Archive for the 'hydropower' Category

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Pakistan and India to go to War over Water?

Published on 04/05/2012 in dams, hydrology, hydropower, peak water, policy and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.pacificvoyagers.org

“But now a rising new element of discord threatens to precipitate a new armed clash between southern Asia’s two nuclear powers – water.

Lahore’s “The Nation’ newspaper on Sunday published an editorial entitled, “War with India inevitable: Nizami,” the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief and Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust At issue are Pakistan’s concerns over India’s ongoing construction of two hydroelectric dams on the upper reaches of the Indus River. Islamabad is concerned that the 45 megawatt, 190-foot tall Nimoo-Bazgo concrete dam 44 megawatt Chutak hydroelectric power project will reduce the Indus River’s flow towards Pakistan, as they are capable of storing up to 4.23 billion cubic feet of water, violating the terms of the bilateral 1960 Indus Water Treaty. The Indus, which begins in Indian-controlled Kashmir, is crucial to both India and Pakistan, but is currently experiencing water flows down 30 percent from its normal levels. The Indus is Pakistan’s primary freshwater source, on which 90 percent of its agriculture depends. According to a number of Pakistani agriculture and water experts, the nation is heading towards a massive water shortage in the next couple of years due to insufficient water management practices and storage capacity, which will be exacerbated by the twin Indian hydroelectric projects, as they will further diminish the Indus’ flow.

So, if push comes to shove, who’s got Pakistan’s back?

China.”

Read more: oilprice.com

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China to flood nature reserve with latest Yangtze dam

Published on 03/30/2012 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, rivers, species extinction and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.reuters.com

“China’s Three Gorges Corp. on Thursday marked the beginning of construction for a dam that will flood the last free-flowing portion of the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the country’s longest river.

The 30 billion yuan ($4.75 billion) Xiaonanhai dam is decried by environmentalists because it will flood a nature reserve designed to protect about 40 species of river fish.

Completion of the dam would turn the middle section of the Yangtze into a series of reservoirs, leaving “no space for fish”, said environmentalist Ma Jun, who has been active for over two years in trying to prevent the dam.

“This is the last one, the last section in 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) along the Yangtze that was left for endangered or local fish species. This would be their last habitat,” Ma told Reuters.”

Read more: Reuters

 

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Re-mapping the Amazon

Published on 03/29/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dams, hydropower, management, policy, privatization, rivers, species extinction and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“Brazil’s River of the Dead is teeming with life, tropical birds, fish and turtles. The river is one of the hundreds of tributaries of the mighty Amazon.

But even this remote region is being developed. Not far from this part of Brazil construction has begun on the huge and hugely controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. When finished, it will generate a vast amount of electricity and flood a vast area of the rainforest. It’s just one of 60 dams planned in the Brazilian Amazon.

Balancing Brazil’s growing need for energy and protecting the rainforest was front and center back in January 2011, when Dilma Rousseff addressed Congress after being sworn as Brazil’s first female president.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Controversy swirls over Canadian plan to build vast new hydroelectric plant in Labrador

Published on 03/25/2012 in dams, hydropower and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.pri.org

“There’s already one big hydroelectric dam on the Churchill a couple of hundred miles northwest of here, and now the province’s energy authority, NALCOR, plans to build two more, including one at Muskrat Falls.

The two lower Churchill dams together would produce over 3,000 megawatts of power, as much as 13 average coal-fired power plants. Gilbert Bennett, a project manager for NALCOR, said the project is the largest single hydroelectric development currently under consideration in North America.

“From our perspective, it’s the cornerstone of our province’s energy plan,” Bennett said.

Some of the power from the project would flow east to the province’s population centers on the island of Newfoundland. But even there, the population is pretty small. So after the province takes its share, it would sell the rest of the power to other parts of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

The project would bring badly needed jobs and income to this remote and sparsely-populated province. But many locals say they want none of it.

“These guys have got tunnel vision and no concern for Labrador,” said Alex Saunders, a native Inuit whose family was one of the first to settle in the region of Muskrat Falls. Saunders now lives in Labrador’s hub, a town of about 7,500 people called Happy Valley-Goose Bay. He and other opponents say the project will disrupt water levels below the dam and flood and pollute the river valley above it.”

Read more: Public Radio International

 

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Children of the Salween River

Published on 03/20/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dams, displacement of people, hydropower, policy, privatization, rivers and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“At least 20 dams have been proposed for the mainstream Salween River, which flows from the Tibetan Plateau in China, through Burma and Thailand to its delta in the Andaman Sea. 13 are located in China, with two sites already undergoing preparatory work (Songta and Maji); none have been approved. Another seven are in Burma; two have been suspended but two more, the megadams Tasang and Hatgyi, are under active consideration. China and Thailand plan to invest in both.

The likely impacts of these dam cascades range from destroying fisheries and high biodiversity zones to flooding fertile land, from displacing over a hundred thousand largely indigenous peoples to triggering earthquakes and risking dam failure in this seismically unstable region. Of gravest concern for Burmese communities along the Salween, however, is the violence that has erupted around the Tasang and Hatgyi dams between the Burmese military and indigenous groups like the Karen and Shan. Tens of thousands have already been forced to leave their homes to escape the violence and occupation of their homes by the Burmese army.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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What Threatens Peace in India’s Northeast?

Published on 03/19/2012 in dams, displacement of people, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, privatization, rivers, water diversions, water rights and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com

“Roads through Manipur are frequently blockaded for months over the issue. Elections for the Manipur state assembly provided a break in the usual routine of ethnic animosities, but those could erupt again at any time.

In addition, the larger region could find itself in turmoil over environmental issues sparked by an attempt to build 168 big dams here. Popular protest movements have already gathered steam over these dams, which many people fear will lead to loss of their land and livelihoods. There are also fears of earthquakes leading to dam ruptures in this region.

Answering local residents’ concerns about the dams is essential to lasting peace, said Sanjib Baruah, a professor of political studies at Bard College in New York and author of “India Against Itself,’’ a book about conflict in the region.”

Read more: The New York Times

 

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Scientists Warn of Catastrophe for Food Security in the Mekong

Published on 03/13/2012 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, dams, displacement of people, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, privatization, riparian zone, rivers, species extinction and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“So far 51 dams have been built or are being built on tributaries to the Mekong River, mostly in Laos. At least 27 more could begin construction between 2015 and 2030. The PNAS study found that “the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity.” Many of these dams are not being discussed or monitored at the regional level.

89 dams appear, 100 fish species disappear

The Mekong River Basin is home to 65 million people. Dr. Guy Ziv, the lead author of the PNAS study and an environmental scientist now at Stanford University, told Nature that “Most of the people are poor and get 81% of their protein from subsistence fisheries.” As a result, the fates of the Mekong’s fish and people are closely intertwined. The study warned that if all of the proposed dams are built, fish productivity would drop by 51% and 100 fish species would become critically endangered.

Ziv and his colleagues highlighted the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in Cambodia, which will soon begin construction. The dam will block fish migrations on two of the major tributaries of the Mekong River, the Sesan and Srepok rivers. The impacts will likely be more serious than some of the dams proposed for the mainstream river. The PNAS study found that the Lower Sesan 2 Dam alone would cause a 9.3% drop in fish biomass for the entire river basin. Projects like this are not just a local concern, but a regional concern.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Ethiopia Pursues Controversial Dam Project

Published on 03/12/2012 in dams, hydropower, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.ethiopiaforums.com

“The government embarked on the project – expected to be the largest hydropower plant in Africa – to help solve a national energy crisis and to help turn Ethiopia’s economy around.

“The rural population will get electricity, the amount of megawatts we are going to produce is for all the population. It is not only for industry or towns it is for all nation,” Alemayehu Tegenu, Ethiopia’s energy and water minister, told Al Jazeera.

Foundations have already been laid at the Gibe III dam, in Oromia in western Ethiopia. When completed, the dam’s 243-metre high wall will be the tallest of its kind in the world.

“Once finished, the electricity generated at this one dam will be enough to double Ethiopia’s power capacity, and there are other dams under construction,” Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri reported from the dam site.”

“The plan is for electricity to become Ethiopia’s biggest export.”

Read more: Aljazeera

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Myitsone Dam Continues: Kachin NGO

Published on 03/09/2012 in agriculture, dams, hydropower, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.irrawady.org

“The Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) claims that work at the Myitsone Dam is continuing, despite a presidential statement last September suspending construction on the controversial Chinese-backed megadam project in Burma’s restive north.

“The Myitsone dam project continues,” the KDNG said in a press release dated March 2. “An electric transformer is being built in Nawng Hkying village of Waimaw Township. Some CPI workers are still at the dam site and in Myitkyina, and there is still equipment at the dam site. Road and bridge construction to deliver supplies to the seven dam project also continues.”

Located at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River, the 6,000-megawatt project is financed by state-backed China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) at an estimated cost of some US $3.6 billion. However, following a massive grassroots campaign opposed to the dam, President Thein Sein announced last year that the project would be suspended for at least his tenure as president.”

Read more: irrawady.org

 

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A Damming Assessment Of Mekong Development

Published on 03/08/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, contaminated water, dams, hydropower, peak water, rivers and species extinction. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.nature.com

“With a watershed of 800,000 square kilometres, the Mekong River basin supports the world’s largest inland fishery and is home to 65 million people in six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. “Most of the people are poor and get 81% of their protein from subsistence fisheries,” says Ziv.

The steep topography of the region makes the Mekong an attractive place for hydropower development. Driven by increasing demand for electricity and a desire for economic development, 11 dams are being planned on the main river, with 41 on the tributaries expected to be completed within the next 4 years. Another 10–37 tributary dams are likely to be built between 2015 and 2030.

Using a fish migration model, Ziv and his colleagues found that if all of the proposed dams were constructed, they would reduce fish productivity by 51% and endanger 100 migratory fish species.

The steep topography of the region makes the Mekong an attractive place for hydropower development. Driven by increasing demand for electricity and a desire for economic development, 11 dams are being planned on the main river, with 41 on the tributaries expected to be completed within the next 4 years. Another 10–37 tributary dams are likely to be built between 2015 and 2030.”

Read more: Nature

 

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