Volume 14, Number 4 / August 1999

Published by International Rivers Network

■ IN THIS ISSUE ■

Commentary: An impassioned plea for hope by Indian author Arundhati Roy, and an update on events in the Narmada Valley. Page 2

Turkey: An NGO goes to court over the UK export-credit agency’s support of the Ilisu Dam. Page 3

Malaysia: Bakun Dam is brought back from the dead. Page 4 Photo: McCully Patrick Thailand: A “movement of a thou- The Sardar Sarovar Dam under construction. sand starlights” illuminates prob- lems with Thai dams. Page 5 The Greater Common Good South Africa: A new water dam in Editor's Note: As we went to press, monsoon-swollen waters backing up behind the Sardar Cape Town elicits a strong response Sarovar Dam had risen to just a few meters from the lowest houses behind the dam. Villagers and from NGOs. Page 6 protesters in these houses ready to drown rather than be forcibly resettled. Thousands of people in the Narmada Valley and all over India have been holding marches, rallies and hunger strikes over Chile: A drought dims the nation’s the past few months to protest the dam. The New Delhi Supreme Court lifted a four-year-old stay on hydropower, but utilities press on construction of the dam in February. The following article made waves all over India when it for more dams. Page 7 appeared in national magazines earlier in the year. Herein we reprint an excerpt. by Arundhati Roy Dam Decommissioning: ■ Edwards Dam in Maine monsoon when the waters of the Sardar is breached, stood on a hill and laughed out loud. Sarovar reservoir will rise to submerge it. ■ News from a Russian river I had crossed the Narmada by Why did I laugh? revival movement, boat and climbed the headland on Because I suddenly remembered the ten- ■ An update on Columbia I the opposite bank from where I could see, der concern with which the Supreme Court River dams. ranged across the crowns of low hills, the judges in Delhi (before vacating the legal Page 10 tribal hamlets of Sikka, Surung, Neemgavan stay on further construction of the Sardar and Domkhedi. I could see their airy, frag- Sarovar dam) had enquired whether tribal News Briefs: Watching the world’s ile homes. I could see their fields and the children in the resettlement colonies would rivers. Page 12 forests behind them. I could see little chil- have children’s parks to play in. The lawyers dren with littler goats scuttling across the representing the government had hastened landscape like motorised peanuts. I knew I to assure them that indeed they would, and, Uganda: Parliament rejects the was looking at a civilisation older than what’s more, that there were seesaws and Bujagali Falls dam again. Page 16 Hinduism, slated – sanctioned (by the high- slides and swings in every park. I looked up est court in the land) – to be drowned this continued on page 8 Insist On Hope WORLD RIVERS REVIEW or over half a century we’ve believed that Big Dams would deliver the people Volume 14, Number 4 of India from hunger and poverty. The opposite has happened. Big Dams have pushed the country to the brink of a political and ecological emer- ISSN Number 0890 6211 gency. They have uprooted 40 million people, most of them Tribal and Dalit, F from their forests and rivers, from lands and homes where they and their Editor: Lori Pottinger ancestors have lived for thousands of years. They have lost everything. Everything. It is their children that you see begging on the streets. It is they and their children who pay Editorial Assistance: Susanne Wong our food and electricity bills. Design/Production: Jeanette Madden Not a single Big Dam in India has delivered what it promised. Not the power, not the irri- gation, not the flood control, not the drought-proofing. Instead, Big Dams have converted Printing: West Coast Print Center huge tracts of agricultural land into water-logged salt wastelands, submerged hundreds of thousands of hectares of prime forest, and pushed the country deep into debt. The era of Big Dams is over. All over the world they are being recognized as technological International Rivers Network disasters. As Big Mistakes. Yet in India, our government refuses to review the situation. In February 1999, after a four-year stay, the Supreme Court allowed the construction of the Executive Director: Sardar Sarovar Dam to continue – even though every single one of its claimed benefits is scientif- Juliette Majot ically questionable. It’s true that Rs.7,500 crores (US$1.74 billion) has been spent on the project Staff: already. However, studies say that to complete it as planned would cost the Indian public an Monti Aguirre, Elizabeth Brink,Aleta additional Rs.35,000 crores (US$8.14 billion). If it is completed, according to the NGO Narmada Brown, Selma Barros de Oliveira, Bachao Andolan, it will uproot almost half a million people. So far, only 25 percent of the sub- Lorena Cassady,Yvonne Cuellar, Annie mergence has taken place. If we act now, we can still save 300,000 people from certain destitu- Ducmanis, Dzhennet Eshchekova, tion. We can still save Rs.35,000 crores of public money and put it to better use. (It could proba- Ignacio Fernandez, Mary Houghteling, bly finance far more effective local water harvesting schemes for every single village in India). Aviva Imhof, Owen Lammers, Patrick This monsoon, when the reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar Dam fills, 12,000 tribal people McCully, Pamela Michael, Lori from 60 villages will lose their lands and homes permanently. Pottinger, Steve Rothert, Elyse Despite everything project authorities say, the truth is that these people have nowhere to go. Shafarman, Doris Shen, Glenn Switkes, Can we, as citizens, look away while people are being driven from their homes? Susanne Wong, Petra J.Yee As the century comes to a close, it’s time to own up to our mistakes. Time to say “No” to these massive, obsolete, human-crunching, money-guzzling, technological disasters. Time to Interns: learn to step lightly on the earth. Time to insist on Hope. For our own sake, for the sake of Rishi Das, Stephen Linaweaver, Sarah our children, for the sake of the planet we live on, let’s begin by saying “No” to the Sardar Minick,Veronica Pitbladdo,Teerapong Sarovar Dam, “No” to the dams on the Narmada. Pomun, Shefali Shama

Arundhati Roy Board of Directors: Paul Strasburg (Chair), Philip Williams (President), Update on the Narmada River Struggle Dan Beard, Patricia Chang, Bob Hass, s we went to press, hundreds of activists and journalists from around India and abroad Dorka Keehn, Lauren Klein, Joshua A were gathering in Delhi to begin a week-long trip to the Narmada Valley. This “Rally for Mailman,Walter Sedgwick, Brian Smith, the Valley,” organized by the “Free the Narmada” campaign initiated by author Arundhati Francesca Vietor Roy, will visit the villages at the core of the struggle against the Maheshwar and Sardar Sarovar dams. To coincide with the rally, International Rivers Network is organizing protest Contact Information: vigils at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Indian consulate in San Francisco. International Rivers Network Roy’s high-profile involvement in the Narmada struggle has provoked a fierce backlash 1847 Berkeley Way from pro-dam political parties in Gujarat. Threats have been made to “stop” the Rally for the Berkeley, CA 94703 USA Valley, and the youth wing of the Congress opposition party in Gujarat in July organized pub- Tel:(510) 848-1155 lic burnings of Roy’s book The Greater Common Good (from which our cover story is extracted). Fax: (510) 848-1008 This group also threatened to demonstrate against any book stores in the state which sell her E-mail: [email protected] “irresponsible, anti-development and anti-Gujarat books.” Not to be outdone in their pro-dam World Wide Web: http://www.irn.org passion, the youth wing of the state’s ruling party, the BJP, have declared they will publicly burn effigies of Roy. Earlier, the Rotary Club in Gujarat’s largest city, Ahmedabad, withdrew an invitation for Roy to speak due to the threat of violence from dam supporters. Roy and leading NBA activists are also facing possible prison sentences for contempt of court. At a July 22 hearing on the NBA’s comprehensive case against the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the New Delhi Supreme Court warned that remarks made by Roy and the NBA “undermine International Rivers Network is an the dignity of the court and influence the course of justice.” The Court was to rule again on affiliate organization of Friends of the the matter just after we went to press. Earth International. Patrick McCully

Page 2 World Rivers Review August 1999 Middle East NGO Threatens UK Government with Legal Action Over Turkish Dam by Tony Juniper

riends of the Earth in London government will be castigated for being pre- is presently locked in a battle pared to back the project. The Treasury has with the UK’s Export Credit “Water is a weapon.We can already expressed doubts about risks the F Guarantee Department (ECGD) stop the flow of water into ECGD is apparently prepared to take with over that agency’s consideration of £200 Syria and Iraq for up to eight taxpayers’ money and Department of Inter- million in support for the controversial national Development officials who have Ilisu Dam in southern Turkey. The group months without overflowing seen the secret assessment believe it is grossly has threatened to take the government to our dams, in order to regulate inadequate.” Given this, it is perhaps unsur- court over its refusal to respect the nation’s prising that the Trade Minister is so reluctant freedom of information laws. the Arab’s political behavior.” to even respond to freedom of information If built, the Ilisu Dam will forcibly Supervisor of Turkey’s Ataturk Dam requests, let alone provide information. remove up to 20,000 Kurds from their (upstream of Ilisu), quoted in Having now successfully pressed the ECGD homes. No public consultation has taken The Christian Science Monitor to formally say why it won’t release basic doc- place, not least because a civil war has raged (July 14, 1999) uments, Friends of the Earth is considering in this area for years. Most people will possible challenges to force the release of doc- receive no compensation and be resettled in uments that are presently kept secret for rea- the slums of Turkey’s larger cities. Hasankeyf, sons of “commercial confidentiality.” That a one of the oldest human settlements in the The project would violate five World Bank citizen’s organisation should be placed in the world, will be destroyed, even though it guidelines for development projects, includ- position of threatening legal action to even received “protection” from the Turkish gov- ing those on involuntary resettlement and find out why key papers are being kept secret ernment in 1978. environmental impact assessment. The UK’s not only underlines the secretive nature of The proposed dam would give Turkey ECGD has no rules requiring formal environ- ECGD but places in question the alleged com- more control over the Tigris River, upon mental or social impact assessments. It is a mitment by Britian’s Labour Government to which Iraq and Syria depend for fresh secret organization that has no standards for freedom of information. water. Turkey has refused to sign a UN public transparency. Indeed, in late June, It also fundamentally undermines UK Convention aimed at preventing wars Friends of the Earth was forced to threaten government claims to have an “ethical” for- between nations that share water resources. legal action against the UK government over eign policy. The Turkish army is active in Water is one of the most precious natural its failure to even respond to requests for this mainly Kurdish area and the UK Foreign resources in the region, with northern Iraq access to basic information, especially the Office says the region of the proposed dam presently trapped in the depths of the environmental impact assessment that the site is too dangerous for British citizens to worst drought in living memory. Both ECGD says has been completed. visit. Under these circumstances, what possi- Baghdad and Damascus have complained A recent article in the UK Guardian states, ble motivation lies behind the government’s about the amount of water they have been “It is widely believed that the environmental consideration of this secret project? Clearly getting since the completion of the first impact assessment that [the government] there are the economic benefits of British Turkish dams in the 1990s. refuses to release is so inadequate that the exports through UK firm Balfour Beatty lead- ing the construction consortium, but even then there are questions as to whether these possible benefits should be promoted at the taxpayer’s risk. But irrespective of these economic issues, could there also be wider foreign policy issues linked to future influence over Iraq? Could this be yet another pressure point on the beleaguered Saddam? Until proven oth- erwise through the release of documents showing how downstream conflicts are to be avoided, these unanswered questions damn the Ilisu project as dangerous political machinations. ■

The author is Policy and Campaigns Director of FOE England Wales and Northern Ireland. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit the group’s website at http://www.foe.co.uk Photo: Bates/Friends Jennifer of the Earth Activists protest the UK’s approval of loans for Turkey’s Ilisu Dam outside the Department of Trade and Industry.

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 3 Asia Bakun Dam Rises From the Ashes by Wick Pancoast & Harlan Thompson

he once-postponed Bakun Dam of the flood zone by last project in Sarawak, Malaysia November, according to appears to be moving forward a November 11, 1998 T again – only this time as a scaled- Reuters news story. down version of the original mega-project. With more than half of The Malaysian government originally the villages now re- planned to build a US$5.2 billion dam that moved from the origi- would have flooded an area of rainforest the nal flood zone, observ- size of Singapore. It was supposed to gener- ers say logging opera- ate 2,400 megawatts (MW) of electricity for tions in the area have Peninsular Malaysia via undersea power increased significantly. cables laid across the floor of the South In addition to reap- China Sea. However, due to its lack of finan- ing wealth from cut- cial viability and the 1997 Asian financial ting down the region’s crisis, many investors backed out and the forests, Ekran is also dam was postponed indefinitely. pushing for a cash set- Photo: Borneo Project In early June, the Malaysian government tlement from the finan- Villagers being resettled for the Bakun Dam pack up to leave Batu Kelau. announced its intention to resume the con- cially strapped govern- troversial project, calling for a $1 billion ment. According to a June 15, 1999 US For- ly tumultuous time for the people of his vil- dam that will generate 500 MW. Instead of eign Commercial Service press release, Ekran lage. “Most of them, especially the older costly cables exporting power to west has pressed the government for $52.6 mil- ones, have little if any formal education. Malaysia, the energy would be used within lion in compensation for cancelling the orig- They know no other existence than the one Sarawak and Sabah to fuel future industrial- inal project. they live here in the forest.” ization projects, such as a proposed alu- The government is intent on making minum smelter to be located downstream. Resettlement Realities these people rely on jobs in the modern cash Although there is as yet no set date to While Ekran will likely get a huge settle- economy rather than subsist on the products resume construction, the government is pro- ment, indigenous Kenyah and Kayan people of the rainforest. This switch might not only ceeding with a hasty campaign to relocate who have been forced into new lives and destroy traditional cultures, but could also nearly 10,000 indigenous people from the livelihoods will most likely get little or no fail miserably, resulting in increased poverty. area, despite the fact that many of these vil- financial help for their troubles – in fact, Batu Bagi, the headman of Batu Kelau, lages would not be submerged by the smaller they are likely to slide into resettlers’ pover- expressed his concerns: “We are promised project’s reservoir. One group of affected resi- ty, common to such projects the world over. three acres of land for farming, but that is dents, the Bakun Region People’s Commit- According to a recent report by the Coali- not enough to feed my family. There is no tee, declared the evictions “unjustified, tion of Concerned NGOs, employment fishing in Asap. There is no hunting in Asap. unnecessary, untimely, and shortsighted.” opportunities in the resettlement town of People are proud that they have iceboxes in The relocation, called “Operation Exodus,” is Asap are virtually nonexistent. The land Asap. But what good is an empty icebox? supposed to be completed by August. given to resettlers is not enough to sustain Here, with fish in the river and animals and One explanation for the premature reloca- the families now moving there, let alone plants in the forest, we are rich. We can tion program may be to hasten logging efforts future generations. Living on meager lands always find food.” in the reservoir area. The company Ekran away from the forest and river, traditional To deal with longhouse residents opposed Berhad – the primary investor for the original livelihoods such as swidden agriculture, fish- to relocation, the government established an dam scheme – had already logged some 2.8 ing, hunting and harvesting forest products organization called the Bakun Resettlement million cubic feet of timber from 2,500 acres will be severely limited. Committee (BRC). Five members of the BRC Homes built by government contractors stayed at the village of Batu Kelau during the at Asap are so structurally unsound that the eviction, encouraging people to move. They government itself will not issue Certificates explained that residents choosing not to What You Can Do of Fitness. They are also costly: resettlers move would no longer have access to For more information about how you must pay US$13,700 for a house in the reset- schools or clinics and would forfeit the can support the micro-hydro project tlement area, with payments starting after a remaining 70 percent of compensation owed near Bakun, contact: five-year grace period. For residents with to them by the government. Half the fami- smaller farm holdings, the cost of housing lies of Batu Kelau still refuse to move. The Borneo Project actually exceeds the amount they will 1916-A Martin Luther King, Jr.Way receive in compensation. Their new life in Small-scale Alternatives Berkeley, CA 94704 Asap will begin in debt to the government. From the outset, the Bakun Hydroelectric 510.705.8987 During a recent visit to Batu Kelau, a vil- Project has been criticized by environmen- email: [email protected] lage that was being relocated, a young man talists, social justice groups and economists. named Jok explained that this is a particular- continued on page 14

Page 4 World Rivers Review August 1999

ti d pp it A Thousand Stars Light Up Thailand by Aviva Imhof & Teerapong Pomun

ommunities affected by large Villagers have been dams and other development proj- fighting for over 10 ects in Thailand have embarked years for reparations for C on a new organizing strategy to lost fisheries income as bring the government’s attention to their a result of the dam, problems. As part of this strategy (called which impeded fish “Dao Gra Jai” or “movement of a thousand migration up the Mun starlights”), the people’s movement called River. Even though the the Assembly of the Poor has organized dam project only satisfies occupations and demonstrations all over 0.04% of Thailand’s Thailand to pressure the government to dis- power demand, more cuss community demands for reparations for than 20,000 people livelihoods lost to development schemes. have been affected, Since March, three dam sites in the north whole communities and northeast of Thailand have been occu- have been disrupted and pied by thousands of villagers, who have people forced to move established temporary villages on the banks to the slums of Bangkok Protestors in Bangkok at an Assembly of the Poor demonstration. of the dammed rivers and settled in for the to earn extra income. long haul. Demonstrations and sit-ins have “We, the poor, have given more than land by diverting water from the Mekong also been organized at city halls and ports enough time to the government and now it’s River to the Chi and Mun rivers. However, across the country. time to call for justice,” says Thongchareon for the time being the scheme has run out of The new wave of organizing was prompt- Sihatham, leader of the villagers affected by steam, and Rasi Salai serves no purpose. ed by the frustration of poor villagers over Pak Mun. Despite this, the reservoir has been filled, the refusal of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and more than 3,000 families have lost their to follow through with promises which go War-Era Dam farmland through inundation. Only 1,154 back to the past administration. In 1997, Sirindhorn Dam was built in 1971 during families have received any compensation. over 20,000 people camped outside the gov- the Vietnam war to supply power to the US “We demand that the government deter- ernment house for 99 days demanding that Airforce Base at Ubon Ratchathani. More mine how many people have been affected the government correct 121 problems raised than 2,500 families were moved to a reset- by the dam through a participatory process, by six different networks of affected peoples. tlement site with poor quality land unsuit- and pay compensation to the affected vil- The former government negotiated with the able for cultivation. The only compensa- lagers as well as fix the environmental villagers and agreed to many of their tion received amounted to the cost of dis- problems. In the near future, more and demands, including compensation for com- mantling their houses plus a little money more people will join us,” says Boonmee munities affected by nine completed dams. for lost farmlands. Many moved away from Sopang, the leader of Assembly of the Mun However, the subsequent government has the resettlement site, onto public lands River Basin. refused to honor these commitments. that were subsequently taken from them to In Lampang province, more than 400 For months, more than 5,000 villagers make way for eucalyptus plantations. Many people from four villages occupied Maemog have occupied the Pak Mun Dam site, the families are now forced to eke out a living Dam on June 14, to demand that the gov- last hydropower dam to be built in Thailand. on small plots of land, and have been ernment pay compensation of 15 Rai of land The protestors include people affected by fighting since 1994 for 15 rai of land in for 170 families, as well as compensation for Pak Mun, Sirindhorn and two other com- compensation. land and property loss for 1,045 families. pleted dams, as well as two planned dams Boonmee Kamroung, a village leader, The environmental impact assessment for and one development project. They are said: “The construction of Sirindhorn Dam the project was conducted after construction demanding compensation of 15 rai (2.4 has affected our generation, because our began, and as a result there was no compen- hectares) of land per dam-affected family parents were relocated to very poor land. sation or mitigation budget allocated, and and a review of the planned projects. The We have no food, no chance for education, affected families have received nothing. demonstrators have set up a temporary vil- and no employment. It is very difficult for “We don’t want to occupy the dam, lage on the riverbank and intend to stay us to survive.” we don’t want to protest, but we have no until their demands are met. On April 20, 2,300 villagers affected by choice,” says Don Sueksa, leader of affected “Here at least they can find some fish, Rasi Salai and Hua-na dams occupied the villagers. maybe plant some vegetables on the river- Rasi Salai Dam site. Rasi Salai is located on Demonstrations under the Dao Gra Jai bank, possibly find some casual work. And the Mun River, upstream from the Pak Mun strategy are being staged not only by dam- they can rotate back to their homes every now Dam. The dam forms the first part of the affected communities, but by villagers affect- and then,” says Wanida Tantiwitthayaphitak, Kong-Chi-Mun Water Diversion Project, ed by other development projects and gov- adviser to the Assembly of the Poor. which includes plans to build 13 dams on ernment policies. Activists say the stars will The 136 MW Pak Mun Dam was complet- the Chi and Mun rivers. The project aims to continue burning until the government sees ed in 1994 and funded by the World Bank. solve the water shortages in Northeast Thai- the light. ■

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 5 South Africa Environmental Groups Protest Approval of Cape Town Dam by Mike Taylor

ess than a week before the second Like much of post-apartheid South Africa, Clearing alien vegetation has been the general elections in South Africa, Cape Town is beset by water inequities and primary focus of Cape Town’s water conser- Professor Kader Asmal, then Min- wasteful water habits in the upper income vation program, along with a small leaks L ister of the Department of Water brackets. In a July 1996 speech, Asmal said, repair program. The water department has Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), announced he “How do we explain that half of the water not performed a full analysis of how much had given the go-ahead for the first large used in Cape Town homes is used by only 20 water is lost in the Cape Town system, so it dam to be built by the new government. The percent of the households? … I always find cannot estimate how much water can be dam, proposed for the Berg River, will supply myself wondering if a decimal point has saved. In other urban parts of South Africa, water to the Western Cape region. The proj- been left out when I’m told that the average “unaccounted uses” of water run as high as ect approval comes despite the fact that the consumption in Upper Constantia is 1,750 50 percent. Opponents of the Skuifraam nation’s Water Act requires that better alter- liters per person per day. It is such users who Dam do not believe that Asmal’s criteria on natives be given priority over dams – alterna- are primarily responsible for our need to reducing water demand and managing tives which environmental groups and scien- seek additional sources of water.” Many poor catchments more effectively have been tists say have not been given full attention South Africans use less than 50 liters per day. achieved. Indeed if they had, the dam would by Cape Town water officials. In that same speech, Asmal noted that a not be needed for many years to come, by River ecologist Bryan Davies, a professor water-conservation project to clear out alien which stage other more sustainable ways of at the University of Cape Town, said the vegetation was more economic than build- augmenting water supplies might become project is premature. “The go-ahead for ing the dam: “The proposed Skuifraam Dam economically competitive. Skuifraam flies directly in the face of Profes- would cost 44 cents per kiloliter of water The project is expected to harm impor- sor Asmal’s oft-stated policy of saying no to over a 45 year period, at a discount rate of 8 tant downstream ecosystems. Prof. Davies water-supply developments unless water- percent. But the clearing of invading alien noted that the Berg River Estuary Workshop, demand management mechanisms are plants is projected to yield water at a cost of held by DWAF a few years ago, stated that demonstrably in place. For Cape Town, such approximately 6 cents per kiloliter over the the removal of yet more water from the mechanisms are most certainly not in place. same period, at the same discount rate. That already severely over-utilized system would The dam approval gives the message to is just 14 percent or about one-seventh of be exceptionally harmful for the river’s everyone in the Cape that it’s okay to con- the cost of one of the most attractive dam coastal fisheries. According to Davies, “The tinue growing in an ecologically unsustain- options. On water yield alone, clearing alien Berg River’s floodplain is the most important able manner.” plants wins.” The dam project is expected to avifaunal and fish nursery on the Southern cost R780 million (US$130 million). African coast between Angola and St. Lucia in Kwazulu/Natal.” The Berg River floodplain is now before the international Ramsar con- Groups Press for Demand Management vention for placement as a wetlands of inter- national importance. A July statement by the Wildlife and Envi- spray domestic showers, efficient garden ronment Society of South Africa/Western irrigation schemes and establishing NGOs Speak Out Cape calls on authorities in the Western indigenous gardens.The agricultural sec- A number of NGOs have issued statements Cape to undertake the following tor should ensure more efficient use of denouncing the dam approval and calling demand-management practices instead of agricultural water.The industrial sector for DWAF to quit the project. The Wildlife building Skuifraam Dam: should ensure a more conservative use and Environment Society of South ■ Increase the clearing of alien vegetation of water and recycle where applicable. Africa/Western Cape said, “The decision to in the catchment areas. ■ Enforce annual water audits in the agri- go ahead with the Skuifraam Dam is particu- ■ Implement a water restriction strategy cultural and industrial sectors. larly untimely and contradictory … We are incorporating industry, agriculture, and ■ Continually re-assess new technology opposed to further exploitation of the coun- excessive household users.The strategy that would allow unconventional water try’s water resources through mass storage should be an incentive-based water sources to be tapped. until existing supplies are managed more reduction system possibly targeting par- ■ Undertake municipal water recycling efficiently … The World Commission on ticular groups. more aggressively. Dams, of which South Africa is a participant, ■ Concurrently undertake an aggressive is still deliberating the impacts of and alter- awareness campaign on water manage- For more information on the NGO natives to the construction of large dams.” ment and water reduction measures. Ini- campaign to stop Skuifraam Dam, And a July 15 statement endorsed by a tiate comprehensive and far-reaching contact Leila Mahomed of WESSSA/WC number of environmental organizations, education programs to encourage all sec- Tel:+2721.701.1397 including the Environmental Monitoring tors of the population, but mainly the Fax: +2721.701.1399 Group, Earthlife Africa Cape Town Branch more affluent, to conserve water.These or Liane Greeff of EMG and the South African Rivers Association, programs should encourage harvesting E-mail: [email protected], called upon the Cape Metropolitan Council and storing water from roofs, covering Tel:+2721.761.0549/788.2473 and DWAF to retract their decision to build domestic swimming pools, installing fine- Fax: +2721.762.2238. Skuifraam Dam and to instead instigate a continued opposite

Page 6 World Rivers Review August 1999 Latin America Chile’s Energy Crisis Reveals Dangers of Relying on Hydroelectric Power by Ignacio Fernandez

ver the past year, Chile has expe- the energy utilities signed an agreement with and pay three times more than what it costs rienced the most severe drought the government of President Eduardo Frei to them to generate their own power. Adds in its history. In a country that be able to use these water sources to resup- Gonzalez, “It was cheaper for them to accept O depends on hydroelectric power ply hydropower facility reservoirs. The Min- rationing and pay a fine of 13 million pesos for 80 percent of its energy, the drought istry of Public Works has granted water (about US$26,000) than to buy energy at the forced intermittent blackouts that lasted up removals for hydropower generation which higher price.” to three hours from November through did not specify how much water the power The government has expressed frustra- June. Since then, winter rains have partly companies could take. The result has been tion with the energy utilities, which were alleviated the energy shortage, but they have major drops in reservoir levels in these agri- privatized during the Pinochet regime. not changed two underlying problems. The cultural emergency water supplies. President Frei declared, “It is unacceptable first is that, because of government support, to always want to privatize the utilities for Chile’s energy sector sees far more profit in Who is Responsible? the profits and make society pay for the hydroelectric power, despite its instability, Although some would call Chile’s energy cri- losses.” Critics say the privatization of the than in alternative sources. And secondly, sis a natural disaster, the human factor energy sector took place under conditions the privatized energy sector is not account- looms large. Critics say Endesa has not acted that were extremely favorable for investors. able to consumers and only moderately reg- wisely, citing the fact that it did not begin According to Pedro Maldonado, a research- ulated by the government. working soon enough on alternative energy er in the engineering department at the The drought has had a drastic effect on sources, even after the drought was officially University of Chile, “Privatization was the nation’s economy, which was already in declared. Instead of developing non-hydro completed without an adequate regulatory the midst of the worst recession since the alternatives, Endesa chose to accelerate its framework or a strong fiscal agent. The early 1980s. Each hour of rationing is esti- construction plan for the Ralco Dam, aiming changes were made to promote the inter- mated to decrease the country’s economic to finish it by 2002, three years earlier than ests of investors, but consumers’ rights output by US$11.5 million dollars. originally planned. Analysts say that if Ralco were never considered.” Although Chile has experienced energy were in operation, it would have made little Despite the president’s frustration, Frei’s rationing in previous years – 1968, 1989 and difference. Maria Isabel Gonzalez, the former government does not escape blame either. 1998 – it was voluntary and affected non- executive secretary of the National Energy When the first signs of a serious drought vital consumers, such as television stations. Commission, said in April, “Endesa moved appeared in September, the government In this year’s rationing, essential sectors of its plans ahead in order to beat competitors adopted a laissez-faire attitude and allowed the country were left without power, such as and as a result, other energy alternatives the energy companies to seek a solution to schools, hospitals (which turned to genera- have been delayed.” the impending deficit by themselves. Those tors) and urban street lights. The lack of stop Ironically, say analysts, Chile’s Central negotiations broke down and it wasn’t until lights has led to a dramatic increase in com- Interconnected System already contains March that Frei decided to impose fines on mute times and fossil-fuel consumption, enough energy to avoid rationing. But that them. Also, over the past few years, govern- especially in Santiago. energy did not belong to Endesa or Colbun, ment policies have continued to promote The drought has been especially hard on but to smaller energy companies that are not the development of hydroelectric power. the agricultural sector, because its emergency on the same grid. In order to get access to This policy has at the same time created dis- water sources are now being tapped by this extra energy, the two corporations incentives for the development of alterna- hydropower companies. Several years ago, would have been forced to declare a deficit tives such as solar, wind and natural gas. ■

Cape Town continued from page 6 full demand management study in Greater South African town of Hermanus achieved according to the Department of Water Cape Town. over 30 percent reductions in peak water Affairs and Foresty, a water crisis, is to intro- Liane Greeff of the Environmental Moni- demands through an active demand-man- duce a pricing system whereby a lifeline toring Group said, “The dam is being agement campaign, and could be a role- amount of 50 liters water is given to every imposed on us as blackmail, as insurance model for Cape Town. person every day free of charge. Any against low rainfall years. But if the situation The South African Municipal Workers’ amount of water above this amount that is is so bad, where are the water restrictions? Union also spoke out in support of the envi- used should be charged according to a rising Why isn’t Cape Town’s daily 400 million ronmental groups’ call for demand-manage- block tariff whereby the people who are liters of treated sewage water being used for ment instead of a new dam. “It is SAMWU’s really guilty of massive water wastage will golf courses and municipal gardens, instead position that there will be a drastic increase pay for this.” ■ of going out to sea? Why not introduce a in water tariffs as a direct result of this proj- water tariff that actually reflects the social ect that will hit the poor of Cape Town, The author is a member of Environmental and ecological value of the water that runs who are battling to pay for water, very very Justice Networking Forum in Cape Town, down our drains?” Greeff noted that the hard … The only solution to what is, South Africa.

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 7 India The Greater Common Good The war for the Narm continued from page 1 at the endless sky and down at the river Dams moved men to poetry. Not any longer. rushing past and for a brief, brief moment All over the world there is a movement is not just some remote the absurdity of it all reversed my rage and I growing against Big Dams. In the First World laughed. I meant no disrespect. they’re being decommissioned, blown up. or even an exclusively In India over the past 10 years the fight The fact that they do more harm than good against the Sardar is no longer just conjecture. Big Dams are Sarovar Dam has undemocratic. They’re a Government’s way war. It’s a war for the come to represent of accumulating authority (deciding who far more than the will get how much water and who will grow fight for one river. what where). They’re a brazen means of tak- and the forests of the w Some years ago, it ing water, land and irrigation away from the became a debate poor and gifting it to the rich. Their reser- that captured the voirs displace huge populations of people popular imagina- leaving them homeless and destitute. things when it doesn’t take into account the tion. From being a Ecologically, they’re in the doghouse. real cost of production? fight over the fate They cause floods, water-logging, salinity, According to a study of 54 large dams of a river valley it they spread disease. There are more drought- done by the Indian Institute of Public Admin-

Photo: P. McCully began to raise prone areas and more flood-prone areas istration, the average number of people dis- The Goddess Narmada. doubts about an today than there were in 1947. Despite the placed by a large dam is 44,182. Admittedly, entire political sys- disturbing evidence of irrigation disasters, 54 dams out of 3,300 is not a big enough tem. What is at issue now is the very nature dam-induced floods and disenchantment sample. But since it’s all we have, let’s try and of our democracy. Who owns this land? with the Green Revolution (declining yields, do some rough arithmetic. To err on the side Who owns its rivers? Its forests? Its fish? degraded land), the government has not abundant caution let’s take an average of just These are huge questions. They are being commissioned a post-project evaluation of a 10,000 people per large dam: taken hugely seriously by the State. They are single one of its 3,600 Big Dams to gauge 3,300 x 10,000 = 33 million. being answered in one voice by every insti- whether or not it has achieved what it set That’s 33 million people displaced by India’s tution at its command – the army, the out to achieve, whether or not the (always big dams alone in the past 50 years. What police, the bureaucracy, the courts. And not phenomenal) costs were justified, or even about those that have been displaced by the just answered, but answered unambiguously, what the costs actually were. thousands of other Development Projects? in bitter, brutal ways. For all these reasons, the dam-building N.C. Saxena, Secretary to the Planning Com- In the 50 years since Independence, after industry in the First World is in trouble and mission, said he thought the number was in Nehru’s famous “Dams are the Temples of out of work. So it’s exported to the Third the region of 50 million (of which 40 million Modern India” speech (one he grew to regret World in the name of Development Aid, were displaced by all dams, big and little). in his own lifetime), his footsoldiers threw along with their other waste like old You have to murmur it for fear of being themselves into the business of building weapons, superannuated aircraft carriers and accused of hyperbole. dams with unnatural fervor. Dam-building banned pesticides. 50 million people. I feel like someone grew to be equated with Nation-building. On the one hand the Indian Govern- who’s just stumbled on a mass grave. Their enthusiasm alone should have been ment, every Indian Government, rails self- 50 million is almost three times the pop- reason enough to make one suspicious. Not righteously against the First World, and on ulation of Australia. More than three times only did they build new dams and new irri- the other, actually pays to receive their gift- the number of refugees that Partition creat- gation systems, they took control of small, wrapped garbage. Aid has destroyed most of ed in India. Fifty times the number who traditional systems that village communities Africa. Bangladesh is reeling from its minis- fled Kosovo. had managed for thousands of years, and trations. We know all this, in numbing A huge percentage of the displaced are allowed them to atrophy. According to the detail. Yet in India our leaders welcome it tribal people (57.6 per cent in the case of Central Water Commission, we have 3,600 with slavish smiles. the Sardar Sarovar Dam). Include Dalits dams that qualify as Big Dams, 3,300 of them The Government of India has detailed fig- (previously known as Untouchables) and built after Independence. Some 1,000 more ures for how many million tons of foodgrain the figure becomes obscene. According to are under construction. Yet one-fifth of our or edible oils the country produces and how the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and population – 200 million people – doesn’t much more we produce now than we did in Tribes it’s about 60 per cent. If you consider have safe drinking water and two-thirds lack 1947. It can tell you how much bauxite is that tribal people account for only eight per basic sanitation. mined in a year or what the total surface cent, and Dalits 15 per cent, of India’s popu- area of the national highways adds up to. lation, it opens up a whole other dimension Lost Luster But the Government of India does not have to the story. The ethnic “otherness” of their Big Dams started well, but have ended badly. a figure for the number of people who have victims takes some of the pressure off the There was a time when everybody loved been displaced by dams. Isn’t this astound- Nation Builders. It’s like having an expense them, everybody had them – the Commu- ing? How can you measure Progress if you account. Someone else pays the bills. People nists, Capitalists, Christians, Muslims, Hin- don’t know what it costs and who paid for from another country. Another world. dus, Buddhists. There was a time when Big it? How can the “market” put a price on India’s poorest people are subsidising the

Page 8 World Rivers Review August 1999 in her villages. India dies in her vil- ble requests for more information on issues lages. India lives in her cities. like the resettlement of what they call PAPs – a valley India’s villages live only to serve her Project Affected Persons. (These acronyms cities. Her villagers are her citizens’ help mutate muscle and blood into cold sta- vassals and for that reason must be tistics. PAPs soon cease to be people.) ural war controlled and kept alive, but only In 1979 the number of families that would just. be displaced by the Sardar Sarovar reservoir ndian This impression we have of an was estimated to be a little over 6,000. In overstretched State, struggling to cope 1987 it grew to 12,000. In 1991 it surged to with the sheer weight and scale of its 27,000. In 1992 the government declared that vers problems, is a dangerous one. The fact is 40,000 families would be affected. (The reser- that it’s creating the problem. It’s a giant voir isn’t the only thing that displaces people. poverty-producing machine, masterful in Critics believe the actual figure is 85,000 fami- rld. its methods of pitting the poor against lies – that’s half a million people.) the very poor, of flinging crumbs to the The official estimated cost of the project wretched, so that they dissipate their ener- bounced up from under 50 billion rupees gies fighting each other. ($1.2 bn) to 200 billion rupees. Critics say it Its proponents boast that the Narmada will cost 440 billion rupees ($10.5 bn). Valley Project is the most ambitious river Construction work on the Sardar Sarovar valley project ever conceived. They plan to Dam began in earnest in 1988. Also in the build 3,200 dams that will reconstitute the late 1980s the full extent of the horror the Narmada and her 41 tributaries into an dams would cause began to surface. The Nar- lifestyles immense staircase of amenable water. Of mada Valley Development Project came to be of her richest. these, 30 will be major dams, 135 medium known as India’s Greatest Planned Environ- What has happened to all these mil- and the rest small. mental Disaster. The various peoples’ organi- lions of people? Where are they now? How The Narmada Valley Development Project sations which had been questioning govern- do they earn a living? Nobody really knows. will alter the ecology of the entire river basin ment promises about resettlement and reha- The millions of displaced people don’t exist of one of India’s biggest rivers, and will bilitation massed into a single organisation anymore. Some of them have subsequently affect the lives of 25 million people who live and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the been displaced three and four times – a in the valley. Yet, even before the Ministry of Narmada Movement) was born. dam, a power project, another dam, a urani- Environment cleared the project, the World For more than a decade the extraordinary um mine. Once they start rolling there’s no Bank offered to finance the lynchpin of the NBA – a rag-tag army of the poorest people resting place. The great majority is eventual- project – the Sardar Sarovar dam. The Bank in one of the world’s poorest countries – has ly absorbed into slums on the periphery of was ready with its check-book before any fought with its weapons of hunger strikes our cities, where it coalesces into an costs were computed, before anybody had and threats of drowning against the might of immense pool of cheap construction labor any idea of what the human cost or the three state governments, the national gov- (which builds more projects that displace environmental impact of the dam would be! ernment, and even the World Bank. There more people). The $450 million loan for the Sardar has been no army quite like this one any- The millions of displaced people in India Sarovar Project was sanctioned and in place in where else in the world. The war for the Nar- are nothing but refugees of an unacknowl- 1985. The Ministry of Environment clearance mada valley is not just some remote rural war edged war. And we are condoning it by look- for the project came only in 1987! Talk about or even an exclusively Indian war. It’s a war ing away. Why? Because we’re told that it’s enthusiasm. It fairly borders on evangelism. for the rivers and the forests of the world. being done for the sake of the Greater Com- In March 1993 the World Bank admitted mon Good. Therefore gladly, unquestioningly, The Iron Triangle defeat and pulled out of the project. Sacking almost gratefully, we believe what we’re told. If you follow the trails of big dams the world the Bank was and is a huge moral victory for It’s true that India has progressed. In over, wherever you go you’ll rub up against the people in the valley. The euphoria didn’t 1947, when Colonialism formally ended, the same story, encounter the same actors: last. The government of Gujarat announced India was food deficient. In 1950 we pro- the Iron Triangle (the nexus between politi- that it was going to raise the $200 million duced 51 million tons of food grain. Today cians, bureaucrats and dam construction shortfall on its own and continue with the we produce close to 200 million tons. companies), the racketeers who call them- project. In May 1994, the NBA filed a writ It’s true that in 1995 the state granaries selves International Environmental Consul- petition in the Supreme Court questioning were overflowing with 30 million tons of tants, and, more often than not, the friend- the whole basis of the Sardar Sarovar Dam unsold grain. It’s also true that at the same ly, neighborhood World Bank. You’ll grow to and seeking a stay on the construction. time, 40 per cent of India’s population was recognise the same inflated rhetoric, the In early 1995, on the grounds that the living below the poverty line. That’s more same noble “Peoples’ Dam” slogans. rehabilitation of displaced people had been than the country’s population in 1947. In keeping with Big Dam tradition, con- inadequate, the Supreme Court ordered work Indians are too poor to buy the food their current with the construction of the Sardar on the dam to be suspended. The case pend- country produces. Sarovar Dam began the elaborate govern- ing in the Supreme Court led to a palpable India lives in her villages, we’re told, in ment pantomime of conducting studies to easing of repression in the valley. Construc- every other sanctimonious public speech. estimate the actual project costs and impacts. tion work stopped on the dam, but the reha- That’s just another fig leaf from the govern- The World Bank participated whole-heartedly bilitation charade continued. Forests slated ment’s bulging wardrobe. India doesn’t live in the charade – occasionally they raised fee- continued on page 14

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 9 Dam Decommissioning Revival on the Kennebec by Elizabeth Brink

small dam made big news on What the dam did do was block 10 July 1. Three days before the US species of fish – including sturgeon, Atlantic celebrated its own indepen- salmon, and striped bass – from reaching A dence, Maine’s Kennebec River ancestral spawning grounds. The entire dam was freed from the confines of the 162-year will be dismantled and removed by Thanks- old Edwards Dam. giving, creating “potentially the strongest Church bells pealed as a torrent of water sea-run fishery in the eastern United States,” rushed through a newly created gap in the says Maine Planning Director Evan Richert, 917-foot-long structure. The event represents whose agency is overseeing the project. the culmination of a long struggle by Although FERC ordered the dam’s owner, national and local environmental groups to Edwards Manufacturing Co., to pay for the remove the dam and begin to restore the dam removal and the restoration of the land river’s fisheries. surrounding the dam site, the company struck This occasion is historic not only because a deal that disturbs many environmentalists. Edwards is the longest dam breached to date, The deal takes the dam’s owner off the but because of the precedent-setting 1997 hook for the cost of the project. Instead, federal decision that led to its removal. That Bath Iron Works, a US Navy contractor 25 decision, by the Federal Energy Regulatory miles downriver, and upstream dam owners Commission (FERC), stated that the environ- agreed to shoulder the cost, putting up more mental and economic benefits of a free-flow- than $7 million. In exchange, the iron works ing Kennebec outweigh the economic bene- received the right to fill in wetlands down- fits of continued operation of the Edwards stream and upstream dam owners got to hydroelectric project. It was the first time delay construction of fish ladders that enable FERC had refused to relicense a dam that its fish to get upstream. concern is the level of celebration and owners wanted to continue operating. “Environmental gains minus environ- whether we’re going to get caught up in a The dam was built to provide mechanical mental losses equals zero environmental sort of dam hysteria that would lead to the power to saw mills in the Augusta area. gains,” said Jonathan Carter of the Forest removal of other projects without doing the When the mills closed and other power Ecology Network, who said he was still was thorough analysis that’s necessary,” said sources were built, the Edwards Dam no glad to see the dam go. Linda Church Ciocci, executive director of longer produced a significant amount of Hundreds of supporters gathered at the the National Hydropower Association, which power. Before its turbines were shut down in river on July 1 to cheer the dam’s demise. represents 140 licensees. The group is trying January, the dam generated only one-tenth The celebratory nature of the gathering to get the Edwards removal order rescinded of one percent of Maine’s electrical power. clearly disturbed the pro-dam lobby. “Our even though demolition has begun. ■

Russian River Revival Takes Off by Owen Lammers

he international movement for Great Rivers - 99 was a key event for NGOs were cautiously optimistic. “This dam removal took a step forward rivers in Russia, representing the first time conference alone will not bring about signifi- in May when the Russian govern- that the Russian Federation elevated river cant changes, but it does demonstrate to T ment officially accepted the need management to such importance. Russia’s officials and the public the importance of to review the operational viability of existing former Prime Minister, Victor Chernomyr- reviving our rivers,” said Elana Kolpakova of dams and their impact on the environment. din, took a break from his Balkans diplo- Let’s Help the River (Volga). A resolution passed at “Great Rivers - 99,” macy to open the four-day event, attended Indeed, while Kolpakova and the Let’s Russia’s first international conference on by some 700 officials and academics, Help the River network is advocating dam rivers, specifically addressed the fact that including about 100 from outside Russia. removal and river restoration, they still dams are not permanent, and as they age, The conference theme of ecological revital- must fight new dams. For example, on the safety and other considerations must be ization and sustainable development indi- Belaya River in the upper part of the Volga taken into account in determining their cates a shift in approach from the past 50 basin, construction has begun on a water future operations. Dam safety takes on spe- years, during which Russia’s rivers suffered supply and flood control dam that will cre- cial significance in Russia, where sediment severe devastation from dams, pollution ate an 87km long reservoir running contained in many of its reservoirs is severe- and other insults. through a national park. Three villages will ly contaminated with heavy metals. continued opposite

Page 10 World Rivers Review August 1999 News from the Columbia River Basin The Columbia River Basin, a huge US watershed which contains the Columbia River and its many tributaries – and more than 200 dams – is home to some of the biggest dam decommissioning battles in the United States. At least three dams have been breached to date and two are scheduled to be removed within the next two years. Public and media attention has thus far focused on four large dams on the Lower Snake River, the largest tributary of the Columbia. The following is a compilation of the latest news on this front.

Catholic Church Calls Columbia River “Sacred,” Urges Protection Catholic bishops in the Northwestern US issued a 65-page document in May urging people to view the Columbia River as a “sacred source of life and a symbol of our connection to the divine.” This publication is a precursor to a pastoral letter, a document which applies the teachings and beliefs of the church to a concrete issue. A billboard in the Columbia River Basin state of Oregon. Photo: Phil Williams This pastoral letter, set to be finalized in 2000, will be the first written about a river. through the dam turbine, fisheries has produced a plan to remove two dams Writing the letter was a collaborative process researchers have set up multi-beam sonar on on the Sandy river, a tributary of the involving a committee of 20 authors, 25 a barge at Bonneville Dam in Oregon. The Columbia. The $22 million project, funded resource consultants and the input of hun- sonar tracks the movement and location of by the state, the City of Portland, and PGE, dreds of people who have economic and cul- the fish. Because there are multiple sonar is expected to take approximately two years tural ties to the Columbia watershed. The devices, scientists can collect enough data to to complete. letter puts forth 12 responsibilities that resi- create three-dimensional representations of The removal of the Marmot and Little dents should keep in mind regarding the the fish routes. Sandy dams is expected to provide valuable Columbia River. The responsibilities outlined The goal of the project is to reduce the habitat for endangered salmon and steel- are diverse, ranging from saving the salmon mortality rate of young salmon moving head in the Little Sandy and Sandy rivers, to honoring treaties with Native Americans. down-river towards the Pacific. Many envi- both located in the Columbia River Basin. Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, a con- ronmental groups and scientists suggest that When the main stem of the Sandy River is tributor to the church document, told the the only way to achieve this is to remove the unobstructed, there will be a clear passage Spokesman-Review, “The image of flowing dams. However, some believe that using a for fish from the Pacific Ocean all the way water has strong significance in Scripture … system of screens, ladders, and pipelines, the to Mount Hood. But the symbolism of water in general is life- dams and the fish can coexist successfully. Approximately 22 miles of river is giving, cleansing and nourishing.” Blaine Ebbertz of the US Army Corps of expected to return to almost natural condi- Engineers said, “Ideally, we’re looking for 85 tions; water temperature will lower and Sonar Helps Track Salmon percent non-turbine passage, and a 95 per- stream flow will improve. However, dam The Columbia and Snake Rivers provide habi- cent survival rate. This project will tell us removal is not the only component of river tat for a wide variety of fish, including the how to do that better.” restoration. Habitat restoration must be a endangered chinook and sockeye salmon. part of the pre- and post-dam removal The dams along the Columbia and its tribu- Two Oregon Dams to Be Removed process. All agencies involved in the Sandy taries pose a serious threat to the lives of the In the Sandy River Basin near Portland, River project have indicated that they are young salmon (called smolt) trying to make Oregon, a collaborative effort involving dedicated to the ongoing process of habitat the trip down-river after hatching. Portland General Electric (PGE), the City of restoration. ■ To study the behavior of the salmon as Portland, the State of Oregon, the National they approach the dam opening and pass Marine Fisheries Service and other agencies

Russian Rivers continued from page 10 be affected, as well as valuable forests and lems but also partially submerge the famous Let’s Help the River’s campaigns have 30 species of birds. 15th century Makaryev monastery. successfully eliminated some pollution Another immediate threat is the plan to To address these and other threats to Rus- sources, and are now also looking toward raise of the level of the Cheboksary Hydro- sia’s rivers, Let’s Help the River organized a cleaning up the sediment so that dams can power Station, which was completed in 1981. parallel conference during Great Rivers - 99 be removed and the Volga’s once extensive Originally planned to be filled to a level of 68 specifically for river advocates. Most activists fisheries can return. ■ meters, filling was halted at 63 meters when were from the Volga basin, where eleven groundwater levels in the city of Nizhny hydropower stations have transformed For more information, contact: Novgorod, 130 km upstream, rose to the Europe’s largest river into a chain of reser- Let’s Help the River Movement point of flooding low-lying areas. Filling the voirs whose sediment deposits are danger- Elena Kolpakova, Coordinator reservoir to capacity is again being discussed, ously contaminated with lead, mercury, cad- Phone:+7.8312.30.28.81; Fax:+7.8312.30.28.90 which could not only exacerbate these prob- mium, DDT and PCBs. E-mail: [email protected]

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 11 SHORTS

At least someone is finding good news in global warming.The Swiss company EOS ran an advertisement in the newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung in June with this happy message: “Temperatures are rising. So are our energy stocks. The heat makes us spend less energy. At the same time, it causes the glaciers, which feed our hydroelectric reserves, to UPDATE would be badly impacted by the project, melt. Indeed, nature treats us well. have stated they are against either option. EOS.We bring energy into life.” CHINA: Several key bridges erected as part of The Namibian stated: “The two countries a plan to resettle people for the Three Gorges have disagreed about which location should For a second time in seven months, one Dam will have to be rebuilt after inspectors be used for the billion-dollar scheme since of the largest dairies in Washington state said they were no more solid than bean last year and there is a strong likelihood that in the US has been fined for spilling ani- [they] will remain deadlocked on the issue.” mal waste into a local creek.The Black curd. “‘Tofu scum’ construction related to River Ranch of Littlerock, with 2,400 Three Gorges resettlement will be resolutely Angola favors the Baynes site in part cows, has been fined $60,000 for threat- demolished and rebuilt,” the Beijing Daily because it is more dependent on proper reg- ening groundwater, water quality and quoted officials in Hubei province on June 7. ulation of Gove Dam in Angola’s Central trout and salmon habitat in Mima Creek Inspectors in the central Chinese province Highlands. The Angolans want to use the with bacteria from animal waste.The discovered construction flaws in 17 of 20 construction of the Epupa project to help creek drains into the Black River, where bridges examined along a 14-km stretch of them get funding to repair Gove which was cutthroat trout are proposed for listing highway near the site of the unfinished dam. damaged in the country’s civil war. Namibia under the federal Endangered Species Act. “Related departments have determined that is adamant that the project should be built The state Department of Ecology found five large bridges with grave quality prob- at Epupa Falls. bacteria in a drainage area at 2,300 times lems will be blown up or torn down and While government officials in Namibia the state’s maximum limit.The inspectors rebuilt,” the article said. Inspectors blamed push for the Epupa Dam, Namibian citizens also found liquid waste covering and pool- the inferior quality of the bridges on official continue to raise concerns about the project. ing on and alongside a road on the site. corruption in contract bids, poor planning In March, the local NGO Earthlife Namibia The agency ordered the owner to either and supervision, and the misallocation of wrote in The Namibian: “Earthlife Namibia obtain additional land or reduce the size demands of the Government to recall their of his herd. In October 1998, the dairy one-third of marked funds. was fined $11,000 for water quality viola- The inspection, sparked by the collapse of plans to construct the Epupa Dam. The dis- tions, but had not paid the fine by the the nearby Jiaojiawan Bridge in February astrous effects on the Himba communities as time of the second violation. 1998, was reported after Premier Zhu Rongji well as the irreversible ecological damages called on officials last month to improve and high financial risks totally outweigh the The US Federal Emergency Management resettlement of the estimated 1.4 million peo- alleged socio-economic benefits. The Epupa Agency said in July it is considering offer- ple being forced to make way for the dam. plans should be abandoned because of ing funds to states to target high risk Namibia’s reported large reserves of Kudu gas properties that have suffered repeated NAMIBIA: which could satisfy more than our entire flood damage.The funds would be used A long-delayed meeting between to help owners move properties to high- Namibia and Angola to decide the fate of the electricity requirements, including economic er ground, either out of floodplains or Epupa hydropower project, scheduled for and technological spinoffs.” above flood levels. Property owners that early July, was postponed after officials from do not choose to move would have to Angola did not show up. The Namibian HONDURAS: The dam-building multina- pay higher premiums for National Flood reported on July 8: “The ongoing war in tional Harza Engineering has pulled out of Insurance.“We really don’t do anyone any Angola has been blamed for the officials’ the Patuca II project, a 270MW, 105-meter- favors or confer genuine benefits to peo- failure to arrive for the key two-day meeting, high dam on the Patuca River. Kevin Can- ple under the flood insurance program which is scheduled to discuss crucial differ- dee, vice president of the Chicago-based when we don’t help solve the roots of ences between the two countries on the Harza, told newspapers in Honduras that the the problem – risky properties built with- energy project.” The meeting has already company has pulled out of the project out regard for the flood hazard,” said Jo been postponed several times. Angolan offi- because Harza does not want “to be part of Ann Howard, administrator of the Federal cials have not rescheduled. financing projects that have negative effects Insurance Administration.About 40,000 The two countries are at odds over where on the environment.” The project is not nec- buildings across the country now insured to build the dam on the Kunene River. The essarily dead, but is clearly on hold for the under the National Flood Insurance Pro- time being. The government intends to get gram have been flooded more than once Angolans favor the Baynes option, whereas and received flood insurance claims pay- Namibia wants a dam at Epupa Falls – a proj- project documents from the construction ments of $1000 or more for each loss. ect that would drown the scenic oasis and consortium with the intention of resurrect- These properties have cost the National create a 380-sq.-km. reservoir with its 163- ing the scheme in the future. Flood Insurance Fund $1.8 billion. meter-high dam. The Himba people, who The Patuca II Dam would create a 45- square-kilometer reservoir, which would

Page 12 World Rivers Review August 1999 impact migratory fish and the habitat of torium on the construction of large dams DM1 billion, the park would cover an esti- other species such as the harpy eagle. Tawah- and diversions be established. mated 200 square kilometers (49,420 acres) ka (population 950) and Miskito (pop. of the North Sea near Helgoland. The group 30,000) indigenous communities living ALTERNATIVES of private investors behind the scheme says downstream from the dam site would have it hopes to start building an initial 100 4- also been impacted by the project. TANZANIA: Investors interested in develop- 5MW turbines in 2001, and have the entire ing this African nation’s renewable energy 1,200MW in place by 2005. A state energy DAM FIGHTERS resources will benefit from financial incen- ministry official cautioned that some techni- tives now being offered by the government, cal problems as well as issues arising from NEW ZEALAND: In Wellington, Maori as well as simplified procedures for investing the site being near a national marine park tribes are claiming ownership of three rivers in solar, wind and micro-hydropower proj- still have to be resolved. and are threatening to close hydroelectric ects, according to the East African (June 14). dams and impose charges on waterway users. The incentives include a 100 percent depre- US: Santa Monica, California, has become the The Bay of Plenty Maori tribes, Te Ika When- ciation allowance in the first year of opera- first city to be powered entirely by a renew- ua, plan to charge farmers and recreational tion, exemption from excise duty and sales able energy source – geothermal energy. City river users and dismantle the dams, accord- tax and concessionary customs duty on the officials decided to take advantage of the ing to tribe manager Maanu Paul. The South import of components used in renewable competitive market created by electricity China Morning Post reported in April that the energy projects. In order to speed up rural deregulation and switch from burning fossil group had put its claim to the High Court, electrification, the government is planning fuels to a cleaner source with fewer environ- forcing the Government to file a full to enact a law compelling independent mental impacts. Geothermal steam plants defense. Under the country’s founding docu- power producers to generate at least five per owned by Commonwealth Energy Corpora- ment, the Treaty of Waitangi, Maoris were cent of their electricity from renewables. tion will now supply all the power needs of guaranteed ownership of their lands, fish- city-owned buildings. Though the city will eries, forests and other assets. But since its US: The Department of Energy (DOE) pay about two percent more for this power, 1840 signing, successive governments have announced in June that it will provide more officials say the costs will be offset by changes administered resources, such as rivers, on than $45 million in grants to 16 states for the city has made to become more energy- behalf of all citizens. Maoris have laid claim weatherizing homes to reduce energy use. efficient. Santa Monica mayor Pamela O’Con- to ownership of the country’s seabed and Along with $85 million in grants awarded nor says, “By going green, Santa Monica is shores, minerals, plants and birds and broad- last April, the grants will help reduce energy reducing smog-producing air pollution that cast airwaves. The Te Ika Whenua move fol- bills of about 67,000 low-income families by degrades public health and moving forward lows a finding of the Waitangi Tribunal, supporting weatherization projects in every with our Sustainable City plan.” The city’s which adjudicates claims, that the tribes had state and the Navajo nation. “For every dol- decision was prompted by a Go Green Power a relationship with the rivers that was “akin lar invested, the Weatherization Assistance campaign waged by a Santa Monica based to ownership.” The tribunal said Wellington Program returns about $1.80 in energy sav- environmental group, Global Green USA. should negotiate compensation for their loss ings and an additional 60 cents in employ- and give the tribes a say in how the rivers ment and environmental benefits,” said THE WORLD: California-based Ocean Power were managed. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Weather- hopes to solve the problem of water scarcity ization reduces the amount of energy used in the next millennium by tapping the SPAIN: More than 60 people went on to heat a typical low-income household by world’s oceans for drinking water. The com- hunger strike in Aragon on May 15 to up to one-third, saving about $190 each year pany has formed a joint venture with UK protest the construction of six proposed on a homeowner’s heating bill. DOE-funded based Zero Emission Vehicle Company to large dams in the Pyrenees. Organized by the services include diagnostic testing, installing help it develop seawater desalination plants Coordination of People Affected by Large insulation and ventilation fans, sealing powered by fuel cells. Ocean Power plans to Dams and Diversions (COAGRET), the ducts, adding weatherstripping, insulating build pilot projects in Greece, the Caribbean hunger strike lasted for three weeks. By the water heater systems and performing heating and the Maghreb, pending water quality cer- last day, nearly 2,000 people had joined the and cooling tune-ups. When appropriate, tification from the World Health Organiza- fast. The demonstrations culminated in a heating and cooling equipment may be tion (WHO) and the US Environmental Pro- huge rally and fast in Zaragoza on June 6 replaced to improve energy efficiency and tection Agency. “Desalination is seen as an which was attended by nearly 10,000 people. homeowner safety. ideal application for fuel cells,” said Ocean According to COAGRET, the proposed Power president Joseph Maceda. “It has the dams (called Yesa, Biscarrues, Janovas, San- GERMANY: A group of private investors got ability to use both the waste and product taliestra, Lechago and El Val) are unneces- government backing to build Europe’s water.” Fuel cells produce pure water as a by- sary and are “a representation of the brutal largest-ever wind farm in the coastal North product of power generation. That water is assault on the Aragonese Pyrenees.” Accord- Sea. Rated at 1,200 megawatts and scheduled then re-circulated into the unit to increase ing to the group, the Santaliestra Dam was to be completed by 2005, the farm would be energy output by 4 percent. Ocean Power approved by the Ministry of the Environ- comparable in scale with the largest con- hopes to produce pure water from seawater ment without first completing the necessary ventional nuclear or coal-fired power sta- for less than $1 per cubic meter (about 30 studies, and poses a serious safety risk to the tions. It would also mark a dramatic kick- cubic feet) and electricity for less than $0.05 4,000 people living downstream should the start for offshore wind power. The only com- per kilowatt hour. Environmental News Service dam fail. The protesters demanded that dam mercial offshore wind parks currently in builders follow European legislation on existence are in Danish waters and have a impact assessment studies and that a mora- collective capacity of just 11MW. Priced at

World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 13 Narmada continued from page 9 for submergence continued to be cut down, In some resettlement sites, people have war, or sue for peace. How you can snatch a forcing people who depended on them for a been dumped in rows of corrugated tinsheds river away from one and gift it to another. livelihood to move out. which are furnaces in summer and fridges in Day by day, river by river, forest by forest, Even though the dam is nowhere near its winter. Some of them are located in dry river mountain by mountain, missile by missile, projected height, its impact on the environ- beds which, during the monsoon, turn into bomb by bomb – almost without our know- ment and the people living along the river is fast-flowing drifts. When the waters recede ing it, we are being broken. already severe. they leave ruin. Malaria, diarrhea, sick cattle Big dams are to a nation’s “development” Around the dam site and the nearby vil- stranded in the slush. what nuclear bombs are to its military arse- lages, the number of cases of malaria has Forty households were moved from the nal. They’re both weapons of mass destruc- increased six-fold. Several kilometers village of Manibeli to a resettlement site in tion. They’re both weapons governments use upstream from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, Maharashtra. In the first year, 38 children to control their own people. Both 20th cen- huge deposits of silt, hip-deep and over died. In one week nine deaths were reported tury emblems that mark a point in time two hundred meters wide, has cut off in a single rehabilitation site in Gujarat. when human intelligence has outstripped its access to the river. Women carrying water That’s 1.2875 PAPs a day, if you’re counting. own instinct for survival. They’re both pots now have to walk literally miles to Many of those who have been resettled malignant indications of civilisation turning find a negotiable entry point. Cows and are people who have lived all their lives deep upon itself. They represent the severing of goats get stranded in it and die (in July in the forest with virtually no contact with the link, not just the link – the understand- this year the dam’s silt claimed its first money and the modern world. Suddenly ing – between human beings and the planet known human victim, 7-year-old Lata they find themselves left with the option of they live on. They scramble the intelligence Vasave from Domkhedi). The single-log starving to death or walking several kilome- that connects eggs to hens, milk to cows, boats that tribal people use have become ters to the nearest town, sitting in the mar- food to forests, water to rivers, air to life and unsafe on the irrational currents caused ketplace (both men and women), offering the earth to human existence. by the barricade downstream. themselves as wage labor, like goods on sale. Can we unscramble it? Suddenly they can’t trust their river any- Land for land sounds like a reasonable Maybe. Inch by inch. Bomb by bomb. more. It’s like a loved one who’s developed swap, but how do you implement it in a Dam by dam. Maybe by fighting specific symptoms of psychosis. Anyone who has country where every inch of land is fought wars in specific ways. We could begin in the loved a river can tell you that the loss of a over? How do you uproot 200,000 people Narmada valley. river is a terrible, aching thing. But I’ll be (the official blinkered estimate) and relocate This July will bring the last monsoon of rapped on the knuckles if I continue in this them in a humane fashion? the 20th Century. The ragged army in the vein. When we’re discussing the Greater In circumstances like these, to even Narmada valley has declared that it will not Common Good there’s no place for senti- entertain a debate about Rehabilitation is to move when the waters of the Sardar Sarovar ment. One must stick to facts. Forgive me for take the first step towards setting aside the reservoir rise to claim its lands and homes. letting my heart wander. Principles of Justice. Resettling 200,000 peo- Whether you love the dam or hate it, The government of Gujarat boasts of hav- ple in order to take (or pretend to take) whether you want it or you don’t, it is in the ing the best rehabilitation package in the drinking water to 40 million – there’s some- fitness of things that you understand the world. In practice, the resettlement story thing very wrong with the scale of opera- price that’s being paid for it. That you have (with a few exceptions) continues to be one tions here. This is Fascist Maths. It manages the courage to watch while the dues are of callousness and broken promises. Some to blind perfectly reasonable people with its cleared and the books are squared. people have been given land, others haven’t. spurious, shining vision. Our dues. Our books. Not theirs. Some have land that is stony and uncul- To slow a beast, you break its limbs. To Be there. ■ tivable. Some have land that is irredeemably slow a nation, you break its people. You make water-logged. Some have been driven out by it clear that ultimately it falls to you to decide © Arundhati Roy 1999. This is an edited extract landowners who sold land to the govern- who lives, who dies, who prospers, who of an essay first published in the Indian maga- ment but haven’t been paid yet. Some who doesn’t. To exhibit your capability you show zines Outlook and Frontline. The essay will be were resettled on the peripheries of other vil- off all that you can do, and how easily you published in the US by Random House later this lages have been robbed, beaten and chased can do it. How easily you could press a button year. Arundhati Roy is the author of The God away by their host villagers. and annihilate the earth. How you can start a of Small Things.

Bakun continued from page 4 The revived dam raises new questions about NGOs on Bakun states: “The country has to near Bakun. Capturing energy from a small the government’s long-term vision for devel- have an energy-needs inventory, not just elec- stream without blocking the stream’s flow, opment in Malaysian Borneo. Instead of tricity consumption projections. This means this system will provide 100 Kenyah families enacting energy-saving measures, which the the collection of reliable data on types of ener- with sustainable, environmentally safe national Energy Minister has suggested could gy [the country can] produce and the amounts power. It will generate social development, save Malaysia up to $180 million a year, the used; optimising the match between energy increase self-reliance, help people improve government is investing in power produc- sources and uses to avoid wastage, and tap- their living conditions and create work tion which is not yet needed in the hopes of ping more renewable sources.” opportunities. If successful, it will be the first luring new industry. The Borneo Project and Sahabat Alam community-owned and operated green-ener- A June 10 statement by Dr. Kua Kia Soong Malaysia (SAM) will be installing a demon- gy system in Sarawak. ■ on behalf of the Coalition of Concerned stration micro-hydro generator later this year

Page 14 World Rivers Review August 1999 About IRN Damming the Rivers:World Bank Lending for River of Words Teacher’s Guide. 1996, 50 pp, $6. Large Dams by Leonard Sklar & Patrick McCully, Classroom and field activities on watersheds for IRN was formed in 1986 by hydrologists, engineers 1994. 89 pp, $20. grades K-12. Supports IRN’s international environ- and environmentalists to address the worldwide mental poetry and art contest, conducted annually Lessons Unlearned: Damming the Mekong in partnership with The Library of Congress. prevalence of unsound, destructive river-develop- River, by Steve Rothert. 1995. 70 pp, $15. ment schemes. Our mission is to halt and reverse Rowing Partners: 101 Ways to Build Commu- the degredation of river systems; to support local Technical Review of the Mekong Mainstream – nity Partnerships, by Pamela Michael. 1998, 19 pp, communities in protecting and restoring the well- Run-of-River Hydropower Report, by Philip $5. Idea-packed booklet offers strategies and con- being of the people, cultures and ecosystems that Williams & Steve Rothert, 1995, 7 pp, $3. crete steps to help create local support and enthusi- depend on rivers; to promote sustainable, environ- The following campaign information packets are asm for River of Words (or any community project). mentally sound alternatives to damming and chan- available for $15 each:Three Gorges Dam (China) Beyond Big Dams:A New Approach to Energy nelling rivers; to foster greater understanding, •Pangue Dam / Biobío River (Chile) • Arun III Dam awareness and respect for rivers, and to support Sector and Watershed Planning, edited by Juliette (Nepal) • Nam Theun 2 (Laos) • Xiaolangdi Dam Majot. 1997. 126 pp. $20. Explores small scale hydro. the worldwide struggle for environmental integrity (China) • Lesotho Highlands Water Project (Africa) and social justice. • Mekong Hydroelectric Development (Southeast Asia) • Hidrovia Dossiers I-5 (South America) • Information Services Reports Bakun Dam (Malaysia) • Epupa Dam (Namibia) World Wide Web: IRN’s web site has hundreds of items on river campaigns around the world, links to The Asian Development Bank’s Role in Dam Other Resources Building in the Mekong Watershed by Aviva other sites of interest,WRR articles, maps and much else.Visit it at www. irn.org Imhof, 1997. 19 pp, $10. World Rivers Review subscriptions are automatic Proceedings of The First International Meeting for IRN members. Back issues are $5. IRN’s resources are used to support the informa- of People Affected by Large Dams. 1997. $15. tion needs of non-profit organizations as well as Large Dams, False Promises, writer and producer, individuals and institutions. General research fee The Relationship Between Primary Aluminum David Phinney; executive producer,Andrea Torrice. per hour is $50 ($25 minimum per request, plus Production and the Damming of the World’s 33 min. video, $35. Features the stories of three photocopy and mailing charges). Rivers, by Jenny Gitlitz. 1993. 150 pp, $20. dams: Sardar Sarovar (India),Three Gorges (China) and Balbina (Brazil).The stories illustrate the For more information about IRN’s activities Considering the Hidrovia – A Preliminary destruction that large dams are causing to ecosys- and publications, or to order our more Report on the Status of the Proposed tems and riverine communities worldwide. detailed publications brochure, contact: Paraguay/Paraná Waterway Project by Owen Lammers (IRN), Deborah Moore (EDF) & Kay Silenced Rivers:The Ecology and Politics of IRN Treakle (BIC). 1994. 60 pp, $15. Large Dams, by Patrick McCully. 1996. 350 pp. 1847 Berkeley Way $20/members, $25/non-members.This book covers Berkeley, CA 94703 River Dolphins –Can They be Saved? by Elizabeth the environmental and social effects of large dams Tel:(510) 848-1155, Fax: (510) 848-1008 Carpino. 1994. 42 pp, $15. around the world. e-mail: [email protected]

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World Rivers Review August 1999 Page 15 International Rivers Network 1847 Berkeley Way Non-Profit Org. Berkeley, CA 94703 US POSTAGE U.S.A. PAID Berkeley, CA 94703

Address Correction Requested Permit No. 126

(Issue 3, 1999) stated that domestic demand domestic that stated 1999) 3, (Issue unlikely that there will be enough demand enough be will there that unlikely

Hydropower and Dams and Hydropower magazine industry impact on the environment.” Since it is it Since environment.” the on impact u e ie www.irn.org. site: web our

produced from the Bujagali Falls Project. The Project. Falls Bujagali the from produced ground works rather than a dam, have less have dam, a than rather works ground project.The document is available on available is document project.The

not be enough internal demand for the power the for demand internal enough be not because it would involve mainly under- mainly involve would it because detailing our concerns about this about concerns our detailing

It has also recently surfaced that there may there that surfaced recently also has It Falls, would be “cheaper, more flexible, and flexible, more “cheaper, be would Falls, IRN has written the IFC and Acres, and IFC the written has IRN

until an Electricity Act is devised. is Act Electricity an until Norwegian scheme, proposed for Karuma for proposed scheme, Norwegian What IRN Is Doing Is IRN What

deal has now reportedly been put on hold on put been reportedly now has deal (Issue 2, 1999), the 1999), 2, (Issue Dams and Hydropower

sector. All discussion concerning the power the concerning discussion All sector. power producers. According to an article in article an to According producers. power

without an existing law regulating the power the regulating law existing an without by Norpak, a consortium of Norwegian of consortium a Norpak, by ment is expected in September. September. in expected is ment ■

the government cannot give any guarantees any give cannot government the second power project on the Nile, proposed Nile, the on project power second sulting firm based in Uganda. A formal docu- formal A Uganda. in based firm sulting

ments to AES, Parliament has argued that argued has Parliament AES, to ments AES is also facing stiff competition from a from competition stiff facing also is AES ment, with Kagga and Partners, Ltd, a con- a Ltd, Partners, and Kagga with ment,

sion to guarantee electricity capacity pay- capacity electricity guarantee to sion Competing Projects Competing firm, has been tapped to make the assess- the make to tapped been has firm,

the Ugandan government is seeking permis- seeking is government Ugandan the Acres International, a Canadian hydropower Canadian a International, Acres

AES and the Uganda Electricity Board. While Board. Electricity Uganda the and AES able alternative sources of power in Uganda. in power of sources alternative able up producing unused power. unused producing up

30-year power purchase agreement between agreement purchase power 30-year potential hydropower projects and all avail- all and projects hydropower potential increase, the Bujagali Falls Dam could end could Dam Falls Bujagali the increase,

The major sticking point is the terms of a of terms the is point sticking major The rivers. In April, the IFC began a review of all of review a began IFC the April, In rivers. Uganda, but if Kenya’s imports do not do imports Kenya’s if but Uganda,

rejected for the third time. time. third the for rejected the scope of its efforts to develop Uganda’s develop to efforts its of scope the Kenya to purchase more electricity from electricity more purchase to Kenya

the controversial AES power deal, only to be to only deal, power AES controversial the tial funder of the Bujagali Dam, to enlarge to Dam, Bujagali the of funder tial Uganda’s Finance Minister has called on called has Minister Finance Uganda’s

government had asked Parliament to approve to Parliament asked had government lending arm of the World Bank and a poten- a and Bank World the of arm lending for the country’s investment capacity.” capacity.” investment country’s the for

daily newspaper, reported that the Ugandan the that reported newspaper, daily Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector the (IFC), Corporation Finance the Bujagali Project is now “feared excessive “feared now is Project Bujagali the

a Ugandan a Monitor, the 7, July On fronts. gali project has forced the International the forced has project gali completed next year. The magazine states that states magazine The year. next completed

continues to face major setbacks on several on setbacks major face to continues The lingering controversy over the Buja- the over controversy lingering The Scheme will produce another 200 MW when MW 200 another produce will Scheme

the US-based AES Corporation, AES US-based the T to build in Uganda. Uganda. in build to ty of 180 MW, and the Owens Falls Extension Falls Owens the and MW, 180 of ty

30-meter high dam proposed by proposed dam high 30-meter appear to be battling head-on for the right the for head-on battling be to appear power source, Owens Falls Dam, has a capaci- a has Dam, Falls Owens source, power

ect in Uganda, a 290-megawatt, a Uganda, in ect projects, let alone two, Norpak and AES and Norpak two, alone let projects, 320 MW in the year 2000.” Uganda’s current Uganda’s 2000.” year the in MW 320

he Bujagali Falls Hydropower Proj- Hydropower Falls Bujagali he in Uganda for even one of these hydropower these of one even for Uganda in in Uganda is “only expected to increase to increase to expected “only is Uganda in

by Stephen Linaweaver Stephen by

Uganda Dam Mired in Problems Again Problems in Mired Dam Uganda Africa