Kenyan tribes protest\u00a0dam<\/em> construction<\/span><\/h2>\nEast Africa’s Looming\u00a0Famine<\/strong> – Gibe III<\/span>
\nHuffington Post<\/span>
\nBut given the instance of drought in\u00a0Ethiopia<\/strong> – plaguing the country for six\u00a0…<\/strong> lending to conflict,\u00a0famine<\/strong>, disease, as well as the artificial creation of\u00a0…<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nENVIRONMENT: Blame on Chinese\u00a0Dams<\/em> Rise as Mekong River Dries Up<\/a><\/h2>\n17 Mar 2010\u00a0…<\/strong> As the water level in the Mekong River dips to a record 50-year low, a familiar pattern of fault-finding has risen to the surface.\u00a0China<\/em> …<\/strong><\/h2>\nChina’s<\/em> Three Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em>: An Environmental Catastrophe<\/a><\/h2>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> is a disaster in the making,\u00a0China<\/em> admits – Times\u00a0.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nChina<\/em> halts \u00a320bn\u00a0dam<\/em> project – Telegraph<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n12 Jun 2009 <\/strong>…<\/strong> China<\/em> has suspended a \u00a320bn hydropower project because of environmental concerns, in a sign of the growing power of the country’s green\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> in\u00a0China<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\nMekong nations meet\u00a0China<\/em> over\u00a0dam<\/em> fears<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n[nggallery id=1]<\/h2>\nIRIN Africa | ETHIOPIA-KENYA:\u00a0Dam<\/em> “busters” say Gibe 3 puts\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n7 Apr 2010 <\/strong>…<\/strong> “Lake Turkana receives [80-90] percent of its water from the River\u00a0Omo<\/em>; thus the impacts of the\u00a0dam<\/em> on the lake and the\u00a0people<\/em> who depend on\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Omo<\/em> Valley Tribes – Survival International<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Giant\u00a0dam<\/em> to devastate 200000 tribal\u00a0people<\/em> in Ethiopia – Survival\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nEthiopia lands Chinese loan approval for mega Gilgel Gibe III hydro-power project<\/span><\/h2>\nA Chinese loan has been secured for Ethiopia\u2019s biggest Hydropower project, Gilgel Gibe III, after years of pressure from foreign environmentalists blocked access to funding from international financial institutions.<\/p>\n
activist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xa5tTu4_D6s<\/p>\n
Chinese government has approved a 500 million dollar loan to cover the project\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical costs.<\/p>\n
Gibe, which is to have a 1.8MW power generating capacity, is expected to cost Ethiopia some 1.7 billion euros. A colossal sum for the poor east African country to shoulder alone. In 2006, it requested a loan from European Investment Bank (EIB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Italian Government in 2006.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T-21Rbju3Ck<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8HAhkGzgMBc<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nactivist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nChina’s new dam seen as a water hog<\/h2>\n
By\u00a0Calum MacLeod<\/a>, USA TODAY<\/p>\nXIAOWAN, China \u2014 Wearing cloaks of tree bark strands, villagers from the Yi ethnic minority tend wheat terraces that cascade downhill toward the riverbank.<\/p>\n
![\"Still](\"http:\/\/i.usatoday.net\/news\/_photos\/2010\/04\/21\/xiaowanx-topper-medium.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
“China’s dams have not caused this problem,” says Jeremy Bird, CEO of the\u00a0Mekong River<\/a> Commission, an organization that helps manage the river’s resources for Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.<\/p>\nBut China’s refusal to provide data to the commission on the dams already is raising suspicions among analysts. This month, a Chinese delegation to the commission promised deeper cooperation but stopped short of adding to a promise to provide hydrological data for two smaller Yunnan dams.<\/p>\n
“The Chinese must come clean on how much water they are diverting at Xiaowan and, in the future, at Nuozhadu,” another dam that will boast an even bigger reservoir, says Alan Potkin, a development specialist at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University.<\/p>\n
Xiaowan is “an enormously large dam, bigger than anything in North America,” says Potkin, who worries that in two years’ time both Xiaowan and Nuozhadu could be filling reservoirs simultaneously. Potkin is urging the commission to ask China for the most critical data. But he knows the board can do little if China refuses. “It has very little leverage at all,” he says.<\/p>\n
Journalists have been kept at bay at Xiaowan. A USA TODAY reporter was held up by police for three hours while trying to get to the site and then refused entry.<\/p>\n<\/a>By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY Farmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, "but instead we have nothing to do" because of the drought. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nFarmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, “but instead we have nothing to do” because of the drought.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nLocal residents dispute that the drought stems from natural causes.<\/p>\n
Here in Yunnan province, White Fish Pond hasn’t seen fish for years, says Bi Xiuxian, who heads a small hydropower station on the Weishan River. For the past half-year, the river has hardly seen any water, either. So the privately owned power plant in the village of Lishimo is idle.<\/p>\n
“Poor management of water facilities is definitely a major reason for this drought,” complains Bi, an ethnic Yi. “We need new wells, better management of old wells, and more maintenance of water canals.”<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“China is developing so<\/p>\nquickly and needs a lot of<\/p>\n
energy, but nature is not<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/em>just for humans.”<\/em><\/p>\n\u2014 Wang Yongchen, environmentalist<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Elders pray for rain<\/strong><\/p>\nChina’s thirst for energy will likely keep the projects moving forward without much look back, say activists.<\/p>\n
“We need time to see the real results,” says Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers, an environmental group, who has monitored China’s dam-building for several years. “China is developing so quickly and needs a lot of energy, but nature is not just for humans.”<\/p>\n
In Shuanghe village, Nanjian County, Yunnan province, farmer Xu Piqing stands on a bridge above the now-dry water canal that usually rushes into the Weishan River.<\/p>\n
“We should be busy now, harvesting corn and beans, but instead we have nothing to do,” says Xu, 43.<\/p>\n
Some villagers are taking action, though.<\/p>\n
This month, more than 100 elders will gather to pray for rain on the hilltop, lighting incense and kowtowing to the earth. It’s an annual ritual, but “this year will be the biggest ever,” Xu says.<\/p>\n
————————-<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>stevenbensonphoto.com<\/p>\n\n- Three Gorges Dam Campaign is now\u00a0featured on Google Earth<\/span>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Three Gorges Dam is the world\u2019s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers). The project has been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, technological problems,\u00a0human rights violations<\/span> and resettlement difficulties.<\/p>\nThe environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time goes on. The submergence of hundreds of factories, mines and waste dumps, and the presence of massive industrial centers upstream are creating a festering bog of effluent, silt, industrial pollutants and rubbish in the reservoir. Erosion of the reservoir and downstream riverbanks is causing landslides, and threatening one of the world\u2019s biggest fisheries in the East China Sea. The weight of the reservoir’s water has many scientists concerned over\u00a0reservoir-induced seismicity<\/span>. Since 2007, Chinese scientists and government officials have become increasingly concerned about the environmental and social impacts of the project.<\/p>\nThe Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet the Chinese government is replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Within China, huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in some of China\u2019s most pristine and biologically and culturally diverse river basins – the\u00a0Lancang (Upper Mekong)<\/a> River,\u00a0Nu (Salween)<\/a> River and\u00a0upstream<\/a>of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and tributaries.<\/a><\/p>\nGovernments and companies from around the world have helped fund and build the Three Gorges Dam. Yet through this project, China has acquired the know-how to build large hydropower schemes, and is now exporting similar projectsaround the world<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhile Three Gorges is the world\u2019s biggest hydro project, the problems at Three Gorges are not unique. Around the world, large dams are causing social and environmental devastation while\u00a0better alternatives<\/a> are being ignored.<\/p>\nInternational Rivers<\/span> protects rivers and defends the rights of the communities which depend on them. We monitor the social and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam, and work to ensure that the right lessons are drawn for energy and water projects in China and around the world.<\/p>\n
\nHuffington Post<\/span>
\nBut given the instance of drought in\u00a0Ethiopia<\/strong> – plaguing the country for six\u00a0…<\/strong> lending to conflict,\u00a0famine<\/strong>, disease, as well as the artificial creation of\u00a0…<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
ENVIRONMENT: Blame on Chinese\u00a0Dams<\/em> Rise as Mekong River Dries Up<\/a><\/h2>\n17 Mar 2010\u00a0…<\/strong> As the water level in the Mekong River dips to a record 50-year low, a familiar pattern of fault-finding has risen to the surface.\u00a0China<\/em> …<\/strong><\/h2>\nChina’s<\/em> Three Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em>: An Environmental Catastrophe<\/a><\/h2>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> is a disaster in the making,\u00a0China<\/em> admits – Times\u00a0.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nChina<\/em> halts \u00a320bn\u00a0dam<\/em> project – Telegraph<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n12 Jun 2009 <\/strong>…<\/strong> China<\/em> has suspended a \u00a320bn hydropower project because of environmental concerns, in a sign of the growing power of the country’s green\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> in\u00a0China<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\nMekong nations meet\u00a0China<\/em> over\u00a0dam<\/em> fears<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n[nggallery id=1]<\/h2>\nIRIN Africa | ETHIOPIA-KENYA:\u00a0Dam<\/em> “busters” say Gibe 3 puts\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n7 Apr 2010 <\/strong>…<\/strong> “Lake Turkana receives [80-90] percent of its water from the River\u00a0Omo<\/em>; thus the impacts of the\u00a0dam<\/em> on the lake and the\u00a0people<\/em> who depend on\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Omo<\/em> Valley Tribes – Survival International<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Giant\u00a0dam<\/em> to devastate 200000 tribal\u00a0people<\/em> in Ethiopia – Survival\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nEthiopia lands Chinese loan approval for mega Gilgel Gibe III hydro-power project<\/span><\/h2>\nA Chinese loan has been secured for Ethiopia\u2019s biggest Hydropower project, Gilgel Gibe III, after years of pressure from foreign environmentalists blocked access to funding from international financial institutions.<\/p>\n
activist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xa5tTu4_D6s<\/p>\n
Chinese government has approved a 500 million dollar loan to cover the project\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical costs.<\/p>\n
Gibe, which is to have a 1.8MW power generating capacity, is expected to cost Ethiopia some 1.7 billion euros. A colossal sum for the poor east African country to shoulder alone. In 2006, it requested a loan from European Investment Bank (EIB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Italian Government in 2006.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T-21Rbju3Ck<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8HAhkGzgMBc<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nactivist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nChina’s new dam seen as a water hog<\/h2>\n
By\u00a0Calum MacLeod<\/a>, USA TODAY<\/p>\nXIAOWAN, China \u2014 Wearing cloaks of tree bark strands, villagers from the Yi ethnic minority tend wheat terraces that cascade downhill toward the riverbank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“China’s dams have not caused this problem,” says Jeremy Bird, CEO of the\u00a0Mekong River<\/a> Commission, an organization that helps manage the river’s resources for Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.<\/p>\nBut China’s refusal to provide data to the commission on the dams already is raising suspicions among analysts. This month, a Chinese delegation to the commission promised deeper cooperation but stopped short of adding to a promise to provide hydrological data for two smaller Yunnan dams.<\/p>\n
“The Chinese must come clean on how much water they are diverting at Xiaowan and, in the future, at Nuozhadu,” another dam that will boast an even bigger reservoir, says Alan Potkin, a development specialist at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University.<\/p>\n
Xiaowan is “an enormously large dam, bigger than anything in North America,” says Potkin, who worries that in two years’ time both Xiaowan and Nuozhadu could be filling reservoirs simultaneously. Potkin is urging the commission to ask China for the most critical data. But he knows the board can do little if China refuses. “It has very little leverage at all,” he says.<\/p>\n
Journalists have been kept at bay at Xiaowan. A USA TODAY reporter was held up by police for three hours while trying to get to the site and then refused entry.<\/p>\n<\/a>By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY Farmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, "but instead we have nothing to do" because of the drought. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nFarmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, “but instead we have nothing to do” because of the drought.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nLocal residents dispute that the drought stems from natural causes.<\/p>\n
Here in Yunnan province, White Fish Pond hasn’t seen fish for years, says Bi Xiuxian, who heads a small hydropower station on the Weishan River. For the past half-year, the river has hardly seen any water, either. So the privately owned power plant in the village of Lishimo is idle.<\/p>\n
“Poor management of water facilities is definitely a major reason for this drought,” complains Bi, an ethnic Yi. “We need new wells, better management of old wells, and more maintenance of water canals.”<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“China is developing so<\/p>\nquickly and needs a lot of<\/p>\n
energy, but nature is not<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/em>just for humans.”<\/em><\/p>\n\u2014 Wang Yongchen, environmentalist<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Elders pray for rain<\/strong><\/p>\nChina’s thirst for energy will likely keep the projects moving forward without much look back, say activists.<\/p>\n
“We need time to see the real results,” says Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers, an environmental group, who has monitored China’s dam-building for several years. “China is developing so quickly and needs a lot of energy, but nature is not just for humans.”<\/p>\n
In Shuanghe village, Nanjian County, Yunnan province, farmer Xu Piqing stands on a bridge above the now-dry water canal that usually rushes into the Weishan River.<\/p>\n
“We should be busy now, harvesting corn and beans, but instead we have nothing to do,” says Xu, 43.<\/p>\n
Some villagers are taking action, though.<\/p>\n
This month, more than 100 elders will gather to pray for rain on the hilltop, lighting incense and kowtowing to the earth. It’s an annual ritual, but “this year will be the biggest ever,” Xu says.<\/p>\n
————————-<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>stevenbensonphoto.com<\/p>\n\n- Three Gorges Dam Campaign is now\u00a0featured on Google Earth<\/span>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Three Gorges Dam is the world\u2019s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers). The project has been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, technological problems,\u00a0human rights violations<\/span> and resettlement difficulties.<\/p>\nThe environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time goes on. The submergence of hundreds of factories, mines and waste dumps, and the presence of massive industrial centers upstream are creating a festering bog of effluent, silt, industrial pollutants and rubbish in the reservoir. Erosion of the reservoir and downstream riverbanks is causing landslides, and threatening one of the world\u2019s biggest fisheries in the East China Sea. The weight of the reservoir’s water has many scientists concerned over\u00a0reservoir-induced seismicity<\/span>. Since 2007, Chinese scientists and government officials have become increasingly concerned about the environmental and social impacts of the project.<\/p>\nThe Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet the Chinese government is replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Within China, huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in some of China\u2019s most pristine and biologically and culturally diverse river basins – the\u00a0Lancang (Upper Mekong)<\/a> River,\u00a0Nu (Salween)<\/a> River and\u00a0upstream<\/a>of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and tributaries.<\/a><\/p>\nGovernments and companies from around the world have helped fund and build the Three Gorges Dam. Yet through this project, China has acquired the know-how to build large hydropower schemes, and is now exporting similar projectsaround the world<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhile Three Gorges is the world\u2019s biggest hydro project, the problems at Three Gorges are not unique. Around the world, large dams are causing social and environmental devastation while\u00a0better alternatives<\/a> are being ignored.<\/p>\nInternational Rivers<\/span> protects rivers and defends the rights of the communities which depend on them. We monitor the social and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam, and work to ensure that the right lessons are drawn for energy and water projects in China and around the world.<\/p>\n
China’s<\/em> Three Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em>: An Environmental Catastrophe<\/a><\/h2>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> is a disaster in the making,\u00a0China<\/em> admits – Times\u00a0.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nChina<\/em> halts \u00a320bn\u00a0dam<\/em> project – Telegraph<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n12 Jun 2009 <\/strong>…<\/strong> China<\/em> has suspended a \u00a320bn hydropower project because of environmental concerns, in a sign of the growing power of the country’s green\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> in\u00a0China<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\nMekong nations meet\u00a0China<\/em> over\u00a0dam<\/em> fears<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n[nggallery id=1]<\/h2>\nIRIN Africa | ETHIOPIA-KENYA:\u00a0Dam<\/em> “busters” say Gibe 3 puts\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n7 Apr 2010 <\/strong>…<\/strong> “Lake Turkana receives [80-90] percent of its water from the River\u00a0Omo<\/em>; thus the impacts of the\u00a0dam<\/em> on the lake and the\u00a0people<\/em> who depend on\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Omo<\/em> Valley Tribes – Survival International<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Giant\u00a0dam<\/em> to devastate 200000 tribal\u00a0people<\/em> in Ethiopia – Survival\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nEthiopia lands Chinese loan approval for mega Gilgel Gibe III hydro-power project<\/span><\/h2>\nA Chinese loan has been secured for Ethiopia\u2019s biggest Hydropower project, Gilgel Gibe III, after years of pressure from foreign environmentalists blocked access to funding from international financial institutions.<\/p>\n
activist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xa5tTu4_D6s<\/p>\n
Chinese government has approved a 500 million dollar loan to cover the project\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical costs.<\/p>\n
Gibe, which is to have a 1.8MW power generating capacity, is expected to cost Ethiopia some 1.7 billion euros. A colossal sum for the poor east African country to shoulder alone. In 2006, it requested a loan from European Investment Bank (EIB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Italian Government in 2006.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T-21Rbju3Ck<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8HAhkGzgMBc<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nactivist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n
The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n
This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n
In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n
Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n
The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\nChina’s new dam seen as a water hog<\/h2>\n
By\u00a0Calum MacLeod<\/a>, USA TODAY<\/p>\nXIAOWAN, China \u2014 Wearing cloaks of tree bark strands, villagers from the Yi ethnic minority tend wheat terraces that cascade downhill toward the riverbank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“China’s dams have not caused this problem,” says Jeremy Bird, CEO of the\u00a0Mekong River<\/a> Commission, an organization that helps manage the river’s resources for Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.<\/p>\nBut China’s refusal to provide data to the commission on the dams already is raising suspicions among analysts. This month, a Chinese delegation to the commission promised deeper cooperation but stopped short of adding to a promise to provide hydrological data for two smaller Yunnan dams.<\/p>\n
“The Chinese must come clean on how much water they are diverting at Xiaowan and, in the future, at Nuozhadu,” another dam that will boast an even bigger reservoir, says Alan Potkin, a development specialist at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University.<\/p>\n
Xiaowan is “an enormously large dam, bigger than anything in North America,” says Potkin, who worries that in two years’ time both Xiaowan and Nuozhadu could be filling reservoirs simultaneously. Potkin is urging the commission to ask China for the most critical data. But he knows the board can do little if China refuses. “It has very little leverage at all,” he says.<\/p>\n
Journalists have been kept at bay at Xiaowan. A USA TODAY reporter was held up by police for three hours while trying to get to the site and then refused entry.<\/p>\n<\/a>By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY Farmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, "but instead we have nothing to do" because of the drought. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nFarmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, “but instead we have nothing to do” because of the drought.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nLocal residents dispute that the drought stems from natural causes.<\/p>\n
Here in Yunnan province, White Fish Pond hasn’t seen fish for years, says Bi Xiuxian, who heads a small hydropower station on the Weishan River. For the past half-year, the river has hardly seen any water, either. So the privately owned power plant in the village of Lishimo is idle.<\/p>\n
“Poor management of water facilities is definitely a major reason for this drought,” complains Bi, an ethnic Yi. “We need new wells, better management of old wells, and more maintenance of water canals.”<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“China is developing so<\/p>\nquickly and needs a lot of<\/p>\n
energy, but nature is not<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/em>just for humans.”<\/em><\/p>\n\u2014 Wang Yongchen, environmentalist<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Elders pray for rain<\/strong><\/p>\nChina’s thirst for energy will likely keep the projects moving forward without much look back, say activists.<\/p>\n
“We need time to see the real results,” says Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers, an environmental group, who has monitored China’s dam-building for several years. “China is developing so quickly and needs a lot of energy, but nature is not just for humans.”<\/p>\n
In Shuanghe village, Nanjian County, Yunnan province, farmer Xu Piqing stands on a bridge above the now-dry water canal that usually rushes into the Weishan River.<\/p>\n
“We should be busy now, harvesting corn and beans, but instead we have nothing to do,” says Xu, 43.<\/p>\n
Some villagers are taking action, though.<\/p>\n
This month, more than 100 elders will gather to pray for rain on the hilltop, lighting incense and kowtowing to the earth. It’s an annual ritual, but “this year will be the biggest ever,” Xu says.<\/p>\n
————————-<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>stevenbensonphoto.com<\/p>\n\n- Three Gorges Dam Campaign is now\u00a0featured on Google Earth<\/span>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Three Gorges Dam is the world\u2019s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers). The project has been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, technological problems,\u00a0human rights violations<\/span> and resettlement difficulties.<\/p>\nThe environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time goes on. The submergence of hundreds of factories, mines and waste dumps, and the presence of massive industrial centers upstream are creating a festering bog of effluent, silt, industrial pollutants and rubbish in the reservoir. Erosion of the reservoir and downstream riverbanks is causing landslides, and threatening one of the world\u2019s biggest fisheries in the East China Sea. The weight of the reservoir’s water has many scientists concerned over\u00a0reservoir-induced seismicity<\/span>. Since 2007, Chinese scientists and government officials have become increasingly concerned about the environmental and social impacts of the project.<\/p>\nThe Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet the Chinese government is replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Within China, huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in some of China\u2019s most pristine and biologically and culturally diverse river basins – the\u00a0Lancang (Upper Mekong)<\/a> River,\u00a0Nu (Salween)<\/a> River and\u00a0upstream<\/a>of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and tributaries.<\/a><\/p>\nGovernments and companies from around the world have helped fund and build the Three Gorges Dam. Yet through this project, China has acquired the know-how to build large hydropower schemes, and is now exporting similar projectsaround the world<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhile Three Gorges is the world\u2019s biggest hydro project, the problems at Three Gorges are not unique. Around the world, large dams are causing social and environmental devastation while\u00a0better alternatives<\/a> are being ignored.<\/p>\nInternational Rivers<\/span> protects rivers and defends the rights of the communities which depend on them. We monitor the social and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam, and work to ensure that the right lessons are drawn for energy and water projects in China and around the world.<\/p>\n
China<\/em> halts \u00a320bn\u00a0dam<\/em> project – Telegraph<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 12 Jun 2009 <\/strong>…<\/strong> China<\/em> has suspended a \u00a320bn hydropower project because of environmental concerns, in a sign of the growing power of the country’s green\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n Mekong nations meet\u00a0China<\/em> over\u00a0dam<\/em> fears<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n 7 Apr 2010 <\/strong>…<\/strong> “Lake Turkana receives [80-90] percent of its water from the River\u00a0Omo<\/em>; thus the impacts of the\u00a0dam<\/em> on the lake and the\u00a0people<\/em> who depend on\u00a0…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Omo<\/em> Valley Tribes – Survival International<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Giant\u00a0dam<\/em> to devastate 200000 tribal\u00a0people<\/em> in Ethiopia – Survival\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n A Chinese loan has been secured for Ethiopia\u2019s biggest Hydropower project, Gilgel Gibe III, after years of pressure from foreign environmentalists blocked access to funding from international financial institutions.<\/p>\n activist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xa5tTu4_D6s<\/p>\n Chinese government has approved a 500 million dollar loan to cover the project\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical costs.<\/p>\n Gibe, which is to have a 1.8MW power generating capacity, is expected to cost Ethiopia some 1.7 billion euros. A colossal sum for the poor east African country to shoulder alone. In 2006, it requested a loan from European Investment Bank (EIB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Italian Government in 2006.<\/p>\n The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T-21Rbju3Ck<\/p>\n The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n httpvhd:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8HAhkGzgMBc<\/p>\n The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\n activist groups have however expressed misgivings over the project and insisted that it would adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities in both Ethiopia and Kenya.<\/p>\n The militants embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to put pressure on international financial institutions prevent funding for the project. According to them the dam will minimize the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana from the Omo river.<\/p>\n This financial challenge prompted Ethiopia to shift its focus from Western finance sources. China has agreed to provide the loan (500 million dollars) on a long term basis.<\/p>\n The agreement reached between Ethiopia and China will see the former offer Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical works to China.<\/p>\n In line with this agreement, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is expected to sign a deal Wednesday evening with Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd, a Chinese state owned company.<\/p>\n Dongfang Electric Machinery Corporation ltd takes over Gibe\u2019s electro and hydro mechanical work from Salini Construction an Italian Company appointed in 2006 to handle the engineering procurement contract of the project.<\/p>\n The Chinese loan could also see Ethiopia reject\u00a0AfDB\u2019s loan approval<\/a>, according to government sources.<\/p>\n By\u00a0Calum MacLeod<\/a>, USA TODAY<\/p>\n XIAOWAN, China \u2014 Wearing cloaks of tree bark strands, villagers from the Yi ethnic minority tend wheat terraces that cascade downhill toward the riverbank.<\/p>\n “China’s dams have not caused this problem,” says Jeremy Bird, CEO of the\u00a0Mekong River<\/a> Commission, an organization that helps manage the river’s resources for Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.<\/p>\n But China’s refusal to provide data to the commission on the dams already is raising suspicions among analysts. This month, a Chinese delegation to the commission promised deeper cooperation but stopped short of adding to a promise to provide hydrological data for two smaller Yunnan dams.<\/p>\n “The Chinese must come clean on how much water they are diverting at Xiaowan and, in the future, at Nuozhadu,” another dam that will boast an even bigger reservoir, says Alan Potkin, a development specialist at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University.<\/p>\n Xiaowan is “an enormously large dam, bigger than anything in North America,” says Potkin, who worries that in two years’ time both Xiaowan and Nuozhadu could be filling reservoirs simultaneously. Potkin is urging the commission to ask China for the most critical data. But he knows the board can do little if China refuses. “It has very little leverage at all,” he says.<\/p>\n Journalists have been kept at bay at Xiaowan. A USA TODAY reporter was held up by police for three hours while trying to get to the site and then refused entry.<\/p>\n Local residents dispute that the drought stems from natural causes.<\/p>\n Here in Yunnan province, White Fish Pond hasn’t seen fish for years, says Bi Xiuxian, who heads a small hydropower station on the Weishan River. For the past half-year, the river has hardly seen any water, either. So the privately owned power plant in the village of Lishimo is idle.<\/p>\n “Poor management of water facilities is definitely a major reason for this drought,” complains Bi, an ethnic Yi. “We need new wells, better management of old wells, and more maintenance of water canals.”<\/p>\n quickly and needs a lot of<\/p>\n energy, but nature is not<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/em>just for humans.”<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Wang Yongchen, environmentalist<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Elders pray for rain<\/strong><\/p>\n China’s thirst for energy will likely keep the projects moving forward without much look back, say activists.<\/p>\n “We need time to see the real results,” says Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers, an environmental group, who has monitored China’s dam-building for several years. “China is developing so quickly and needs a lot of energy, but nature is not just for humans.”<\/p>\n In Shuanghe village, Nanjian County, Yunnan province, farmer Xu Piqing stands on a bridge above the now-dry water canal that usually rushes into the Weishan River.<\/p>\n “We should be busy now, harvesting corn and beans, but instead we have nothing to do,” says Xu, 43.<\/p>\n Some villagers are taking action, though.<\/p>\n This month, more than 100 elders will gather to pray for rain on the hilltop, lighting incense and kowtowing to the earth. It’s an annual ritual, but “this year will be the biggest ever,” Xu says.<\/p>\n ————————-<\/p>\n The Three Gorges Dam is the world\u2019s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers). The project has been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, technological problems,\u00a0human rights violations<\/span> and resettlement difficulties.<\/p>\n The environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time goes on. The submergence of hundreds of factories, mines and waste dumps, and the presence of massive industrial centers upstream are creating a festering bog of effluent, silt, industrial pollutants and rubbish in the reservoir. Erosion of the reservoir and downstream riverbanks is causing landslides, and threatening one of the world\u2019s biggest fisheries in the East China Sea. The weight of the reservoir’s water has many scientists concerned over\u00a0reservoir-induced seismicity<\/span>. Since 2007, Chinese scientists and government officials have become increasingly concerned about the environmental and social impacts of the project.<\/p>\n The Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet the Chinese government is replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Within China, huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in some of China\u2019s most pristine and biologically and culturally diverse river basins – the\u00a0Lancang (Upper Mekong)<\/a> River,\u00a0Nu (Salween)<\/a> River and\u00a0upstream<\/a>of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and tributaries.<\/a><\/p>\n Governments and companies from around the world have helped fund and build the Three Gorges Dam. Yet through this project, China has acquired the know-how to build large hydropower schemes, and is now exporting similar projectsaround the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Three Gorges is the world\u2019s biggest hydro project, the problems at Three Gorges are not unique. Around the world, large dams are causing social and environmental devastation while\u00a0better alternatives<\/a> are being ignored.<\/p>\n International Rivers<\/span> protects rivers and defends the rights of the communities which depend on them. We monitor the social and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam, and work to ensure that the right lessons are drawn for energy and water projects in China and around the world.<\/p>\nThree Gorges\u00a0Dam<\/em> in\u00a0China<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n[nggallery id=1]<\/h2>\n
IRIN Africa | ETHIOPIA-KENYA:\u00a0Dam<\/em> “busters” say Gibe 3 puts\u00a0…<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
Ethiopia lands Chinese loan approval for mega Gilgel Gibe III hydro-power project<\/span><\/h2>\n
China’s new dam seen as a water hog<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Farmer Xu Piqing says he and fellow Shuanghe villagers should be busy harvesting crops, “but instead we have nothing to do” because of the drought.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\n
\n \n \n\n
\n “China is developing so<\/p>\n \n