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A Condemnation of Dams: The Good They Do has Serious Downsides by Ian Phillips, Associated Press Seattle Times - November 17, 2000

LONDON - Tens of millions of people displaced. Livelihoods wrecked. Fragile ecosystems destroyed. Animal species made extinct.

Large dams have brought much-needed power and water to the world, but their toll on poor people and the environment has been unacceptable, according to a report released yesterday by the World Commission on Dams. The report proposed strict new guidelines for future projects.

After two years of research focused mainly on eight major dams - including Grand Coulee in Washington state - the commission said previous evaluations of the possible damaging side effects of dams were "few in number, narrow in scope ... and inadequately linked to decisions on operations."

Among its findings: 40 million to 80 million people displaced worldwide and rarely compensated by governments; an irreversible loss of fish and aquatic species; and huge losses of forests and wetlands.

In a speech to environmentalists in London to mark the report's release, Former South African President Nelson Mandela said yesterday that he wished the findings had been available when he sanctioned the construction of some of his country's 539 dams.

"There is a part of me that resented having to choose the lesser of two evils - relocate some so that all may have water, or forgo a dam, thus slowing human development," he said.

Who wrote the report

The 12-member commission was set up in 1998 by the World Bank and World Conservation Union.

The body, which includes representatives from industries, dam owners, governments and environmentalists, called for types of dam projects that will sustain rivers and livelihoods, and for greater efficiency and accountability.

It also said alternative methods of dam building should be studied, that more effort was needed to gain public approval, and that in-depth environmental-impact studies should be mandatory.

It proposed reviews of all existing large dams.

James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, which in recent years has markedly scaled back its financing of dams, said he would present the findings to the bank's 180 member nations. A decision on whether to implement the guidelines when financing future projects is expected in February.

"This report gives us a basis upon which we can move toward trying to deal with the healing of the wounds," Wolfensohn said.

A call to suspend building

Half the world's dams were built for irrigation and account for 12 to 16 percent of the world's food production, while others provide flood defenses and produce hydropower and water supply.

Dams account for 19 percent of electricity generated worldwide, and 24 countries generate more than 90 percent of their power from dams.

More than 100 non-governmental organizations called yesterday for a suspension of all projects by the $42-billion-a-year dam industry until they are reviewed in accordance with the report.

"If the builders and funders of dams follow the recommendations ... the era of destructive dams should come to an end," said Patrick McCully of the California-based International Rivers Network.

Critics also call for compensation for the social and environmental damage caused by dams.

There are 45,000 large dams in the world, most built in the 1970s, when an average of two to three new large projects were commissioned each day to help meet escalating demands for water. China and India have half the world's dams.

Construction has tailed off in recent years, but projects such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam across India's Narmada River are still a source of controversy. India's Supreme Court recently gave the go-ahead for work to continue, dismissing widespread concerns the dam will flood villages and displace hundreds of thousands of people.

In China, 10,000 villagers were recently moved away from the massive Three Gorges Dam - a figure expected to climb to more than 1 million.

Prime example: Grand Coulee

The best-documented examples of disrupted fish migrations are from the Columbia River in Washington state, where an estimated 5 to 14 percent of the adult salmon population are killed "at each of the eight large dams they pass while swimming up the river," the commission said.

In addition to Grand Coulee, the other massive dams studied were Pak Mun in Thailand, Aslantas in Turkey, Glomma-Laagen Basin in Norway, Kariba in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Tarbela in Pakistan, Tucurui in Brazil, and Gariep and Vanderkloof in South Africa.

Related Link:
Grand Coulee: proud accomplishment, serious trade-offs, Hal Berton, Seattle Times