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dam-l Earthlife stories/LS
The following are two stories from the latest version of Earthlife News, Winter 1999
The electronic version of the Durban and Pietermartizburg branches of Earthlife Africa newsletter.
Alarm bells ring over large dam proposals
by Bryan Ashe
ELA ALARM bells started ringing on 16 June when the Daily News editorial promoted two proposed dams on the Thukela River and the Bushmans River.
Dams, and in particular large dams, have negative environmental and social impacts: one only has to look at the Paris Dam in Northern KwaZulu Natal to see who is impacted upon - local communities are being moved in order to provide irrigation water for sugar farmers in Pongola. The decision for this dam was made without the benefit of an environmental impact assessment (EIA). An EIA has since been commissioned due to public outcry, but only serves as "window dressing" as the dam is already under construction.
Large dam "case studies" show that dams repeatedly fall short of the promises they make, the costs and time are usually far in excess of those foreseen and the negative impacts are significant, cumulative and irreversible. Equity aspects (who gets the benefits and who pays the costs) are only now being investigated through the channels of the World Commission on Dams.
The Three Gorges dam in China, the Mun Pak dam in Thailand and the Sardar Sarovar dam in India threaten the homes and livelihood of millions of local people, and thousands have died in these countries due to dam failures.
The Namibian Himba community and their nomadic desert lifestyle are under threat from the proposed Epupa dam (if built, evaporation from this dam will equal 40 times the annual water requirements of Windhoek); mountain communities in Lesotho still await promised compensation for the building of the Katse dam and for the earthquake which damaged 70 homes; and the descendants of the Tonga people of Kariba still live in poverty after the forced removal to barren inland regions from their traditional fishing lifestyles next to the river.
Civic communities of Alexandra and Soweto resent paying increased water prices while 50% of the water entering Soweto is lost due to leaking pipes and failing infrastructure. In providing water to communities and industry in Gauteng, DWAF needs to take a leaf out of Durban Metro’s Book and use it to develop a water demand strategy. Durban Metro has undertaken to keep domestic and industrial water consumption at 1997 levels by balancing the annual increase in demand with a corresponding reduction in the water lost in the infrastructure.For more information, or to join the campaign around dams in KZN, contact Bryan Ashe on 0826521533 or bryan@mweb.co.za
ELA Durban:
Watchdog activities
by Michael Graaf
Marine Pipeline: For some years now ELA Durban has participated in a "public study process" to address anticpated waste water disposal needs in the Southern Metro. From the beginning we got the feeling that the "study" was in fact a campaign to build consensus for a new marine outfall. While much was made of the number of new flush toilets which must be built ( for voters previously excluded from the city's political life), the co-disposal of industrial effluent was underplayed.
Given that co-disposal clashes with the new environmental policy, and that recycling of fresh water and nutrients in domestic sewage is not only feasible but may well become highly desirable in future, we have opposed the process and may well challenge it in more extreme fashion soon.
Container terminal:
Portnet has long trouted the idea of extending their container terminal on the centre sandbank of Durban Bay, which besides destroying much of the remaining estuarine habitat, would reduce the tidal flush, thereby further concentrating pollution. Because of the impact on recreation and residential amenities, environmentalists have been joined by interest groups such as boat owners and ratepayers in opposing the project, which has resulted in Portnet sending out mixed signals. This too might require a serious challenge from us in the near future.
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Should you wish to join Earthlife Africa or receive our printed version of the KZN newsletter please contact Bryan Ashe bryan@mweb.co.za or Karen Chiswell kchiz@iafrica.com or visit the ELA web page http://www.earthlife.org.za
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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