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Strict Guidelines Proposed for Dams by Ian Phillips - Associated Press The Spokesman Review, November 17, 2000

Despite benefits, study says toll on environment unacceptable

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 the environment has been unacceptable, according to a report released Thursday by the World Commission on Dams. The report proposed strict new guidelines for future projects.

After two years of research focused mainly on nine major dams -- including Grand Coulee in Washington -- 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 Thursday 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.

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

The body, which includes representatives from industry, dam owners, governments and environmentalists, called for dam projects to sustain rivers and livelihoods and for greater efficiency and accountability.

It also said alternative methods 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.

Half the world's dams were built for irrigation purposes and account for 12 to 16 percent of the world's food production, while others act as flood defenses and to 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.