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dam-l LS: Two more submissions for WCD SE Asia consultation
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 00:34:21 +0000
From: Alan Potkin <alan.potkin@laonet.net>
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To: submission@dams.org
Subject: Fourth Regional Consultation of the World Commission on Dams
Vientiane, Laos: 15 Nov 99
email to <submission@dams.org>
subject: "Aesthetic Considerations in Waterfalls Hydropower Development
in the Lao PDR", a proposed presentation for the Fourth Regional
Consultation of the World Commission on Dams [East and Southeast Asia]
Please find here two versions of our proposed presentation for the
upcoming Fourth Regional Consultation, which in any case will be
expanded into a stakeholder submission to the WCD process.
This contribution may be deemed relevant to any of the following WCD
submission guidelines:
General Categories
13) Planning Approaches
14) Environmental and Social Assessment for large dams
15) River Basins-Institutional Frameworks and Management Options
E/SE Asia Call for Submissions
1. Large Dams in East & South East Asia: A Review of Benefits and
Impacts
2. Decision-making and the Planning Process: Responding to Competing
Needs
3. Changing Institutional and Policy Frameworks: Their Influence on
Current Practice
4. Dams and Water Resource Management: Reviewing Options
Directly following this email header will be an un-formatted,
un-illustrated, text-only outline of the document. Also please find here
an attachment in MS Word 97/98 format which contains a number of
embedded photographs and still images from several videos. Page size is
A4, and the attachment may easily be printed --preferably on a
high-resolution color inkjet printer.
Thank you for all due consideration and please advise ASAP if you have
any difficulties downloading , decoding, or printing the formatted
attachment.
Alan Potkin
_______
Aesthetic Considerations in Waterfalls
Hydropower Development in the Lao PDR
1. Introduction:
Judging by the prevalence of waterfall images in Southeast Asian
domestic décor murals, posters, calenders, clocks and kitsch
accessories waterfalls would seem by far to be those features of the
natural landscape with the greatest resonance to both the human eye and
the human heart.
The term "forced rationality" appears in the title of an earlier
submission to the WCD process. It refers, presumably, to misguided
attempts to push the camel that disorderly array of cultural,
ecological, and economic factors and consequences broadly relevant to
the decision-making for large dam projects through some methodological
needle’s eye excluding all but the quantifiable elements. Certain
non-quantifiables might be admitted, but only those which accord with
the received view of what is rational for a "least developed country"
and what is not.
There can be no argument with making quantitative methodologies more
robust and transparent the objective, e.g., of the recent WCD Web
Conference on Financial, Economic, and Distributional Analysis: topics
only slenderly understood by most non-specialists (who apparently felt
they had little to offer such a Conference, judging by the sparse
contributions).
But the more accuracy that such analyses can claim for themselves, the
more likely it may be that issues and assets profoundly resistant to
quantification normative goals beyond "resources optimization", moral
sustainability, cultural patrimony, and not least, aesthetics will
become even more marginalized than they are now in large dam
decision-taking.
The two most quantifiable aspects in evaluating the aesthetic and
cultural significance of a particular waterfall are the overfalls
discharge and the height of the escarpment.
For great rivers, even a few meters of drop, e.g, at Li Pi or Khone Pa
Pheng on the mainstem Mekong, where the fall’s arc never breaks away
from the streambed but where monsoonal discharge can exceed 30,000
cumecs, comprises a spectacular asset. Conversely, in the case of a very
high "horsetail" falls, with a clear and free drop of hundreds of
meters, only a few cumecs, or even less, of streamflow can still provide
a stirring experience. Laos probably has dozens of such sites. Of course
the most magnificent falls the great "cataracts" are those; e.g., at
Niagara in North America or Zambezi in Africa where both the drop and
the discharge are enormous.
These same two aspects, discharge and drop, equally determine the
utility of a particular waterfall for hydroelectric development, since
the site’s energy potential is also a function of the reliable discharge
and the hydrostatic head; i.e., the difference in elevation between the
prospective diversion and offtake structure above the escarpment’s
crest, and the elevation of the prospective powerhouse at or below the
escarpment’s foot.
>From an engineering efficiency rule of thumb, a typical waterfalls hydro
installation should have a design throughput capacity about three times
the mean annual discharge of the site. In hydraulic and statistical
terms, this means that the headworks, turbines, and tailworks will be
able to process the entire streamflow thereby terminating the
waterfalls about 90-95% of the time. Until design throughput capacity
is exceeded by streamflow only about 5-10% of the time (even less, if
the mean discharge was overestimated by project proponents, as is often
the case; or was reduced by post-project changes in catchment hydrology,
also often the case) any "voluntary" release over the escarpment for
aesthetic or ecological purposes would represent a significant
opportunity cost.
Thus the two key aspects to understanding waterfalls hydro are:
o that those sites which are the most stunning visually are exactly
those sites most attractive in the broadest terms to hydropower
exploitation; and,
o that waterfalls hydro is perfect example of a "zero sum game": i.e.,
apart from those rare periods when the incoming discharge exceeds design
throughput capacity, waters that flow over the escarpment are waters
that could otherwise be turbinated, converted to energy, wheeled to the
grid, and marketed to consumers. They cannot serve both purposes.
II. Case Study: Xe Set Waterfalls Hydro, Bolovens Plateau, Lao PDR
At the time it went on-line in the mid-1990s, the 45 MW Xe Set I project
was only the second hydropower scheme to be completed in Laos. Most of
the electricity produced at Xe Set is wheeled across the Mekong to
Thailand. Funded primarily by Sweden, the design of Xe Set I had long
since been finalized and the construction well underway when the EIA was
published, apparently in response to Swedish domestic considerations.
Because then as now there were no "National" requirements in the Lao
PDR for environmental documentation of any kind for any project. Nor
were there then as now procedures or capacity in place for stringent
Lao government review of any EIAs delivered in accordance with internal
Donor regulations.
The cover of the Xe Set I EIA has a superb photograph of Tat Set Falls.
A number of other quality waterfalls images are interspersed in the
text. Tat Set, with an 80 meter clear drop and a mean discharge
estimated then at about 15 cumecs (since lowered to around 12 cumecs)
was certainly one of the most important waterfalls in Indochina, as a
combined function of height and discharge. If the effective termination
of a major waterfall is considered a bona fide environmental impact, the
termination of Tat Set by the Xe Set I scheme was by far the Project’s
most significant such impact.
The question of a possible "aesthetic release regime" and the analysis
of the associated benefits thereof (e.g., revenues from existing and
potential tourism) as well as the associated costs (notably an
opportunity cost of about US $500/hour for operating Tat Set Falls at
the 12 cumec rate of mean discharge, when upbasin flow had not yet
exceeded the Project’s 34 MW design throughput capacity) were not
addressed in the EIA. Nor indeed did the EIA actually state, directly or
indirectly, that Tat Set Falls would be terminated 95% of the time.
In November 1999, a draft feasibility report for a proposed Xe Set II
scheme has just been circulated amongst the Donors, and it is understod
that NORAD, Sida, and the AsDB have expressed interest in funding the
Project. The site of Xe Set II would be at Tat Setkhot, another
important waterfalls some 8 km upstream of the former Tat Set.
Generally unknown to and unvisited by tourists, Tat Setkhot easily
reachable by 2wd vehicle and providing an awesome experience to those
willing to rock-hop to the escarpment’s very edge has clear drop of
about 60 meters and a mean discharge of about 10 cumecs. Villagers and
officials of Ban Setkhot, overlooking the falls, privately expressed
their dismay to us last year at the prospect of Tat Setkhot going the
way of Tat Set.
We have not yet seen the Xe Set II feasibility report. It is unclear if
and when and for whom a credible EIA will be prepared. To be "credible"
the issues of aesthetic mitigation, environmental constraints, and
waterfalls as key cultural assets warranting consideration if not
absolute protection must duly figure in the terms of reference. It is
not expected that the Project proponents will take the initiative to
assure that. If not them, then who?
We intend to explore all this at greater depth in our forthcoming
submission to the WCD process, and respectfully request that the WCD
invite us to make a full presentation at the East and Southeast Asia
Regional Conference, wherever it might be. Our final document will be
available on CD-ROM and will include relevant multimedia and digital
imaging components.
_____
end of outline submission, unformatted version
Indigenous Fish, Artisinal Fisheries and the Cycles of the
Mekong River in Southern Lao PDR
By
Ian G. Baird
P.O. Box 860,
Pakse, Lao PDR
ianbaird@laonet.net
The Mekong River basin is internationally significant for its aquatic
biodiversity. More freshwater fish species are found in the system than in
any other, with the exception of the Amazon River basin in South America.
Although about 700 fish species have so far been recorded from the Mekong
basin, many new species are being described each year, and it is expected
that between 1,000 and 1,200 species occur. Illustrating how little is
known about the fish fauna of the Mekong River basin, Probarbus labeamajor,
an endemic carp that reaches 70 kg in weight and well over a metre in
length only became known to science in 1992. The large cyprinid predator,
Aaptosyax grypus, which attains 30 kg in weight, was first described in
1991, and the giant goramy, Osphronemus exodon, which weighs over 10 kg and
has multiple sets of teeth on its outer jaws, was just discovered in1994.
Apart from supporting high fish biodiversity, the Mekong River basin
sustains many highly productive fisheries. Artisinal wild-capture
fisheries are critical to the livelihoods of millions of people living in
the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR or Laos), and nowhere in Laos
are indigenous river fisheries more crucial than in Khong District,
Champasak Province, in the southern-most part of the country. The vast
majority of the over 65,000 people in Khong, which is also known as
“Siphandone”, or the 4000 islands, are rural semi-subsistence rice paddy
farmers living on islands in the middle of the Mekong River or along her
banks. In 1996, 94% of the families in Khong were estimated to have
participated in wild-capture food fisheries using over 100 different
artisinal fishing methods. 56% generated income from selling wild-caught
fish, and approximately 78% of the animal protein consumed by villagers was
fish. The average annual fish catch for a family was about 355 kg, of
which 249 kg was consumed. Fish selling constituted the most important
source of cash income for villagers, generating an average of US$ 100 per
family per annum. Over $1 million of Khong-caught fish was exported from
the District, making fish products the District’s largest export.
Despite the great significance of fish and fisheries in Khong District and
other parts of Laos, science knows little about most Mekong fishes,
including economically important species of great significance to local
people. Even less has been documented regarding important wild-capture
fisheries in the basin. Therefore, in 1993 an artisinal wild-capture
fisheries monitoring program was established in Hang Khone Village, Khong
District, Champasak Province, southern Lao PDR, an small island fishing
village situated just below the Khone Falls, the only large waterfalls on
the mainstream Mekong. For the last six years ten small-scale fishing
families have cooperated by allowing the monitoring team, including myself
and Lao government colleagues, to record fish catch data, including weights
of fish catches by species and information about fishing gears and periods
fished. An extensive database has been developed for analyzing the time
series data for the main fisheries monitored.
The wild-capture fisheries of the Mekong are closely linked to complex
natural cycles. Fisheries data collected from Hang Khone Village indicates
that both lunar and hydrological cycles are closely associated with the
migratory behaviour of many of the most ecologically and economically
significant fish species in southern Laos Fisheries data collected from
just below the Khone Falls, complimented by fisheries data from Cambodia,
has recently confirmed that large numbers of small cyprinids, including
Henicorhychus spp., Paralaubuca typus, Botia modesta and many others
migrate at least 500 km from the Great Lake to the Mekong River and then
Khong District, in Southern Laos, each year at the beginning of the dry
season. These migrations appear to be highly associated to lunar cycles,
but are also influenced by hydrological cycles in the Great Lake. They
constitute one of the most important fisheries for villagers in Khong.
Some fish species, including Scaphoghathops bandanensis, Mekongina
erythrospila, Bangana behri, Labeo erythropterus and others also move up
the Mekong River in Cambodia to the Khone Falls at the beginning of the dry
season, but they are believed to migrate from the Sekong, Sesan and Srepok
Rivers in Cambodia, rather than the Great Lake. They too sustain important
artisinal fisheries in Khong.
Migrations of many large catfishes, including Pangasius krempfi, Pangasius
conchophilus, Pangasius bocourti, and Pangasius larnaudiei are associated
with changes in water discharge. Each year at the beginning of the rainy
season villagers in the Khone Falls area participate in important trap and
gillnet fisheries targeting migratory catfishes and other species. One
economically important species, Pangasius krempfi, is believed to migrate
over 1000 km from the Mekong Delta and South China Sea in Southern Vietnam
each year to spawn in the Mekong River somewhere along the Lao PDR/Thailand
border. The larvae of this, and possibly other species that spawn in the
mainstream Mekong River during the high water season, are believed to drift
down the fast flowing Mekong mainstream to nursing grounds situated as far
away as the Mekong Delta.
Although there is still much to learn about the fish and fisheries of the
Mekong River in southern Laos and other parts of the Mekong basin, it is
evident that the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River and
her tributaries constitute a serious threat to indigenous fish and
fisheries in the basin. Dams threaten to block the passage of extremely
important fish migrations. They are likely to irreversibly alter the
hydrological cycles which many Mekong fish and fisheries are critically
dependent. Dams can also be expected to cause impacts on fish and
fisheries by altering nutrient flow cycles in the Mekong mainstream and
tributaries. Impacts on fishes and fisheries represent some of the
potentially most serious impacts of planned large-scale dams in the Mekong
basin. Special care must be taken to ensure that dam construction does not
destroy some of the largest and socio-economically most significant inland
fisheries in the world those of the Mekong River Basin.
END.
Ian G. Baird is a Canadian who has worked and lived in the Mekong Region
for 13 years, the last seven of which he has resided in Khong District,
Champasak Province, Southern Lao PDR. Having participated in community
fisheries action research and various kinds of community development work
in Khong, in mid-1999 he co-authored the first Lao language indigenous fish
book, “The Fishes of Southern Lao”. He has also written various popular
and peer-reviewed articles about Mekong fish and fisheries, community-based
fisheries co-management, and Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River.
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Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 USA
Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 (ext. 312), Fax: + 1 510 848 1008
Email: aviva@irn.org, Web: http://www.irn.org
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