Guri Dam – A Case Study Guri Dam – Background 6 AKA Raul Leoni Dam, after President in the 1960’s 6 Located in Bolivar State, Venezuela and owned by government 6 Sixty miles south of River Caroni and River Orinoco juncture in Necuima Canyon 6 Concrete gravity dam 6 156 meters high, 1176 meters long 6 Dams 110 million acre-feet of water 6 8th largest dam for water retention 6 Construction started in 1963, first part opened in 1968, second in 1986 ($1.5 – $2 billion Guri Dam - Hydrology 6 Runoff is supplied by the Caroni River Watershed in central eastern Bolivar State 6 Area = 92,170 sq. km (10% of Venezuelan land) 6 Precipitation: Maximum = 6000 mm/year, Average = 2900 mm /yea/year 6 Forests occupy 67% of watershed 6 Soil has low fertility, high erosion Æ ~10% is farmed Guri Dam – Spillway Structure 6 Contains spillgates for controlled release during floods through large winding mechanisms 6 Flood control is needed during the wet season (April to December) 6 Spillway is designed to create a cushion pool in order to dissipate energy from the plunging water to curb base foundation and bank erosion 6 Cushion pool is created from upward- curving spillways Guri Dam – Penstock Structure Guri Dam Objective – Hydroelectric 6 AKA Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Power Station 6 Venezuela’s larggyp,pyest source of hydroelectric power, exports electricity to Columbia, Brazil 6 Is capable of being World’s second largest hydroelectric power producing pltlant 6 Two machine rooms with ten generators each = 10 million kW/hour 6 Its current automated technology requires only a a few operators, even during emergencies, for entire generating system Right: Generating house with red transformers Guri Dam Objective- Recreation 6 Created Guri Lake: the second largest lake in Venezuela at 4000 sq. km 6 Reservoir extends 80 km upstream 6 Relatively new reservoir created dying/rotting tree covered lake banks 6 Lacks beaches but development is underway to create them for tourism 6 Canaima National Park Guri Dam – “Green” 6 Is considered a very “green” dam 6 Creates 70% of Venezuela’s electricity 6 Saves 300, 000 barre ls o f o il a day 6 Prevents 20 million tons per year of Carbon Dioxide from going into the atmosphere from other means of energy productions Guri Dam - Economy 6 Venezuela is one of top ten oil-producing countries in the World 6 With electricity output from dam, Venezuela can export more oil – 2.4 million barrels per day 6 Selling of electricity to Columbia, Brazil 6 Chartering/fishing potential is “tremendous” yet still untapped 6 Economic benefits of Guri have been achieved Guri Dam - Controversy 6 As stated earlier, Guri Lake is second largest in Venezuela 6 Pemon, Yekuana, Karina Indians displaced 6 Destroyed 4300 sq. km of rain forest, along with its diverse and rare ecosystem 6 Flooding created many small, isolated islands that could not sustain necessary popu lations and ecosy stems Æ unbalanced predator, prey populations (lack of predators) 6 With no predators, former prey populations exploded (Howler Monkeys) 6 Rotting vegetation is quickly and vastly emitting greenhouse gases Guri Dam - Reliance 6 Venezuelans rely too heavily on Guri 6 In April (2008), half of the country was blac ke d out for a day due to forest fires shutting down Guri 6 This sparked a major government project by President Chavez to expand 42 sources of renewable energy to re duce t he re liance on Guri Guri Dam – The Future 6 Many additions are continually being added 6 Beg inn ing in 2000, a conti nui ng R enovati on P roj ect on Si mon B o livar Power Plant is still in process 6 Project will extend Guri operations by 30 years 6 Includes five new runners and main components on Powerhouse II 6 Also, the refurbishment of four units on Powerhouse I 6 Final dimensions are proposed to make Guri 1300 meters long and 162 meters above the river bed Guri Dam – Future Concerns Forest Fires Sedimentation 6 Very prevalent in catchment 6 Large gold and diamond area for hunting traditions mining operations upstream and by indigenous tribes produce large amounts of sediment 6 Quickly turns forest into savannah 6 Currently, assessments are being done on the amount of 6 Deforestation alters the sediment currently in the hydrologic cycle necessary catchment basin and for runoff in the watershed identification of the problematic sub-basins Guri Dam – Good or Bad? Positives Negatives 6 Hydropower 6 Reservoir flooding 6 Economy 6 Indigenous displacement 6 Recreation 6 CO2 release 6 Reliable water 6 Heavy reliance Comppggared with other large dams, Guri is a great success. It has over- served its purpose with relatively little controversy and negative impacts. Questions?.