LARGE DAMS
PANEL PRESENTATION TEAM A
GEOGRAPHY 412
OCTOBER 1, 2018 LARGE DAMS PANEL PRESENTATION TEAM A GEOGRAPHY 412 - - PDF document
OCTOBER 1, 2018 LARGE DAMS PANEL PRESENTATION TEAM A GEOGRAPHY 412 INTRODUCTION TO LARGE DAMS ANISHA NAVARATNAM Lar arge Dam Clas assifi fication ion: A large dam is a dam with a height of 15 m or more from the foundation. If dams are
GEOGRAPHY 412
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ANISHA NAVARATNAM Lar arge Dam Clas assifi fication ion: “A large dam is a dam with a height of 15 m or more from the foundation. If dams are between 5-15 m high and have a reservoir volume of 3 million cubic meters, they are also classified as large dams”
Typ ypes of f Lar arge Dams: Reservoir Type Storage Projects, , Run-of-River Dams (limited daily pondage) Glob
l Dis istr trib ibution
f Dams:
largest dams: China, India, USA
1950-1970 during which period there was an increase in dam technology Source: International Commission on Large Dams. 2017 Wor World ld Com
ission
f Dams:
standard (IRO, 2017)
development
2
SPENCER CAIN
safe and clean drinking water; (2) reliable water source for agriculture; (3) flood control/management; (4) renewable energy source
include schedule and budget (UNEP, 2000) Water Security: “the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production” (Grey et al. 2007). Food System: A food system involves all processes and infrastructure in feeding a population. (Ericksen, 2007) Irrig igation ion Dams: water supply in regional irrigation systems
(2) cropping patterns and yields, as well as the value of production; (3) net financial and economic benefits.
secondary benefits, such as water access, are rarely used as specific targets. Hyd ydroele lectr tric ic Dam ams: deliver electric power have on average met expectations for the delivery of power
electricity generated.
with about 15% exceeding targets by a significant amount (UNEP, 2000); (2) higher-than-expected upstream irrigation abstractions and lower than-predicted natural stream flows can reduce power yielded ; (3) normal variations in weather and river flows dictate that virtually all-hydroelectric projects will have year-to-year fluctuations in output (UNEP, 2000) Water Su Supply y Dams: : focus on establishing a permanent source of water (reservoirs) to meet water demand
dam or lock to store water.
downstream of the basin to reduce construction costs and for this points’ increased erosion strength.
water delivery and have exhibited poor financial cost recovery and economic performance (UNEP, 2000); (2) at current rates, water fees are rarely sufficient to recover both capital and recurrent costs for water supply systems in many developing countries Fl Flood
trol
ams: : used historically to manage water surges and mitigate flows from damaging settlements
dams and related structural measures as long-term responses to floods
results in extreme flooding; (3) downstream damage is extreme, often downstream communities must implement an increased protection levels which sometimes prove inadequate (UNEP, 2000)
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ANISHA NAVARATNAM Dam Induced Dis isplac acement: t: displacement of humans and animals caused by reservoir flooding and dam and infrastructure construction So Social al Dis isplac acement: t:
populations’ needs
formed oppose Site C; families who had been living in the Peace Region since the early 1900’s who had been displaced by the Bennett Dam will be relocated again. Their lifestyles depend on the land.
displacement of over 430 families; inadequately compensated as loss of land around dam site drove up regions’ agricultural prices (Rondinelli-Roquette, 2017) Envir viron
al Dis isplac acement: t:
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AMBER POMEROY Environmental Justice: exposures to pollution and other environmental risks are unequally distributed by race and class (Mohai, 2009) Othering: Othering, is portraying the other essentially different, and translating this difference to inferiority (Krumer-Nevo and Sidi, 2012). Perspectiv ives: Political and economic goals are tied to social goals. Therefore, the interests of local communities, the global community and economic interests are intertwined. Arguments ts: Outl tlin ined in in th the Wor
ld Commis ission
Environmental Justice Case studies indicate that vulnerable groups and future generations are likely to bear a disproportionate share
economic benefits. Costs and Benefits There is a problem with simply weighing positives and negatives of dam construction. As broader costs and benefits including economic, environmental and social considerations fall unequally within society. Alternatives Due to reasons including the lack of equity in the distribution of benefits, alternatives are considered to meet water and energy development needs. Alternatives such as reducing consumption are being considered viable
Main ain So Social al Terms: Resettlement Issues “Cash compensation is a principal vehicle for delivering resettlement benefits, but it has often been delayed and, even when paid on time, has usually failed to replace lost livelihoods” (UNEP, 2000). Initial Plans “Dams are often discussed years before project development it seriously considered and once a site is identified a form of ‘planning blight’ can take place, making governments, businesses, farmers and others reluctant to undertake further productive investments in areas that subsequently might be flooded. Communities can live for decades starved of development and welfare investments” (UNEP, 2000) Jobs/Boom Dams construction can have economic benefits such as increasing tourism or ship navigation (My Yangtze Cruise, 2010). There can also be an increase in jobs. However, while “new jobs are created both for skilled and unskilled workers during the construction phase…the beneficial effect on local communities is often transient due to the short-lived, pulse impact of the construction economy and dam construction sites” (UNEP, 2000). This can also cause psychological stress and health problems on the local community. Cultural/Traditional Loss Dam construction can result in “the loss of access to traditional means of livelihood, such as agricultural production and fishing practices (UNEP, 2000)
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LEANNE YEUNG
previously inaccessible areas and connect the local economies to national markets exposing Indigenous groups
experience, which threatens their lands and livelihoods (UNEP, 2000) Experie iences:
dissonance, and economic and political marginalization
trauma
2000) Ri Rights ts an and Re Recog
tion
development.
happened to be the livelihoods that were socially affected the most Fu Further Dis iscrim imin inati tion
Cas ase Stu tudy: y: Bennett t Dam am - Tsay y Keh Dene Ban and
2009)
Reservoir (Izony and Hadi, 2016)
construction, contaminated fish populations with mercury (Hume, 2009)
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ROBERT FENTON
environmental consciousness dams have become increasingly scrutinized.
development and modernity and sustainable progress.
economic dimensions gave light to the problems with the emerging colossal technology.
prosperity and the apparent. “Once a proposed dam project passed preliminary technical and economic feasibility tests and attracted interest from financing agencies and political interests, the momentum behind the project
confined primarily to technical parameters and the narrow application of economic cost-benefit analyses.” - Executive Summary WCD World ld Com
ission
1998.
countries rejected its recommendations (India, China and Turkey), or at best responded with reticence (Brazil). Glob
l Examples
“Instead of my archetype I saw: dams buil ilt t of f dir irt and dams generatin ting no
lectr tric icity; dams praised by ecologists and dams despised by engineers; dams used for
turies by y Indig igenou
les, dams boos
ting fis fisherie ies, dams causing deadly floods; dams chan angin ing river chemis istr try or increasing net greenhouse gas emissions. I saw dam benefits by-pass thirsty adjacent communities en route to the city, dams exhau aust t an and erod
ich soi
water logging and salinity. I saw dams dis isplac ace no one, dams create te wetl tlan ands an and wor
t thric ice th their ir budget, dams utterly abandoned, and which had no symbolic value. Then I saw politicians approach rivers with ambitious, bureaucratic schemes, opposed by local activists shouting, ‘Save our beloved dam’”
Dam Removal al in in the Unit ited Sta tates
7
PETER LEE The Pas ast
The Present
(Clark, 2017) Econ
ic Benefi fits ts
workers at peak with a payroll estimated $46.2 million (LiUNA, 2017)
(Carter, 2016)
and managing excess energy from the US and Canada Prob
th Hyd ydrop
ime: 8 out of every 10 large dams suffered a schedule overrun. (Ansar et al, 2014)
usually has the financial capacity to build such expensive structures. Alter ternati tives
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TYLER HUGUET
am str tructu ture but also on the attributes of loc local l bio iota a and clim limactic ic and geom
ic conditions
iodive versit ity y (biological impact) rive ver fl flow, and water ter quali ality y (Physiochemical impacts) both within the river and on the floodplain, are all in inter terlin inke ked Phys ysioc
ical al Impac acts ts
lotic (free-flowing) to le lentic ic (still-standing) environments and an inundation of surrounding ter terrestr tria ial l ecos
ystem tems
t stor
age and th thermal l str trati tific ficati tion
ason
al pat atterns of thermal behaviour (Rivers are a smaller fast-moving mass and rapidly change to external meteorological conditions and are well mixed)
trient t sin inks ks and induce eutr trop
icati tion
thyl ylmercury (Dumont, 1995)
greenhou
ases (CO2 and CH4) (St louis et al., 2000) → Especially true in tropical regions
ance sedimenta tation ion
Biol
ical al Impacts ts
iphyton ton and macrop
ytes may be less suited to environment (McCartney, 2009)
Reduction ion in the div iversity of riparian vegetation (Nilsson et al., 1997)
light t penetr trat atio ion, and when they decompose they decrease water
ygen content (Joffe & Cooke, 1997)
et al., 1993)
tirpati tion
inhab abit itati tion
tirpati tion
th of f fr freshwater fis fish through feeding behaviours, food assimilation, and production of food organisms (McCartney, 2009)
thylm ylmercury in them (McCartney, 2009)
f hab abita tat and species extin tinction ion (Decamps et al., 1987)
arid id region
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LAUREN PEDRIKS Chan ange to
Flow
Regim imes
to, in the case of hydropower dams, generate energy
Chan ange to
l Regim imes
fish) rely on water temperature for their metabolism, physiology, life-history and growth
balancing and mimicking natural water temperatures Chan ange to
istry
Eff ffects ts of f Sedimentat ation
species habitat and a decrease in nutrients for vegetation to thrive
Impacts ts on
ipar arian an Vegetat ation ion
the survive
Impacts ts on
exposure
survival is uncertain
and thrive in environments they are better adapted to
successful in reproduction → population decline Mitig tigati tion
construction and planning
natural flows, but this method is rare, and their benefits are unclear
and have unnatural water temperatures and flow regimes.
10
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