RusHydro, China Three Gorges express interest in joint river control project
23 October 2013, HydroWorld
JSC RusHydro and China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) have announced
their interest in constructing storage-based hydroelectric projects
along feeders of the Amur River.
Per an agreement signed by RusHydro's Evgeny Dod and CTG's Cao Guangjing
in Beijing, the two will cooperate in considering reservoir-based
hydropower projects that could benefit both countries.
The companies not only agreed to discuss the partnership's
organizational form of cooperation and financing principles, but also
proposals for the potential sale of energy generated by the new
hydropower plants.
The discussion was wrought by flooding in the Amur River Basin in 2013
that affected parts in both countries. High volume flows from China's
Ussuri and Sungari rivers flowed into Russia's Khabarovsk region.
The two rivers combine for about 35% of the Amur River's flow, according
to RusHydro, with a "significant part" of it still unregulated by
reservoirs.
RusHydro said the construction of new dams with large reservoirs is
essential in mitigating potential flooding, while counter-regulator dams
in tailraces at existing hydropower plants will also be explored.
http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2013/10/rushydro-china-three-gorges-express-interest-in-joint-river-control-project.html
***
RusHydro and China Three Gorges Corporation consider cooperation in
construction of the flood control hydropower facilities in the Russian
Far East
22 October 2013
Press Release, RusHydro
URL: http://www.eng.rushydro.ru/press/news/89043.html
JSC RusHydro announces that it may consider potential cooperation with
the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) on construction of the
storage-based hydroelectric facilities on the feeder rivers of the Amur
to contain future floodings in the region.
Evgeny Dod, Chairman of the Management Board of RusHydro, and Cao
Guangjing, Chairman of the Board of CTG, agreed to sign a cooperation
agreement during their meeting in Beijing.
The massive floods in the Far East of Russia and North-Eastern region of
China in 2013 caused by ample rainfalls revealed the necessity to work
out the measures to mitigate the risks of floods in the future. During
the negotiations management of RusHydro maintained that it considered
the construction of the reservoir-based hydropower plants to be the most
efficient.
Both RusHydro and CTG expressed their interest in the joint development
of such facilities on the feeders of the Amur River.
The parties agreed to discuss the organizational form of cooperation and
its financing principles, as well as to develop the proposals on
electricity sales for the new generating capacities.
RusHydro and CTG will present their joint proposals for consideration of
the governments of Russia and China.
The flood of 2013 in the Amur River basin was the strongest in the
entire history of hydrological observations. It had unique scope having
covered all rivers of the basin, including those, located in the Chinese
part of the basin. The flood was caused by powerful cyclones that had
led to prolonged heavy rainfalls. Situation in Khabarovsk region was
complicated by high volume flows of Ussuri and Sungari rivers, most of
this flow originating in Chinese territory. Currently, these rivers are
responsible for more than 35% of the Amur River flow.
The flood impact have been substantially mitigated by RusHydro's
Zeyskaya and Bureyskaya hydropower plants: approximately two thirds of
the flood flow volume had been accumulated in their reservoirs. This
prevented the levels of Amur River in Blagoveschensk from reaching its
historic peak levels, that could have disastrous consequences. Due to
significant reserve volume of the Zeyskaya reservoir, the flood peak was
reduced by more than three times: from 11,700 m3/s in the headrace to
3,500 m3/s in the tailrace.
Significant part of the Amur River still remains unregulated by
reservoirs, leaving it open to periodic catastrophic floods. In order to
mitigate the floods and to prevent possible damage, construction of new
hydropower dams with large reservoirs is essential, as well as
construction of counter-regulator dams in tailrace of the existing large
hydropower plants.
Currently, construction of the RusHydro�s Nizhne-Bureyskaya hydropower
plant, counter-regulator for the Bureyskaya plant, is in progress.
Project documentation for the Nizhne-Zeyskaya HPP, counter-regulator for
the Zeyskaya HPP, has been developed. Other hydropower projects with
regulating reservoirs on tributaries of the rivers Zeya and Bureya may
include the Selimdzhinskaya, Giluyskaya and Nizhne-Nimanskaya dams.
On September 21, 2013, President Vladimir Putin commissioned the
Government of the Russian Federation to develop the program for
construction of new hydropower facilities in the Far East of Russiaby
the end of the year. The new power plants could provide protection from
floods, improve reliability of electricity supply, and create new job
opportunities. This will have positive multiplication effect on the
economic development of the region and quality of life of local communities.
________________________________________________
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Friday, October 25, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
India, China ink key accord on river information
India, China ink key accord on river information
23 October, 2013
IANS (Indo-Asian News Service)
Beijing � India and China Wednesday agreed to exchange more hydrological
information on common rivers and also discuss other issues in a tacit
acknowledgment of India's concerns over China's dam building activities
on the Brahmaputra.
The Memorandum of Understanding on trans-border rivers was inked after
talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People here.
According to sources, the agreement is a major diplomatic achievement as
it is the first time that China has agreed to acknowledge India's rights
as a lower riparian state.
India's consistent raising of the issue of China's dam building
activities on the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlang Tsangpo in China,
has helped in Beijing becoming more accommodating this time, they said.
This time the agreement takes into account the environmental concerns of
India on the Brahmaputra, including the damage to flora and fauna due to
China's dam building upstream. Beijing says its dams are run of the
river dams.
According to the agreement, the two sides recognized that trans-border
rivers and related natural resources and the environment are assets of
immense value to the socio-economic development of all riparian countries.
Both sides also agreed to flood-time exchange of hydrological data on 15
more days - from May 15 instead of June 1 to Oct 15th.
Advancing the date by 15 days, at a time when the melted glacier ice of
the Tibetan plateau begins to flow downstream, is also a major
achievement, the sources said.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation on trans-border
rivers, cooperate through the existing Expert Level Mechanism on
provision of flood-season hydrological data and emergency management,
and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest, the agreement states.
Earlier, China was unwilling to consider India's concerns. But this
time, it has been different, the sources said.
Ambassador S. Jaishankar told news persons the point of agreement to
exchange views on other issues of mutual interest is very crucial. He
said China is to have an open mind on India's concerns and hold
consultations.
The new agreement, which comes into immediate effect, will help bring in
more flood data for India to help manage the heavy monsoon floods on the
Brahmaputra which displaces thousands in Assam along the river every
year. It would also give an insight into China's dam building activities
and vice versa.
http://india.nydailynews.com/politicsarticle/cea1292d874ee01b807b9971c2ad1768/india-china-ink-key-accord-on-river-information#ixzz2icZ5cTwd
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
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23 October, 2013
IANS (Indo-Asian News Service)
Beijing � India and China Wednesday agreed to exchange more hydrological
information on common rivers and also discuss other issues in a tacit
acknowledgment of India's concerns over China's dam building activities
on the Brahmaputra.
The Memorandum of Understanding on trans-border rivers was inked after
talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People here.
According to sources, the agreement is a major diplomatic achievement as
it is the first time that China has agreed to acknowledge India's rights
as a lower riparian state.
India's consistent raising of the issue of China's dam building
activities on the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlang Tsangpo in China,
has helped in Beijing becoming more accommodating this time, they said.
This time the agreement takes into account the environmental concerns of
India on the Brahmaputra, including the damage to flora and fauna due to
China's dam building upstream. Beijing says its dams are run of the
river dams.
According to the agreement, the two sides recognized that trans-border
rivers and related natural resources and the environment are assets of
immense value to the socio-economic development of all riparian countries.
Both sides also agreed to flood-time exchange of hydrological data on 15
more days - from May 15 instead of June 1 to Oct 15th.
Advancing the date by 15 days, at a time when the melted glacier ice of
the Tibetan plateau begins to flow downstream, is also a major
achievement, the sources said.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation on trans-border
rivers, cooperate through the existing Expert Level Mechanism on
provision of flood-season hydrological data and emergency management,
and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest, the agreement states.
Earlier, China was unwilling to consider India's concerns. But this
time, it has been different, the sources said.
Ambassador S. Jaishankar told news persons the point of agreement to
exchange views on other issues of mutual interest is very crucial. He
said China is to have an open mind on India's concerns and hold
consultations.
The new agreement, which comes into immediate effect, will help bring in
more flood data for India to help manage the heavy monsoon floods on the
Brahmaputra which displaces thousands in Assam along the river every
year. It would also give an insight into China's dam building activities
and vice versa.
http://india.nydailynews.com/politicsarticle/cea1292d874ee01b807b9971c2ad1768/india-china-ink-key-accord-on-river-information#ixzz2icZ5cTwd
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
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India, China ink key accord on river information
India, China ink key accord on river information
23 October, 2013
IANS (Indo-Asian News Service)
Beijing � India and China Wednesday agreed to exchange more hydrological
information on common rivers and also discuss other issues in a tacit
acknowledgment of India's concerns over China's dam building activities
on the Brahmaputra.
The Memorandum of Understanding on trans-border rivers was inked after
talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People here.
According to sources, the agreement is a major diplomatic achievement as
it is the first time that China has agreed to acknowledge India's rights
as a lower riparian state.
India's consistent raising of the issue of China's dam building
activities on the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlang Tsangpo in China,
has helped in Beijing becoming more accommodating this time, they said.
This time the agreement takes into account the environmental concerns of
India on the Brahmaputra, including the damage to flora and fauna due to
China's dam building upstream. Beijing says its dams are run of the
river dams.
According to the agreement, the two sides recognized that trans-border
rivers and related natural resources and the environment are assets of
immense value to the socio-economic development of all riparian countries.
Both sides also agreed to flood-time exchange of hydrological data on 15
more days - from May 15 instead of June 1 to Oct 15th.
Advancing the date by 15 days, at a time when the melted glacier ice of
the Tibetan plateau begins to flow downstream, is also a major
achievement, the sources said.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation on trans-border
rivers, cooperate through the existing Expert Level Mechanism on
provision of flood-season hydrological data and emergency management,
and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest, the agreement states.
Earlier, China was unwilling to consider India's concerns. But this
time, it has been different, the sources said.
Ambassador S. Jaishankar told news persons the point of agreement to
exchange views on other issues of mutual interest is very crucial. He
said China is to have an open mind on India's concerns and hold
consultations.
The new agreement, which comes into immediate effect, will help bring in
more flood data for India to help manage the heavy monsoon floods on the
Brahmaputra which displaces thousands in Assam along the river every
year. It would also give an insight into China's dam building activities
and vice versa.
http://india.nydailynews.com/politicsarticle/cea1292d874ee01b807b9971c2ad1768/india-china-ink-key-accord-on-river-information#ixzz2icZ5cTwd
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
23 October, 2013
IANS (Indo-Asian News Service)
Beijing � India and China Wednesday agreed to exchange more hydrological
information on common rivers and also discuss other issues in a tacit
acknowledgment of India's concerns over China's dam building activities
on the Brahmaputra.
The Memorandum of Understanding on trans-border rivers was inked after
talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People here.
According to sources, the agreement is a major diplomatic achievement as
it is the first time that China has agreed to acknowledge India's rights
as a lower riparian state.
India's consistent raising of the issue of China's dam building
activities on the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlang Tsangpo in China,
has helped in Beijing becoming more accommodating this time, they said.
This time the agreement takes into account the environmental concerns of
India on the Brahmaputra, including the damage to flora and fauna due to
China's dam building upstream. Beijing says its dams are run of the
river dams.
According to the agreement, the two sides recognized that trans-border
rivers and related natural resources and the environment are assets of
immense value to the socio-economic development of all riparian countries.
Both sides also agreed to flood-time exchange of hydrological data on 15
more days - from May 15 instead of June 1 to Oct 15th.
Advancing the date by 15 days, at a time when the melted glacier ice of
the Tibetan plateau begins to flow downstream, is also a major
achievement, the sources said.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation on trans-border
rivers, cooperate through the existing Expert Level Mechanism on
provision of flood-season hydrological data and emergency management,
and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest, the agreement states.
Earlier, China was unwilling to consider India's concerns. But this
time, it has been different, the sources said.
Ambassador S. Jaishankar told news persons the point of agreement to
exchange views on other issues of mutual interest is very crucial. He
said China is to have an open mind on India's concerns and hold
consultations.
The new agreement, which comes into immediate effect, will help bring in
more flood data for India to help manage the heavy monsoon floods on the
Brahmaputra which displaces thousands in Assam along the river every
year. It would also give an insight into China's dam building activities
and vice versa.
http://india.nydailynews.com/politicsarticle/cea1292d874ee01b807b9971c2ad1768/india-china-ink-key-accord-on-river-information#ixzz2icZ5cTwd
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
China-backed power plant starts distribution in Kachin State
China-backed power plant starts distribution in Kachin State
22 October 2013, Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/national/3813-china-backed-power-plant-starts-distribution-in-kachin-state
The Chibwenge hydropower plant has started distributing power to
Myitkyina and Waingmaw towns in Kachin State from Monday, according to
state officials.
Financed by China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), the Chibwenge
hydropower plant can generate up to 99.9 megawatts of electricity from
its three generators, of which only one is currently operative as
technicians check the power lines.
'We are trying to distribute the power. We have been inspecting the
power lines since yesterday.The power will be distributed as soon as the
lines are working,' state electricity manager Than Tin told Eleven Media
on Monday.
A 132 kilovolt power line from Chibway to both Wahshaung and Waingmaw
has been connected from the existing Chibway-Myitsone line. A 132/66
kilovolt sub-power station and a 66/11 kilovolt sub-power station have
also been built in Waingmaw and Myitkyina respectively.
'Excess power will be transferred to the national power grid. A
Union-level contract has not been signed yet. The MOU [memorandum of
understanding] will be signed with the Ministry of Electric Power in Nay
Pyi Taw either this month or next month. We are doing this after making
basic agreement. I don�t know the price per unit. All three generators
will be operated,' said Sai Maung Shwe, state minister for electrical power.
The power generated from Chibwenge will be distributed by the Buugar
Company owned by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Myitkyina and
Waingmaw. The power line will be connected to the national power grid in
Moekaung.
La Aung, distribution manager of Buugar Company, said: 'We don�t know
the price for buying power and distributing it. The state government has
instructed us to distribute the power. They informed us the power will
be generated before the 25th. It will be sent to Yankyiaung sub-power
station. More staff will be needed when a new power line has been
expanded. I�m happy that we get the required power.'
The Chibwenge dam is part of the seven dams built by CPI as part of the
Myitsone dam project. Although the Myitsone dam projected has been
suspended following public outcry over environmental and social impact
of the project, six smaller dams -- including the Chibwenge dam -- along
the Maykha and the Malikha rivers have been built.
The power plant suffered some damages in 2012 when its machines and
power lines were destroyed during the clashes between the government and
the KIA.
Power has been supplied to Myitkyina and Waingmaw through Malikha
hydropower plant owned by KIA. Both cities need 15 megawatts of
electricity to meet demand but the power plant can only generate 10
megawatts and the remaining 5 megawatts will be supplied alternatively.
The Putato district and Tanai, Sumprabum, and Injangyang townships in
the Kachin State still do not have any electricity.
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
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22 October 2013, Eleven Media Group (Myanmar)
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/national/3813-china-backed-power-plant-starts-distribution-in-kachin-state
The Chibwenge hydropower plant has started distributing power to
Myitkyina and Waingmaw towns in Kachin State from Monday, according to
state officials.
Financed by China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), the Chibwenge
hydropower plant can generate up to 99.9 megawatts of electricity from
its three generators, of which only one is currently operative as
technicians check the power lines.
'We are trying to distribute the power. We have been inspecting the
power lines since yesterday.The power will be distributed as soon as the
lines are working,' state electricity manager Than Tin told Eleven Media
on Monday.
A 132 kilovolt power line from Chibway to both Wahshaung and Waingmaw
has been connected from the existing Chibway-Myitsone line. A 132/66
kilovolt sub-power station and a 66/11 kilovolt sub-power station have
also been built in Waingmaw and Myitkyina respectively.
'Excess power will be transferred to the national power grid. A
Union-level contract has not been signed yet. The MOU [memorandum of
understanding] will be signed with the Ministry of Electric Power in Nay
Pyi Taw either this month or next month. We are doing this after making
basic agreement. I don�t know the price per unit. All three generators
will be operated,' said Sai Maung Shwe, state minister for electrical power.
The power generated from Chibwenge will be distributed by the Buugar
Company owned by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Myitkyina and
Waingmaw. The power line will be connected to the national power grid in
Moekaung.
La Aung, distribution manager of Buugar Company, said: 'We don�t know
the price for buying power and distributing it. The state government has
instructed us to distribute the power. They informed us the power will
be generated before the 25th. It will be sent to Yankyiaung sub-power
station. More staff will be needed when a new power line has been
expanded. I�m happy that we get the required power.'
The Chibwenge dam is part of the seven dams built by CPI as part of the
Myitsone dam project. Although the Myitsone dam projected has been
suspended following public outcry over environmental and social impact
of the project, six smaller dams -- including the Chibwenge dam -- along
the Maykha and the Malikha rivers have been built.
The power plant suffered some damages in 2012 when its machines and
power lines were destroyed during the clashes between the government and
the KIA.
Power has been supplied to Myitkyina and Waingmaw through Malikha
hydropower plant owned by KIA. Both cities need 15 megawatts of
electricity to meet demand but the power plant can only generate 10
megawatts and the remaining 5 megawatts will be supplied alternatively.
The Putato district and Tanai, Sumprabum, and Injangyang townships in
the Kachin State still do not have any electricity.
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
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Friday, October 18, 2013
Laos' Mekong dam moves stir up public discontent
Laos' Mekong dam moves stir up public discontent
Jim Pollard
The Nation October 10, 2013 1:00 am
Critics and opponents say dam projects are going ahead without recourse to prior agreements on consultation, and without adequate impact assessments
Anger over the Lao government's unilateral decision to go ahead with a second hydropower project on the Mekong - despite a storm of controversy about dams on the lower stretch of the river - has fired a groundswell of opposition both within Thailand and the region.
Anti-dam meetings are planned in Nong Khai and Bangkok this week against the Xayaburi dam, being built south of Luang Prabang, and the Don Sahong project, which the Lao regime wants to start work on next month, in the Siphandon (Thousand Islands) area near the southern border with Cambodia.
Two of the world's leading conservation groups - International Rivers and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) - have also voiced alarm about the latest move by Laos, which appears to contravene regional agreements to consult neighbours and reach a consensus before proceeding with any project that could jeopardise the status of the river and its rich marine life.
Laos has claimed that Don Sahong is only a channel of the Mekong, and that the project to build a facility that would generate 260 megawatts of electricity will have minimal impact on the river. But this is disputed by environmentalists, who say there are alternatives such as the Thakho project in the Khone Falls area, which would have much less environmental and social impact.
Scientists from Cambodia and Vietnam will attend both events - a two-day forum at Muang Phu Paradise Hotel in Nong Khai, starting today, and a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Bangkok on tonight.
Anti-dam opponents from a range of Thai groups will present findings from studies among groups living adjacent to the river at the regional conference in Nong Khai. They want an immediate stop to work at the Xayaburi dam site, a huge US$3.5-billion project already well underway, until "proper and independent" impact studies are done and a consensus reached about whether that project, and the proposed Don Sahong dam, should go ahead.
Civil society groups in Thailand are upset at Vientiane, condemned by some as a bullying one-party regime happy to muzzle its press, to use biased pro-development impact assessments to back risky money-generating schemes and silence local opponents to state mega-projects. (The abduction of social activist Sombath Somphone last December, winner of the prestigious Magsaysay award has created a climate of fear among civil society groups, although supporters say his disappearance was not linked specifically to dams).
There is also grave concern among environmentalists in countries downriver that the dams will jeopardise two of the region's most significant food sources - fish catches in Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake and rice production in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.
Chhith Sam Ath, from Cambodia's NGO Forum, said: "The Don Sahong dam will push Cambodia and Vietnam closer to a food crisis. The project is next to Cambodia's border - have they forgotten that fish are our lifeline and the backbone of our economy? Fish are central to our diet and our main source of protein.
"It's irresponsible to proceed with this project without consulting downstream people or carrying out a credible transboundary impact assessment. Fish are simply too precious a resource to be squandered," he said.
Nguy Thi Khanh, director of Vietnam's Green Innovation and Development Centre, said: "While energy can be generated via more sustainable sources, the depletion of fish and food is irreversible. The Mekong governments must find a way out of this dilemma, before regional tensions grow. We cannot let politics and unilateral decisions fail our rivers and future water and food security. Now more than ever, we need the MRC and its member countries to protect the indispensable resources that the Mekong River provides for millions of people."
The Lao government sent a letter of "prior notification" to the Mekong River Commission last week to announce it would start work on the Don Sahong dam next month. But the move has drawn heated criticism and spurred fears that the MRC is being marginalised by the socialist regime to a point where international donors may opt to withdraw their support.
Teerapong Pomun, from Thailand's Living Rivers Association, said: "Laos is once again attempting to evade its responsibilities, while forcing the public in the region to pay for the immense damage that the Don Sahong dam will cause. Laos must cancel this project, along with the other mainstream dams, before it's too late."
Ame Trandem, at International Rivers, said: "Laos has side-stepped its responsibilities to submit the project to the MRC's prior consultation process, despite earlier statements made by the MRC Secretariat and its international donors that the project should undergo the consultation process to allow for regional decision-making.
"If the MRC fails to clamp down on Laos, it will be failing its mandate and will lose any validity it has left as an organisation. The MRC can no longer absolve Laos from its responsibilities; this project must undergo the prior consultation as mandated by the 1995 Mekong Arrangement. A moratorium should also be implemented on all mainstream dam building, so that the MRC's impact study on the projects - that was agreed upon by Laos and neighbouring countries in 2011 - is first implemented."
So, it was no surprise that WWF called on Friday for the MRC to convene a special session of its four member states to discuss Vientiane's intention to proceed with a second dam.
The underlying problem is that Laos is one of the world's least developed countries, in desperate need of revenue. Given that it has a budget crisis and difficulty paying wages to state employees, its leaders are expected to rebuff any attempts to deter it from its present course. However, Hanoi and Phnom Penh may have the capacity to deter the latest project - if they get the Lao regime to consider the Thakho project or alternate ways to generate power.
The Xayaburi dam, which is 10 per cent complete, was effectively a Thai-Lao project, funded by Thai banks, built by Thai construction giant Ch Karnchang, so that 95 per cent of the power it generates can be relayed to Thailand.
However, the Don Sahong dam is a Lao project, proposed by a little known company from Malaysia in the midst of one of the region's most pristine sites - Siphandon. With close to a dozen dams proposed on the lower Mekong, concern is likely to be mounting in Hanoi and Phnom Penh that they can no longer allow their smaller neighbour to jeopardise vital food sources.
The vast majority of the Cambodian people rely on fish for protein. And if the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams hinder the Tonle Sap's bountiful fish yield and its remarkable capacity to change direction annually, it could create an ecological catastrophe that gravely undermines the country's food security.
Many believe the Xayaburi dam is already a far too serious risk, given the impediment it is likely to pose to fish migration and sediment flow (claims that the dam is a run-of-the river structure that will alleviate these concerns are doubted by many scientists). There is also concern that, coupled with Chinese dams on the river's upper reaches, these midstream dams are likely to allow far greater saltwater intrusion into Vietnam's "rice bowl", the Mekong Delta.
Ethiopian Nile Dam Plans Spark Regional Tensions
SciDev.Net
East Africa: Ethiopian Dam Plans Spark Regional Tensions
18 OCTOBER 2013
http://allafrica.com/stories/201310180855.html?viewall=1
The project's potential impact on water supplies in Egypt and Sudan is causing friction, finds Rehab Abd Almohsen.
A group of Egyptian academics and experts have declared their opposition to the current plans for the US$4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - on which work has started, and which will be Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant when completed - because they believe it will damage their country.
Egypt's Nile Basin Group was set up to assess the possible threat from the dam, which will lie close to Ethiopia's border with Sudan. Its members warn that the structure could slash the Nile's flow, especially in Egypt and Sudan, which depend on the river's waters.
Haider Yusuf Bakheit, a Sudanese hydrologist, was reported in an article in Infrastructure News as saying that the dam "will hold back nearly one-and-a-half times the average annual flow" of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile's two main tributaries, and "drastically affect the downstream nations' agriculture, electricity and water supply".
"Given the massive size of the dam, it could lose as much as three billion cubic metres of water to evaporation each year," he warned.
Enlarged plans
There was alarm in Egypt when the plan to build the dam was announced in 2011 - with some MPs talking off the record about Egypt's right to retaliate militarily - but much of the opposition now focuses on Ethiopia's decision to increase the size of the reservoir behind the dam.
"The original plan was to create a lake that would store 14 billion cubic metres of water, which is enough to generate electricity, but then the lake's capacity was increased to 74 billion cubic metres," Nader Noureddin, a member of the Nile Basin Group and professor of soil and water resources at Cairo University, tells SciDev.Net. Planned electricity output has also risen, from 5,250 to 6,000 megawatts.
Noureddin says that when Ethiopia decided to increase the height of the primary dam from the 90 metres in the original design to 170 metres, the planners were forced to include a secondary 'saddle dam' to help confine the vast reservoir created by the main dam and prevent stored water from escaping back to the Blue Nile.
"For the first time in history, we find a secondary dam that is four times as large as the original dam, which indicates the aim behind building such a huge dam is not generating electricity, but to use the dam as a way to control Egypt," argues Noureddin. In effect, he says, it would enable Ethiopia to turn off Egypt's water supply.
He favours sticking to the dam's original height and scrapping the idea for the saddle dam.
Rapid water take
Another concern is the speed at which Ethiopia plans to fill the reservoir.
Egyptian experts say that the huge proposed reservoir would normally take up to 20 years to fill, but Ethiopia intends to achieve this in just five years, consuming about a fifth of the Blue Nile's annual flow. That, argues Noureddin, would lead to "catastrophic" impacts on Egypt's agriculture.
Mohamed Mohieddin, a social policy consultant and professor of sociology at Egypt's Menoufia University, and a member of the three-country committee that is negotiating the project's next steps, suggests asking Ethiopia to extend the time allowed to fill the main dam by five or six years.
Through the committee, Egypt would be a partner in the dam's operations and have a say in how the water is released, he tells SciDev.Net.
Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia, the source of 85 per cent of the Nile's water, rose in June, as soon as Ethiopia started work on diverting some of the river's flow as part of the project.
Aggressive response
Both countries, as well as Sudan, see the project as affecting their national interest, which has sparked tough and aggressive comments from non-scientists.
"Egypt is always sceptical of what Ethiopia might think and do on the Nile," Tatek Kebede, the national coordinator of the Ethiopian National Youth Coalition on Climate Change, tells SciDev.Net.
He says Ethiopia is advancing economically and would not allow Egypt's diplomatic and even military pressures to deter its development ambitions, of which the dam is part.
Ethiopia's national electricity corporation has said potential buyers of electricity from the dam, scheduled for completion in 2018, include Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and maybe even Egypt.
An Ethiopian ecologist, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, tells SciDev.Net that, since construction was nearly a quarter complete, "it would be good to find common ground and it would be good for the Egyptian side to deal with their concerns by working closely with the Ethiopian government and maybe even finding a way to benefit from it".
But Noureddin blames the Ethiopian government for "raising the hope of its people to a very high level", making it hard to compromise for fear of appearing weak.
Earlier this month, Ethiopia's prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, attempted to defuse tensions by emphasising the importance of good relations with Egypt. He described the dam as a common resource that will benefit all three countries.
But with passions still running high, Ana Elisa Casc�o, a programme manager at policy organisation the Stockholm International Water Institute, believes cooperation is the only solution.
"The only hope for Egypt and Sudan is to have a share in the dam by funding it, and to cooperate with Ethiopia to jointly manage the dam," she tells SciDev.Net.
The next step in this unfolding story is a meeting of the Ethiopia-Sudan-Egypt dam committee. But even that is caught up in national and regional politics: it was due to meet on 20 October but now - due to recent rioting in Sudan over the lifting of fuel subsidies - all that has been agreed is that it will take place at some point in the next few weeks.
Rehab Abd Almohsen currently holds an IDRC/SciDev.Net science journalism internship award.
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East Africa: Ethiopian Dam Plans Spark Regional Tensions
18 OCTOBER 2013
http://allafrica.com/stories/201310180855.html?viewall=1
The project's potential impact on water supplies in Egypt and Sudan is causing friction, finds Rehab Abd Almohsen.
A group of Egyptian academics and experts have declared their opposition to the current plans for the US$4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - on which work has started, and which will be Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant when completed - because they believe it will damage their country.
Egypt's Nile Basin Group was set up to assess the possible threat from the dam, which will lie close to Ethiopia's border with Sudan. Its members warn that the structure could slash the Nile's flow, especially in Egypt and Sudan, which depend on the river's waters.
Haider Yusuf Bakheit, a Sudanese hydrologist, was reported in an article in Infrastructure News as saying that the dam "will hold back nearly one-and-a-half times the average annual flow" of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile's two main tributaries, and "drastically affect the downstream nations' agriculture, electricity and water supply".
"Given the massive size of the dam, it could lose as much as three billion cubic metres of water to evaporation each year," he warned.
Enlarged plans
There was alarm in Egypt when the plan to build the dam was announced in 2011 - with some MPs talking off the record about Egypt's right to retaliate militarily - but much of the opposition now focuses on Ethiopia's decision to increase the size of the reservoir behind the dam.
"The original plan was to create a lake that would store 14 billion cubic metres of water, which is enough to generate electricity, but then the lake's capacity was increased to 74 billion cubic metres," Nader Noureddin, a member of the Nile Basin Group and professor of soil and water resources at Cairo University, tells SciDev.Net. Planned electricity output has also risen, from 5,250 to 6,000 megawatts.
Noureddin says that when Ethiopia decided to increase the height of the primary dam from the 90 metres in the original design to 170 metres, the planners were forced to include a secondary 'saddle dam' to help confine the vast reservoir created by the main dam and prevent stored water from escaping back to the Blue Nile.
"For the first time in history, we find a secondary dam that is four times as large as the original dam, which indicates the aim behind building such a huge dam is not generating electricity, but to use the dam as a way to control Egypt," argues Noureddin. In effect, he says, it would enable Ethiopia to turn off Egypt's water supply.
He favours sticking to the dam's original height and scrapping the idea for the saddle dam.
Rapid water take
Another concern is the speed at which Ethiopia plans to fill the reservoir.
Egyptian experts say that the huge proposed reservoir would normally take up to 20 years to fill, but Ethiopia intends to achieve this in just five years, consuming about a fifth of the Blue Nile's annual flow. That, argues Noureddin, would lead to "catastrophic" impacts on Egypt's agriculture.
Mohamed Mohieddin, a social policy consultant and professor of sociology at Egypt's Menoufia University, and a member of the three-country committee that is negotiating the project's next steps, suggests asking Ethiopia to extend the time allowed to fill the main dam by five or six years.
Through the committee, Egypt would be a partner in the dam's operations and have a say in how the water is released, he tells SciDev.Net.
Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia, the source of 85 per cent of the Nile's water, rose in June, as soon as Ethiopia started work on diverting some of the river's flow as part of the project.
Aggressive response
Both countries, as well as Sudan, see the project as affecting their national interest, which has sparked tough and aggressive comments from non-scientists.
"Egypt is always sceptical of what Ethiopia might think and do on the Nile," Tatek Kebede, the national coordinator of the Ethiopian National Youth Coalition on Climate Change, tells SciDev.Net.
He says Ethiopia is advancing economically and would not allow Egypt's diplomatic and even military pressures to deter its development ambitions, of which the dam is part.
Ethiopia's national electricity corporation has said potential buyers of electricity from the dam, scheduled for completion in 2018, include Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and maybe even Egypt.
An Ethiopian ecologist, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, tells SciDev.Net that, since construction was nearly a quarter complete, "it would be good to find common ground and it would be good for the Egyptian side to deal with their concerns by working closely with the Ethiopian government and maybe even finding a way to benefit from it".
But Noureddin blames the Ethiopian government for "raising the hope of its people to a very high level", making it hard to compromise for fear of appearing weak.
Earlier this month, Ethiopia's prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, attempted to defuse tensions by emphasising the importance of good relations with Egypt. He described the dam as a common resource that will benefit all three countries.
But with passions still running high, Ana Elisa Casc�o, a programme manager at policy organisation the Stockholm International Water Institute, believes cooperation is the only solution.
"The only hope for Egypt and Sudan is to have a share in the dam by funding it, and to cooperate with Ethiopia to jointly manage the dam," she tells SciDev.Net.
The next step in this unfolding story is a meeting of the Ethiopia-Sudan-Egypt dam committee. But even that is caught up in national and regional politics: it was due to meet on 20 October but now - due to recent rioting in Sudan over the lifting of fuel subsidies - all that has been agreed is that it will take place at some point in the next few weeks.
Rehab Abd Almohsen currently holds an IDRC/SciDev.Net science journalism internship award.
________________________________________________
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Kenya, Ethiopia Mediating Omo River Water Controversy
(It's premature to say the dispute is 'close to resolution' but excellent that the govts are talking.)
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Kenya, Ethiopia Mediating Omo River Water Controversy
by David Arnold
Oct. 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — An environmental controversy surrounding the construction of Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia's Highlands appears to be close to resolution. Kenyan authorities have raised concerns about the dam because it is being built along Ethiopia's Omo River which is the major source of water for Kenya's Lake Turkana.
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has been working with Kenyan and Ethiopian governments on developing a joint project on sustainable development of the basin.
An agreement between the two water ministries may be signed in November, said an official for UNEP in Nairobi. The draft agreement proposes joint management of all natural resources in Lake Turkana and its river basin which extends upstream into Ethiopia.
Lake Turkana defenders in Kenya anticipate an agreement could save the lake.
At issue is the question of whether Ethiopia's Gilgel Gibe 3 dam will drain upstream waters to irrigate large plantations on the Ethiopia side of the border, a move that Kenya fears will critically damage Lake Turkana, 675 kilometers downstream. More than 80 percent of the Kenyan lake's waters come from the Omo in Ethiopia and water levels in the lake could drop by as much as 10 meters once the dam is operational. Lake Turkana is also a World Heritage site where some of earliest evidence of man has been found and is currently home to thousands of fishermen and others who use the lake waters for their livestock.
"Our big concern is the water levels of Lake Turkana," said Thomas Wildman, Horn of Africa director for Oxfam Great Britain. "The big question is whether Ethiopia is going to release all the water from the dam once they've drawn it for hydro or if they're going to keep any of that water."
Irrigation a major concern for Kenya
The Gilgel Gibe III is the third of three dams to be built on the Omo River and its tributaries that run south and empty into Lake Turkana across the Kenyan border. Recent Ethiopian proposals to divert Omo waters for irrigation of a major sugar plantation in the basin have alarmed officials in the administration President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"For the first time this year, the president of Kenya actually accepted that the dam has an impact on Lake Turkana," said Akil Angelei, president of The Friends of Lake Turkana. "After years of back and forth, UNEP is trying to convene meetings to look at a way forward on the issue."
As part of its development strategy Ethiopia is seeking to become a major source of global sugar. It is building 10 new refineries and devoting another 5 million hectares to growing sugarcane. South Omo is to host six of those factories and half of the plantation lands.
Oxfam said the Omo River dam construction – originally identified as a hydroelectric project – is now viewed as "quite a large-scale irrigation project which could really reduce the levels and create an ecological impact on the fish populations which are a primary sources of livelihood for the people on the lake and on the floodplain for livestock."
"We know that Ethiopia's main drive had been not just hydro but irrigation," said Angelei, "so we are trying highlight that we need them to look at what the entire basin needs."
Thousands displaced by the dam
Another issue of concern surrounding construction of the Gilgel Gibe III dam is the displacement of people. Claudia Carr at the University of California at Berkeley reported that large numbers of Mursi people in the north of the basin and Dasanech groups along the eastern shore have already been removed by the Ethiopia government. The Dasanech occupy the northern and eastern shores of the lake and straddle both countries. Gabbra and Turkana groups live to the south and west of the lake.
More than a dozen indigenous tribes have lived in the basin for centuries, raising cattle and goats and fishing the lake. Some estimates say that beyond the 20,000 who depend directly on the lake's waters, more than 200,000 Kenyans and Ethiopians would be impacted by a drop in lake waters.
Cattle raids and tribal clashes are frequent among the tribes such as the Rendille. Many who study the region are concerned that reduced water flows will increase competition for water and lead to increased clashes. Rights groups have reported that in Ethiopia many villagers been removed to provide up to 300,000 hectares in South Oromo for proposed sugar and cotton plantations.
An early champion of Lake Turkana, Kenyan paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey said four years ago that the Gilgel Gibe III was based on flawed studies and "the dam will produce a broad range of negative effects, some of which would be catastrophic to both the environment and the indigenous communities living downstream."
The ongoing debate focuses on an under-populated desert region where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan – and the disputed Ilema Triangle – meet. Recent news of the satellite-based discovery of a vast network of subterranean aquifers holding 250 billion cubic meters of fresh water could boost the fortunes of this drought-prone corner of Kenya but will not impact the future of Lake Turkana. Now the fate of the region depends on the ability of Kenya and Ethiopia to jointly manage the waters of the Omo River in the Turkana basin.
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