The Chicoasén Dam (Presa Manuel Moreno Torres), view from the reservoir. Photo source: ©© Wikimedia
“There are 4,500 dams in Mexico, 700 of which are large dams. 80% of reservoirs are polluted with industrial, agricultural and residential waste and many are high in sediment accumulation. Close to 180,000 people have been displaced by dams in Mexico;” 11-09-2012. Captions: International Rivers
Excerpts;
In 1976, the construction of a hydroelectric dam destroyed farmland in the rural municipality of Chicoasén in southern Mexico. Forty years later, part of the local population is fighting a second dam, which would deprive them of more land.
The 240-MW Chicoasén 2 dam, to be built at a cost of 300 million dollars, is scheduled to come onstream in July 2018.
The Chicoasén 2 environmental impact study says the dam will directly affect five communities in the municipality and will indirectly affect another 10. It also acknowledges that the dam, the reservoir and the hypdropower plant will hurt the landscape, wildlife and surface drainage…
Dam projects on world’s largest rivers threaten ecosystems, rural livelihoods, Science Daily (01-08-2016)
Advocates of huge hydroelectric dam projects on the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong river basins often overestimate economic benefits and underestimate far-reaching effects on biodiversity, according to a new article by scientists representing 30 academic, government, and conservation organizations in eight countries…
Sediment Trapped Behind Dams Makes Them ‘Hot Spots’ for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, (08-01-2013)
The large reservoirs of water behind the world’s 50,000 large dams are a known source of methane. Methane has a warming effect 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. That knowledge led to questions about hydroelectric power’s image as a green and nonpolluting energy source…
New Global Warming Culprit: Dams (08-08-2012)
Large Dams Just Aren’t Worth the Cost, The New York Times (10-25-2014)
Small Dams On Chinese River Harm Environment More Than Expected, study finds, NSF (05-30-2013)
Movement to Take Down Thousands of Dams Goes Mainstream, National Geographic (01-29-2015)
Elwha, The Grand Experiment (11-12-2012)
Dams – Cutting Off Beach Sand; By Gary Griggs (12-19-2014)
Let’s Talk About Sand: Denis Delestrac At TEDxBarcelona
Denis Delestrac latest feature documentary, “Sand Wars” takes the audience around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: we are running out of sand! In this TEDxBarcelona talk, he explains us where sand comes from and where it ends up…
Undamming Rivers: A Chance For New Clean Energy Source, Yale E360 (08-07-2015)
