Dams

Hydropower Dams Threaten One-Third Of The World’s Freshwater Fish

January 13, 2016 Elizabeth Grossman, www.earthisland.org Educate! Dams, Environment, Fish, Hydropower

By Elizabeth Grossman for Earth Island Journal - Three of the world’s most important tropical river basins — the Amazon, the Congo and the Mekong — are experiencing an unprecedented boom in the construction of hydropower dams. According to a paper by more than three dozen scientists from universities, research institutions and conservation organizations around the world, which will be pubished tomorrow in Sciencemagazine, these projects pose a major threat to biodiversity, including to one-third of all the world’s freshwater fish species. The authors say long-term impacts of tropical hydropower projects are rarely assessed adequately and call for better — and more transparent — planning that more accurately evaluates the full costs of these dams.

Brazil Charged With Ethnocide In Building Of Amazon Dam

December 27, 2015 Sue Branford, www.mongabay.com Resist! Brazil, Dams, Energy, Environment, Ethnocide, Genocide

By Sue Branford for Mongabay. Brazil’s Public Federal Ministry (Ministério Público Federal, MPF), an independent state body, has started legal proceedings to have it recognised that the crime of “ethnocide” was committed on seven indigenous groups due to the severe detrimental impacts on their lives made by the building of the giant Belo Monte hydroelectric power station that will soon begin operating on the Xingu River in eastern Amazonia. The charges have been made against Brazil’s federal government and Norte Energia, the contractor that built the dam. After carrying out a lengthy study that fills 50 books and includes contributions from a wide range of experts, the MPF has concluded that the “social organization, customs, languages and traditions” of the indigenous groups have been destroyed by the construction of the dam. The MPF says: “The villages became covered in garbage, with a proliferation of disease as a result, illnesses such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes became common because of the change in diet, child mortality surged, along with alcoholism, drug consumption and prostitution”.

Amazonian Tribe Brings Struggle to International Stage

June 21, 2015 Christian Poirier & Brent Millikan, www.internationalrivers.org Resist! Amazon, Brazil, Dams, Energy, Hydroelectric Energy, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Resist, Rivers

By Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch & Brent Millikan, International Rivers. When Brazilian energy planners proposed to choke the Amazon’s Tapajós River and its tributaries with dozens of large hydroelectric dams, they underrated a formidable foe: the Munduruku people. The largest indigenous group in the Tapajós Basin, the Munduruku are proving to be sophisticated adversaries who are throwing a wrench in the dam industry's plans. The tribe has frequently caught the Brazilian government off guard with their tactics. They have a flair for the theatrical – they staged a series of dramatic protests in Brasilia, including a “die-in” at the Ministry of Mines and Energy – and the practical. In January, they delivered a protocol to government officials demanding a culturally-appropriate process of free, prior and informed consultation and consent (FPIC). While enshrined in Brazil’s constitution and integral to ILO Convention 169, the indigenous right to FPIC has been systematically ignored in Brazil.

Large Dams Highly Correlated With Poor Water Quality

September 2, 2014 Carey L. Biron, www.ipsnews.net Educate! Dams, Water

Large-scale dams are likely having a detrimental impact on water quality and biodiversity around the world, according to a new study that tracks and correlates data from thousands of projects. Focusing on the 50 most substantial river basins, researchers with International Rivers, a watchdog group, compiled and compared available data from some 6,000 of the world’s estimated 50,000 large dams. Eighty percent of the time, they found, the presence of large dams, typically those over 15 metres high, came along with findings of poor water quality, including high levels of mercury and trapped sedimentation. “The evidence we’ve compiled of planetary-scale impacts from river change is strong enough to warrant a major international focus on understanding the thresholds for river change in the world’s major basins." -- Jason Rainey While the investigators are careful to note that the correlations do not necessarily indicate causal relationships, the say the data suggest a clear, global pattern. They are now calling for an intergovernmental panel of experts tasked with coming up with a systemic method by which to assess and monitor the health of the world’s river basins.

International Hydropower Meeting Interrupted

May 29, 2014 Joanna Yap, www.theborneopost.com Resist! Borneo, Dams, Protest

The International Hydropower Association (IHA) World Congress tasted controversy on the first day when its first plenary session was abruptly interrupted by a local non-government organisation (NGO) protesting against the construction of mega-dams in Sarawak. Save Sarawak’s Rivers Network (SAVE Rivers) chairman Peter Kallang waited until the session was just about to close before standing to address the audience of 500 international delegates representing governments, developers, NGOs and other major hydropower industry interests. “We are against the dams. And we are not alone. The majority of people who are affected by the dams do not agree with the dams,” Peter said, claiming to speak on behalf of the communities affected by the dams. The plenary session was meant to give an overview of key issues affecting the hydropower industry as well as set the tone of debates and discussions that will take place throughout the three-day congress.

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