers unique lessons
regarding … water-sharing and water resource development, environmental and
ecological impacts and resettlement issues."
The commission has brought together researchers with sharply differing
views.
Some researchers, for example, challenged the notion that hydropower was
environmentally acceptable. They said it was associated with eutrophication
(a process that causes deterioration of water quality) and the production of
greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.
Others said that hydropower could have a positive effect on greenhouse gas
emissions.
Asmal emphasises the need for civil society to be involved in future dam
construction. "The debate should not begin with a politician saying: 'We
need a dam and will deliver the following services.' Instead, the discussion
should start with the statement: 'We need XYZ services and what is the best
means of realising those needs?'"
The commission believes its findings will serve as a basis for planning new
dams and in other major development projects.
The Economist magazine reports that in Asia, politicians are forging ahead
with big dams despite opposition from activists. These include the Three
Gorges dam in China and the Narmada project in India.
Officials point to many splendid benefits that are to flow from these
projects.
Three Gorges, for example, is designed both to generate 20 gigawatts of
electricity and to help control the flood waters of the Yangtze River. Last
year 5-million homes were destroyed in floods in China.
New Delhi says that the Narmada project will deliver electricity and
irrigation in a country where a lack of the latter relegates millions of
people to subsistence farming.
But one of the arguments now used against big dams is that they destroy one
set of objectives while fulfilling another. For example, flood control
requires officials to throw open a dam's gates. In doing so irrigation water
and power production is lost.
Releasing water to meet green goals, such as boosting fish populations in
the dry season, means lost electricity sales.
Disenchantment with the large dam projects has forced the Narmada project in
Gujarat and the Tchri project in the Himalayas to be shelved.
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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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