Study Into Impact of Yali Falls Dam on Resettled and Downstream Communities
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STUDY INTO IMPACT OF YALI FALLS DAM ON RESETTLED AND DOWNSTREAM COMMUNITIES Prepared by the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CRES) Vietnam National University February, 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------4 MAP. LOCATION OF STUDY SITES------------------------------------------------------------------5 I. INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 1.1. YALI FALLS DAM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 1.2. RESETTLEMENT SITES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 1.3. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 II. ITINERARY, STUDY SITES AND METHODOLOGY ------------------------------------- 10 2.1. ITINERARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 2.2. STUDY SITES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 2.3. M ETHODOLOGY---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 III. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 3.1. RESETTLED VILLAGES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 3.1.1. Types of Compensation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 Housing: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Cash compensation: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Moving ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Construction of latrines and wells ---------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Lost crops and fish ponds -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Moving ancestors' tombs --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Agricultural extension support -------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Rice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Compensation for inundated crop land ---------------------------------------------------------- 18 3.1.2. Life at the Resettlement Site ------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Food security------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20 Housing and other living conditions at the resettlement site -------------------------------- 21 Firewood ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Access to health care and education ------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Cultural and Religious Practices at the Resettlement Site ----------------------------------- 23 CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 3.2. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 3.2.1. Population distribution of downstream villages ------------------------------------------ 25 3.2.2. Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam ---------------------------------------------------------------- 26 3.2.3. Impacts of first large releases of water in 1999 ------------------------------------------ 27 3.2.4 Impacts of the Dam on Fisheries and Other Aquatic Life -------------------------------30 3.2.5 Changes in Water Quality ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS ------------------------------------------------ 35 4.1 CONCLUSIONS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 V. REFERENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 VI. APPENDIX -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------38 6.1. APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF RESETTLED VILLAGES ------- 38 6.2. APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES-- 42 2 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. CASH COMPENSATION FOR LOST CROPS AND FISH PONDS ----------------------------------- 16 TABLE 2. FOOD SECURITY OF 42 HOUSEHOLDS IN 2000------------------------------------------------- 20 TABLE 3. FIREWOOD SITUATION OF 45 HOUSEHOLDS ---------------------------------------------------- 22 TABLE 4. SURVEYED DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ----------------------------------------------------------- 25 TABLE 5. DAMAGE CAUSED BY WATER RELEASES FROM THE YALI RESERVOIR------------------- 28 TABLE 6. IMPACTS OF THE YALI FALLS DAM ON DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ----------------------- 32 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study team would like to express its sincere thanks to the International Rivers Network for providing advice on study design, and to the Oxfam America for providing the grant to conduct the study and to write the report. We thank the Kon Tum Department of Science, Technology and Environment and the Gia Lai Department of Science, Technology and Environment in arranging the study and for giving us valuable information. The People's Committees of the districts and the communes where the study team visited were very helpful. Most especially, we thank the local people in the study villages for welcoming us into their homes and for answering our questions so patiently. 4 MAP. LOCATION OF STUDY SITES Kon Tu m &\&\ &\ &\&\&\ &\ &\&\ &\ &\ &\ &\ &\&\ &\&\ &\ &\&\&\ &\ $T Sa T hay Yaly dam distr ict &\ Chu Pah &\ &\ district &\ Gia Lai C AM BOD IA Hanoi N Legend Kon Tum Boundary G ia Lai &\ Resettled villages &\ Downstream villages $T Yali dam 100 0 100 200 Kilometers River Ho Chi Minh City Road (This map is intended only for giving the readers a more concrete and clearer conception of the position of study sites, and has not any political and legal value). 5 I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. YALI FALLS DAM Construction of the $1 billion Yali Falls Dam began in November 1993 and was completed in 1999. The dam is located on the Krong PoKo, a tributary of the Sesan River, which originates from the North of the Central Highlands, Vietnam. The Sesan flows through Cambodia, where it enters the Mekong River. The site of the project is located on the Yali Falls, where water surges are estimated to be 40m high. The dam is situated in Ya Mnong Village, Chu Pah District, Gia Lai Province and the other side of the dam is located in the Yali Commune, Kon Tum Province. The project, which has 4 turbines, is designed to produce 720 MW of electricity. The first turbine was commissioned and produced electricity on May 12, 2000. The project is expected to be fully commissioned by 2001. The 69 metre high dam is built at the elevation of 522 m above the sea level. By mid- 1996 the main dam was closed, and the reservoir was filled in 1998. The closing of the dam and irregular releases of large amounts of water have changed the hydrological regime and the water quality of the Sesan River downstream. This has resulted in adverse impacts on downstream villages. Unusual and dramatic fluctuations in the Sesan River levels have changed the environment and affected the life of the indigenous people who live along the river. The first floods occurred in 1999. The local people, especially women and girls, are now fearful of floods. Some local people interviewed said that when they first saw the flood, they thought it was a natural disaster, which they had never seen before. This has affected local people's livelihoods downstream. The entire power house, which includes the tunnels and turbines, is located in Chu Pah District, Gia Lai Province, while the reservoir with a total area of 6450 ha is located in Kon Tum town and Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province. Flooding of the reservoir resulted in forced relocation of the majority of the local people from Kon Tum town and Sa Thay District, in Kon Tum Province. 900 out of 1500 ha of inundated cultivated agricultural land are seasonally flooded (see Picture 1). The 900 ha are situated at the height ranging from 510- 518m and can be cultivated in the dry season from April through October. The downstream villages are situated along the Sesan River in Picture 1 Chu Pah and Ia Grai Districts in Gia Lai Province. 1.2. RESETTLEMENT SITES Gia Lai Province has only three resettlement sites: Kenh, Yut and Tut, in Ya Mong Commune, Chu Pah District. The other resettlement sites are now located in Vinh Quang, Ya Chiem, and Ngoc Bay, in Kon Tum town, while Kroong, Sa Binh and Yali Communes are situated in Sa Thay District. According to the Yali Project's Board of Management, the resettlement process was divided into 5 stages due to the rising water levels in the reservoir. 6 · Stage I. In 1994-1995, 5 villages were relocated when the water levels reached the height of 482m. · Stage II. In 1996-1997, another 8 villages were moved when the water levels reached the height of 500m. · Stage III. In 1998, another 5 villages of Sa Binh, Sa Thay District were moved when the water reached the level of