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I made this thread to raise some issues that are rarely noticed by people unless they have a background or interest in environmental sciences, or actually depend on the natural ecosystems affected by the construction of hydro-electric dams. I'll be posting articles, starting with this one:
In the above article, it talked about oxygen depletion in the newly formed reservoirs created by these dams, due to the decaying plant matter submerged under water and also raises the acidity of the water. This makes for another process called mercury methylation, with serious ramifications on our health, since we are at the top of the food chain, eating fish caught from rivers and oceans...
In general, higher acidity in water systems is catastrophic for biodiversity. Fish cannot successfully reproduce if the PH is below 5, and the water is quickly taken over by gloomy green, gelatinous algae. Shellfish struggle to generate shells under this same acidity, lowering their reproduction rates and size as they divert more energy during their life-cycles to producing shells that can protect them.
Originally posted by pacificenvironment.org
Hydroelectric Dams: A Looming Threat to Russia’s Mighty Rivers
The wilds of Siberia and the Far East—where tigers roam dense forests and indigenous communities tend reindeer herds in lush valleys—are faced with a dire threat: massive hydroelectric dams.
The Russian economy has developed rapidly since the early 1990s, and today the demand for energy exceeds the country’s electricity production and supply capabilities. The government projects that expanding electricity production capacity to attract and support industrial and resource extraction projects in Siberia and the Far East will bring much-needed social and economic development to the territory east of the Urals. The rising cost and demand for petroleum-based fuel sources and the added pressure of global climate change are also pushing Russia to develop non-carbon energy alternatives so it can export and capitalize on the maximum volume of its fossil fuel stores. Russia’s primary hydroelectric company, RusHydro proposes to dam the country’s mighty rivers as a fix-all solution to energy and development needs.
RusHydro touts its behemoth dams as sources of clean energy and engines of regional development. However, history and experience show that large dams are exceedingly destructive to entire river basins and surrounding communities. The proven negative environmental and social impacts of large dams greatly outweigh any possible benefits to the affected regions.
The dams planned for the Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Sakha, and Amur regions, should they be built, have the potential to produce thousands of megawatts of cheap electricity, but the local populations are unlikely to benefit, as the projected output is already almost entirely earmarked for export or energy-intensive industrial use (such as notoriously dirty aluminum plants). Thus, the domestic consumer is left without even a modest economic gain to show for the great social and environmental injustice she stands to suffer due to flooding and diminished resources.
The planned Evenkiiskaya dam project in the Arctic region of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory (with a projected production capacity of a whopping 8-12 GW and a 9000 kmē reservoir, it would be among the largest dams in the world), is fraught with devastating social concerns and alarming environmental repercussions. These include displacement of thousands of indigenous Evenks and possible contamination of the Yenisei watershed with nuclear wastes from an underground chamber. Meanwhile, the district has no industry to use this massive quantity of energy, and neither is there a large consumer base here in need of additional electricity. The project documentation indicates that this electricity is scheduled for export to China and Mongolia. Similarly, the Amur Region governor hopes to sell virtually all of the electricity from the planned Nizhnezeiskaya Dam to China.
It is easy to see that large hydro will solve neither the region’s energy needs nor its economic problems. The local communities RusHydro claims to benefit face displacement and a degraded natural environment, while massive quantities of cheap electricity will charge along aged, inefficient power grids to feed energy needs in other regions and countries. The World Bank’s December 2008 report Energy Efficiency in Russia: Untapped Reserves determined that 45% of the energy produced and distributed in Russia is lost to inefficient equipment and practices. According to the report, investment into measures to reduce energy consumption in residential, industrial, and transportation sectors and increase the efficiency of its energy delivery systems could save Russia an estimated $80 billion annually while dramatically reducing its global climate impact.
Large Hydro – At What Price?
Large hydroelectric dams wreak havoc on the ecosystems and communities where they are placed. The environmental damage can be so extensive and the direct and indirect costs to people and governments so high, that even the most grandiose of dam projects is difficult to justify. Upstream or down, the ecology and hydrology of a river are forever changed once a concrete wall chokes back its waters. The following are a few of the changes large dams bring to river basins, emphasizing physical and chemical alterations that are of particular concern in the Russian context:
Standing in Nature’s Way: Unnatural Lakes above the Dam
Perhaps the most apparent of any of a large dam’s impacts are the immense reservoirs that form once its gates are shut. Naturally, the higher a dam is, the more extensive the consequent flooding and environmental damage. The Boguchanskaya Dam on the Angara River has been under halting construction since 1980 and is scheduled for completion sometime in 2010-2012. The plans initially called for a reservoir depth of 185 meters, but at the behest of developer RusHydro and co-investor RUSAL this figure was increased to 208 meters, despite vocal protests from surrounding communities. According to an analysis from the Siberian Russian Academy of Sciences, this 23-meter difference will more than double the flooded area, including valuable agricultural and forest lands. The higher figure would also mean several more villages displaced.
Of course, reservoir formation is devastating for human and animal communities alike: Central Siberia’s Evenkiiskaya Dam threatens approximately 7,000 indigenous Evenks with cultural extinction, as the reservoir would displace them to unfamiliar regions and their traditional reindeer herding grounds would be lost to the flood. A colony of Old Believers in Tatarka, north of Krasnoyarsk, also stands to see its way of life destroyed by the planned Motyginskaya Dam. Also, the wetland areas downstream from Motyginskaya, home to unique endangered bird populations, will be severely diminished. The people displaced by the Siberian Boguchanskaya Dam are scheduled to receive apartments in neighboring villages as “compensation” for loss of their homes; inspectors, however, have already condemned these as sub-standard – improper construction has caused the buildings to crack and suffer water damage before a single person has moved in!
Worryingly, areas with high seismicity like the mountainous Sakha Republic stand to see the risk of earthquakes increased, should large dams like the planned Timpton cascade wrest back the powerful flows of its rivers. Though further research is still required on the subject, existing evidence indicates that heavy volumes of water place immense pressure on the reservoir floor. This can quickly widen natural cracks and fissures in the rock bed, potentially triggering earthquakes and tremors.
The Evenkiiskaya Dam and Motyginskaya Dam also threaten to wipe out millions of hectares of lush, pristine taiga, robbing this part of Siberia of its rich biodiversity and the earth of a valuable carbon sink. In addition, the decaying plant matter on the newly-formed reservoir floor zaps oxygen from the lower strata of water and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that evaporates from the reservoir’s surface. These oxygen-poor bottom waters become highly acidic, which breaks down minerals at the reservoir floor and raises toxic mineral concentrations in the water. Such an environment is inhospitable to fish that local communities often depend on, creating stagnant “dead lakes.”
Slowed to a Trickle: A Torrent of Problems Downstream from Dams
The placement of a large physical barrier on a river cuts off fish and mammal migration routes, both above and below the dam, often with irreversible consequences. The Volga river system in the European part of Russia once served as vital migration and spawning routes for about 90% of the world’s sturgeon as it traveled north from the Caspian Sea. Since the Volga-Kama cascade of dams blocked off these rivers in eleven places, several sturgeon species, including the prized beluga, have completely disappeared from the once-teeming rivers. The world’s already dwindling stocks of salmon and other migratory species (like sturgeon!) would face a similar fate if dams blocked the Amur River, obstructing critical spawning routes from the Sea of Okhotsk.
The altered chemistry of reservoir water affects the ecology of a diminished river for many kilometers downstream, leading to greater climactic ramifications. When the Krasnoyarskaya Dam (one of the world’s most powerful at 6000 MW) was built on the Yenisei River, its designers predicted that warm water releases from the reservoir would prevent the river from freezing for about 20 kilometers downstream. However, the unfrozen stretch of water extends 200-300 kilometers from the dam, which in the depths of the Siberian winter, causes thick freezing fog to cloud the city of Krasnoyarsk. In the remote northern areas near the Evenkiiskaya and Motyginskaya dam sites, such fog would hinder plane travel between isolated villages. In these sparsely populated regions of Russia’s far north, where road networks are underdeveloped at best, riparian communities would be robbed of vital connections to the outside world for long winter months.
Additionally, the increased humidity and warm pockets of air caused by increased water temperature can lead to an overall increase in the surrounding microclimate’s air temperature. More research must be done to fully understand how even a minor temperature increase downstream from the Evenkiiskaya and Nizhnekureiskaya Dams in the Yenisei river system would influence their surrounding Arctic permafrost climates.
Development at all Cost?
Russia’s own experience with the environmental and social impacts of dams throughout its western section should be enough to prove that large hydroelectric plants cause more long-lasting damage than they are worth. While it is certainly understandable and commendable that the country seeks to develop powerful non-carbon energy resources, it would be illogical and irresponsible to build even one of the planned projects; the costs to the Siberian and Far Eastern people, wildlife, and forests are too great. Instead, planners should apply their efforts to increasing Russia’s energy efficiency and developing more responsible energy resources like micro-hydroelectric dams, wind, solar, and geothermal power.
Currently on the Drawing Board:
Amur Region – Nizhnebureiskaya Dam, Nizhnezeiskaya Dam
Sakha Republic – Yuzhno-Yakutskaya (Timpton) Cascade, Kankunskaya Dam
Irkutsk Region – Mokskaya Dam, Ivanovskaya Dam
Krasnoyarsk Region – Evenkiiskaya Dam, Nizhnekureiskaya Dam, Motyginskaya Dam, Boguchanskaya Dam (under construction)
Altai Region – Katunskaya Dam (potentially cancelled)
source: http://www.pacificenvironment.org/section.php?id=146
The wilds of Siberia and the Far East—where tigers roam dense forests and indigenous communities tend reindeer herds in lush valleys—are faced with a dire threat: massive hydroelectric dams.
The Russian economy has developed rapidly since the early 1990s, and today the demand for energy exceeds the country’s electricity production and supply capabilities. The government projects that expanding electricity production capacity to attract and support industrial and resource extraction projects in Siberia and the Far East will bring much-needed social and economic development to the territory east of the Urals. The rising cost and demand for petroleum-based fuel sources and the added pressure of global climate change are also pushing Russia to develop non-carbon energy alternatives so it can export and capitalize on the maximum volume of its fossil fuel stores. Russia’s primary hydroelectric company, RusHydro proposes to dam the country’s mighty rivers as a fix-all solution to energy and development needs.
RusHydro touts its behemoth dams as sources of clean energy and engines of regional development. However, history and experience show that large dams are exceedingly destructive to entire river basins and surrounding communities. The proven negative environmental and social impacts of large dams greatly outweigh any possible benefits to the affected regions.
The dams planned for the Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Sakha, and Amur regions, should they be built, have the potential to produce thousands of megawatts of cheap electricity, but the local populations are unlikely to benefit, as the projected output is already almost entirely earmarked for export or energy-intensive industrial use (such as notoriously dirty aluminum plants). Thus, the domestic consumer is left without even a modest economic gain to show for the great social and environmental injustice she stands to suffer due to flooding and diminished resources.
The planned Evenkiiskaya dam project in the Arctic region of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory (with a projected production capacity of a whopping 8-12 GW and a 9000 kmē reservoir, it would be among the largest dams in the world), is fraught with devastating social concerns and alarming environmental repercussions. These include displacement of thousands of indigenous Evenks and possible contamination of the Yenisei watershed with nuclear wastes from an underground chamber. Meanwhile, the district has no industry to use this massive quantity of energy, and neither is there a large consumer base here in need of additional electricity. The project documentation indicates that this electricity is scheduled for export to China and Mongolia. Similarly, the Amur Region governor hopes to sell virtually all of the electricity from the planned Nizhnezeiskaya Dam to China.
It is easy to see that large hydro will solve neither the region’s energy needs nor its economic problems. The local communities RusHydro claims to benefit face displacement and a degraded natural environment, while massive quantities of cheap electricity will charge along aged, inefficient power grids to feed energy needs in other regions and countries. The World Bank’s December 2008 report Energy Efficiency in Russia: Untapped Reserves determined that 45% of the energy produced and distributed in Russia is lost to inefficient equipment and practices. According to the report, investment into measures to reduce energy consumption in residential, industrial, and transportation sectors and increase the efficiency of its energy delivery systems could save Russia an estimated $80 billion annually while dramatically reducing its global climate impact.
Large Hydro – At What Price?
Large hydroelectric dams wreak havoc on the ecosystems and communities where they are placed. The environmental damage can be so extensive and the direct and indirect costs to people and governments so high, that even the most grandiose of dam projects is difficult to justify. Upstream or down, the ecology and hydrology of a river are forever changed once a concrete wall chokes back its waters. The following are a few of the changes large dams bring to river basins, emphasizing physical and chemical alterations that are of particular concern in the Russian context:
Standing in Nature’s Way: Unnatural Lakes above the Dam
Perhaps the most apparent of any of a large dam’s impacts are the immense reservoirs that form once its gates are shut. Naturally, the higher a dam is, the more extensive the consequent flooding and environmental damage. The Boguchanskaya Dam on the Angara River has been under halting construction since 1980 and is scheduled for completion sometime in 2010-2012. The plans initially called for a reservoir depth of 185 meters, but at the behest of developer RusHydro and co-investor RUSAL this figure was increased to 208 meters, despite vocal protests from surrounding communities. According to an analysis from the Siberian Russian Academy of Sciences, this 23-meter difference will more than double the flooded area, including valuable agricultural and forest lands. The higher figure would also mean several more villages displaced.
Of course, reservoir formation is devastating for human and animal communities alike: Central Siberia’s Evenkiiskaya Dam threatens approximately 7,000 indigenous Evenks with cultural extinction, as the reservoir would displace them to unfamiliar regions and their traditional reindeer herding grounds would be lost to the flood. A colony of Old Believers in Tatarka, north of Krasnoyarsk, also stands to see its way of life destroyed by the planned Motyginskaya Dam. Also, the wetland areas downstream from Motyginskaya, home to unique endangered bird populations, will be severely diminished. The people displaced by the Siberian Boguchanskaya Dam are scheduled to receive apartments in neighboring villages as “compensation” for loss of their homes; inspectors, however, have already condemned these as sub-standard – improper construction has caused the buildings to crack and suffer water damage before a single person has moved in!
Worryingly, areas with high seismicity like the mountainous Sakha Republic stand to see the risk of earthquakes increased, should large dams like the planned Timpton cascade wrest back the powerful flows of its rivers. Though further research is still required on the subject, existing evidence indicates that heavy volumes of water place immense pressure on the reservoir floor. This can quickly widen natural cracks and fissures in the rock bed, potentially triggering earthquakes and tremors.
The Evenkiiskaya Dam and Motyginskaya Dam also threaten to wipe out millions of hectares of lush, pristine taiga, robbing this part of Siberia of its rich biodiversity and the earth of a valuable carbon sink. In addition, the decaying plant matter on the newly-formed reservoir floor zaps oxygen from the lower strata of water and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that evaporates from the reservoir’s surface. These oxygen-poor bottom waters become highly acidic, which breaks down minerals at the reservoir floor and raises toxic mineral concentrations in the water. Such an environment is inhospitable to fish that local communities often depend on, creating stagnant “dead lakes.”
Slowed to a Trickle: A Torrent of Problems Downstream from Dams
The placement of a large physical barrier on a river cuts off fish and mammal migration routes, both above and below the dam, often with irreversible consequences. The Volga river system in the European part of Russia once served as vital migration and spawning routes for about 90% of the world’s sturgeon as it traveled north from the Caspian Sea. Since the Volga-Kama cascade of dams blocked off these rivers in eleven places, several sturgeon species, including the prized beluga, have completely disappeared from the once-teeming rivers. The world’s already dwindling stocks of salmon and other migratory species (like sturgeon!) would face a similar fate if dams blocked the Amur River, obstructing critical spawning routes from the Sea of Okhotsk.
The altered chemistry of reservoir water affects the ecology of a diminished river for many kilometers downstream, leading to greater climactic ramifications. When the Krasnoyarskaya Dam (one of the world’s most powerful at 6000 MW) was built on the Yenisei River, its designers predicted that warm water releases from the reservoir would prevent the river from freezing for about 20 kilometers downstream. However, the unfrozen stretch of water extends 200-300 kilometers from the dam, which in the depths of the Siberian winter, causes thick freezing fog to cloud the city of Krasnoyarsk. In the remote northern areas near the Evenkiiskaya and Motyginskaya dam sites, such fog would hinder plane travel between isolated villages. In these sparsely populated regions of Russia’s far north, where road networks are underdeveloped at best, riparian communities would be robbed of vital connections to the outside world for long winter months.
Additionally, the increased humidity and warm pockets of air caused by increased water temperature can lead to an overall increase in the surrounding microclimate’s air temperature. More research must be done to fully understand how even a minor temperature increase downstream from the Evenkiiskaya and Nizhnekureiskaya Dams in the Yenisei river system would influence their surrounding Arctic permafrost climates.
Development at all Cost?
Russia’s own experience with the environmental and social impacts of dams throughout its western section should be enough to prove that large hydroelectric plants cause more long-lasting damage than they are worth. While it is certainly understandable and commendable that the country seeks to develop powerful non-carbon energy resources, it would be illogical and irresponsible to build even one of the planned projects; the costs to the Siberian and Far Eastern people, wildlife, and forests are too great. Instead, planners should apply their efforts to increasing Russia’s energy efficiency and developing more responsible energy resources like micro-hydroelectric dams, wind, solar, and geothermal power.
Currently on the Drawing Board:
Amur Region – Nizhnebureiskaya Dam, Nizhnezeiskaya Dam
Sakha Republic – Yuzhno-Yakutskaya (Timpton) Cascade, Kankunskaya Dam
Irkutsk Region – Mokskaya Dam, Ivanovskaya Dam
Krasnoyarsk Region – Evenkiiskaya Dam, Nizhnekureiskaya Dam, Motyginskaya Dam, Boguchanskaya Dam (under construction)
Altai Region – Katunskaya Dam (potentially cancelled)
source: http://www.pacificenvironment.org/section.php?id=146
Originally posted by Environment Canada
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