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Rivers Being Drowned
The rivers of Nepal are some of the most amazing on the planet, starting from the highest peaks in the world the rivers grow and plummet down to the low land jungles below. Because of the steepness of the terrain, the rivers provide endless whitewater with stunning glacial backdrops. Unfortunately these large, steep rivers also provide enormous hydropower potential. Because of the country’s geographical location being nestled between China and India, the two most power hungry countries in the world, the fate of Nepal’s rivers are bleak. Tourism is Nepal’s number one industry. Large international interests are coming into Nepal, building dams and then selling the power to neighboring countries without benefiting the locals who sacrafice the most and destroying their main source of income. The Marsyangdi River is a prime example of the destruction of some of Nepal’s most precious tourism hotspots. The Marsyangdi River flows a glacial blue color from the Annapurna Range down through monkey filled jungles to the valley below. Along the river are many small villages where people survive solely off of rupees from trekkers that start in the town of Besisahar and work their way along the most popular trekking route in Nepal, the Annapurna Circuit. In 1999 the Middle Marsyangdi Project began as a joint German and Chinese project. The project was slowed because of unstable political situations but it is nearing completion. It is estimated that in less than one year the dam and powerhouse will be finished and the reservoir will start being filled. The third dam on the Marsyangdi, the Upper Marsyangdi Project is in the initial stages of development where they are building roads to access the new dam site. The combination of the Upper and Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Projects will effectively destroy as well as the first half of the Annapurna Circuit Trek and nearly all the whitewater. Along with it many farmers and villagers that will be without homes or sources of income.
Just below Lake Victoria at the source of the Worlds longest river, the White Nile, a dam is being built. The Bujagali Hydro-electric Project is about five miles downstream of Lake Victoria in Uganda. The dam is being constructed at the "Silverback" rapid where the river splits into three channels. The resulting lake will bury one of the greatest whitewater runs in the world. The White Nile is one of the world most popular rafting and kayaking hotspots. Toursim is the number one industry in Uganda and rafting is the number one tourist activity. The White Nile has one of the greatest diversities of bird life of in the world. The river is home to giant fish eagles, white egrets, cormarandts and hundreds of different birds. Five foot long monitor lizards are seen scurying along the banks in the morning. Some 6500 people get thier food (fish), drinking water and livelyhood from this river. Bujagali Energy Limited, a subsidary of a company based in North America, is the owner and operator of the dam. Salini Construction, an Italian company, has been conracted to do the construcion of the dam. t Before the Worlld Bank Funding had come through the Ugandan Government loaned $6 million USD to Bujagali Energy to begin construction. The World Bank has started funding the Ugandan government in construction of a 200-megawatt dam just downstream from Bujagali Falls at the source of the Nile . This section of the Nile, flowing out of Lake Victoria, is known as the White Nile and home to some of the largest rapids on earth. Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake which due to the project could seriously alter the delicate ecological balance of the lake. The section of rapids is considered a national treasure by Ugandans and whitewater boaters worldwide. The dam will flood the rapids as well as the homes of about 6,800 people, some of which have already been relocated with poor results. The local Busoga people consider this area which will be flooded as having great spiritual and cultural significance. The project is underway and by some accounts will start being flooded by June 2008.
India is the world's third largest dam builder after China and the US . There are already nearly 4,300 large dams in India that produce nearly one third of the country's power. Since 1947 there have been more than 40 million people displaced from dam construction, most of whom are left with little or no compensation. India is developing at a staggering pace and with a population of over a billion people the country is extremely power hungry. The North East states of India primarily Arunachal Pradesh (the wettest state in India) comprise most of the countries hydroelectric power generation potential. India is begining to utilize the power potential that this region holdsinto this with dams under construction and 168 large dams planned in this region. The rivers of Arunachal Pradesh create the headwaters of the mighty Brahmaputra River, with the main tributary named the Siang River. The Siang originates from Mt. Kialas in Tibet where it is known as the Tsang Po River. The Tsang Po flows along the Tibetan Plateau past Lhasa before it makes "the big bend" where it descends through the Himilayas. The river grows as the Po Tsang Po joins and when it crosses the border into India the name changes to the Siang River. The Siang River flows for over 200 km through a deep canyon before emptying into the flat Brahmaputra flood plain. India has three very large dams planned in the canyon and more on it's tributaries. Currently the Siang River flows from it's source on Mt Kialas to the Bay of Bengal which is over 2000 miles unobstructed by a dam. This canyon is home to leapords, elephants, rhinos, tigers, all sorts of extraordinary birds and many different species of fish as well as many indiginous tribes of people that have lived and prospered for generations and generations. It is a major struggle to save the rivers of Aruanachal Pradesh because India needs the energy and they have the capabilites of completing such projects. The Siang has been targeted as the main river worth saving by many Indian Environmental organizations as well as international organizations such as Future Generations www.futuregenerations.org The team traveled to Arunachal Pradesh with the help of River India www.riverindia.com on an expedition where the team completed descents of the three biggest tributaries of the Brahmaputra; The Lohit River, The Dibang River and the Siang River.
In no region of the world are the rivers as thoroughly dammed as in California. Every river as well as nearly every tributary in the Sierra Nevada Mountains has multiple dams in place. These dams provide hydroelectric power storage for irrigation as well as drinking water. By many accounts the prosperity of this state and even this country would not be what it is today without these concrete monstrosities. The Federal Government went through an enormous dam building stage in the early 1900s where dams were being built so fast that alternatives were not even taken into consideration. The most devastating of these projects was the damming of the Tuolumne River inside Yosemite National Park. The Hetch Hetchy Valley of the Tuolumne was by most opinions more scenic than it’s sister valley, Yosemite Valley, and in 1913 the City of San Francisco was granted the go ahead to drown a national treasure. Nearly 100 years later a growing movement has formed to remove this concrete plug and restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Restore Hetch Hetchy an organization dedicated to the cause estimates that it will cost one billion dollars, which sounds like a lot of money until you consider that it costs $6.3 billion for one stealth bomber. The state of California agrees with former Secretary of the Interior that the restoration of Hetch Hetchy is feasible. Visit www.restore hetchhetchy.org for more info. This is a great oppurtunity for developing countries such as Nepal, India and Uganda to learn from the mistakes that we made. As part of The Last Descent the team embarked on an adventure to descend the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne upstream of Hetch Hetchy where the river remains in a natural state. The contrast of the Grand Canyon to Hetch Hetchy is staggering and depressing. Please help to restore Hetch Hetchy. |
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Copyright 2008 Ebb and Flow Productions |
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