Impacts The construction of the Belo Monte Dam has social, economical and environmental impacts. As mentioned above, the environmental impacts weren’t fully assessed before the construction began and neither were the social impacts. The plans for this project did not include public involvement (Bratman 2014). There is a great deal of opposition going on in Brazil because this project violates human rights of the locals and indigenous communities that reside there. Due to the fact that it is still under construction, the full extents of the impacts have not been measured. However, there are general impacts of dam constructions in Brazil that can give us a better picture of what other potential affects it will have socially, economically or …show more content…
Using other dam projects in Brazil as case studies, there are certain predictions made or scenarios created regarding some environmental impacts. The construction of the dam creates a reservoir which allows requires certain amounts of land to be flooded. This leads to loss of land, loss of biodiversity and deforestation. Furthermore, the construction of the reservoir will affect the water quality because residue waste from the construction can settle into the water (Sousa Júnior and Reid 2010). One of the major potential environmental impacts is the drying of a 100 km stretch of the Xingu River due to the two large canals that need to be constructed This would affect any aquatic organism living in the river through depletion throwing the ecosystem off balance. Even though the most recent proposal of the Belo Monte Dam, indicates that the flooded area will be smaller than before, environmentalists and other critics are concerned that this will lead to the construction of other smaller dams (Bratman 2014). This would require more construction materials and possibly lead to more deforestation. Although, the total deforestation percentage would be around 0.04% according to the proposal proposed by Norte Energia, the Amazon Rain Forest holds the most biodiversity and even a small amount can erase hundreds or organisms (Bratman …show more content…
The social impacts of this will be similar to the Tucuruı´ Dam of 1984. During that project, local communities were displaced, the people not directly within the area were still affected due to changes in the river and multiple indigenous reserves were flooded (Fearnside 1999). The Belo Monte Dam will also displace hundreds of local and indigenous. This particular project has also brought up the idea of land rights and indigenous culture in this area. The indigenous communities know how to live with the land and not exploit resources around them. In the late 1980’s, Brazilian government ratified a legislation acknowledging the “indigenous distinctiveness” (Jaichand
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
In the 1898 mayoral election, Frederick Eaton was elected as mayor of Los Angeles; and appointed his associate, William Mulholland- the superintendent of the newly created Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Eaton and Mulholland envisioned a region of Los Angeles that would make Los Angeles become the turn of the century. The limiting factor of that regions growth was water supply. Eaton and Mulholland realized that the Owens Valley had a large amount of runoff from the Sierra Nevada, and a gravity-fed aqueduct that could deliver the Owens water to Los Angeles. During the early 1900’s the United States Bureau of Reclamation made plans to build an irrigation system to help the farmers of the Owens Valley. By 1905, through purchases, and alleged intimidation and bribery, Los Angeles purchased enough water rights to enable construction of the aqueduct.
This Paper will describe and analyze three articles pertaining to the ongoing debate for and against Glen Canyon Dam. Two of these articles were found in the 1999 edition of A Sense of Place, and the third was downloaded off a site on the Internet (http://www.glencanyon.net/club.htm). These articles wi...
Based on the events that lead to the devastating floods in Queensland and the eventual case that was brought against the engineers of the dam, there have been views from both sides of the divide as to whether or not the actions taken by the engineers were actually ethical or otherwise. We have explored this avenue and have found that both sides of the divide have good reasons to justify their actions. Firstly, we shall explore the avenue that the engineers decisions were appropriate and ethical. It can be said that the engineers did employ act utilitarianism in their decisions and actions, hence causing these decisions to be ethically correct. Act utilitarianism is essentially doing the right thing, which would benefit the majority of people, based on the situation that is currently taking place. One of the reasons that explains why the actions taken could be considered as ethically fine, was that if the dam was not opened, there would have been no other way to solve the increasing water levels in the dam. If no action was taken, there could have been seriously devastating effects, like the dam wall eroding due to water spilling over the dam wall, thus weakening the structure, or a loss of water flow control. Professor Hubert Chanson, a professor in hydraulic engineering in the University of Queensland, mentioned that the Wivenhoe Dam was actually designed as an embankment dam, hence it should not be overtopped, that is water should not be allowed to flow over the limits of the dam (Andersen 2011). Despite there being a secondary spillway, however it is recommended that spillway is not put to use, as the use of that spillway would mean that there would be a surge of water leaving the dam, and a loss of control of the water flow, w...
“Because of the rapid growth experienced by this country in terms of urban development, industrialization and population at the beginning of the 21st century, Brazil is facing a number of social, environmental and political challenges” (Meyer 2010). Over the years, Brazils infrastructure has been a topic of concern as the quality and quantity of growth seem to be lacking. One might be familiar with the recent 2016 Olympics in Rio and how many complaints were made about the unfinished quarters where people were staying and how the under developed the city
In the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there were several problems. There were several protestors and opinions about the dam before the Three Gorges Dam project was even started.1 China has had history of several dam failures in the mid-1970s that were responsible for thousands of deaths. The three gorges (Xiling, Wu, and Qutang) have scenery that is a tourist attraction.2 The dam was going to be a little over 600 feet tall, 7500 feet wide, and hold over 97 trillion gallons of water. Because of all of the population increase, China started using coal power plants1 and shipping, which causes acid rain over the region making the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.4 It does not help that the Yangtze River runs right through Chinas industrial heartland. Using the river to transport their goods to other parts or China adds to the pollution.2 Pollution from mines, hospitals, and garbage dumping is another big problem for the river because the pollution is building up around the dam.1 With the Three Gorges Dam will come landslides because of the rising water tables and the large slopes with unstable soil from local farming causing more sediment being added to the river.3 And because the dam lies on a fault line there will also be an escalation of earthquakes. There is a huge decrease in sediment discharge; which caused a 90% sediment load into thousands of other reservoirs. Before the dam was operational, it was retaining water and sediments.4 The water levels were rising faster than anyone expected, therefore, the finish date had to be moved up.1 Scientists even projected that 70% of sediment discharge would be trapped for the first two decades and 44% would be store...
Looking at the dam’s environmental harm specifically, it is clear that this project should immediately cause. "Environmentalists warn that sewage will back up and destroy the precious habitats for river dolphins, giant pandas and other rare animals.
Due to the limited scope of this paper only some of the environmental issues along the Rio Grande River will be identified specifically, rapid population growth, growth of industries, air pollution, grand and surface water quality, ecosystems, deforestation, and the Rio Grande water quality.
...f Colombia. It is not only to protect the environment, is the socio-economic stability of Colombia that can be changed if certain politicians continue to have a narrative that supports the 3 E’s of sustainability. Additionally, I intend to show to my audience that we need to change the concept of development in order to conserve nature. In fact we should follow the definition stated in the sustainability revolution: “Sustainable development was defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’” (jfsdjksdlsdk 22). I will manage to organize my research paper to critically evaluate every aspect and detail of Santurban’s case to conclude if they follow and ecological and social justice. If this is not the case what is lacking in order to achieve the main goal of sustainable mining.
The introduction of cattle ranching industries in the 1960s set the forefront for current Brazilian rainforest deforestation figures. During this time, development subsidy programs encouraged Brazilians to clear rainforest for pastureland and invest in new cattle ranches (Pancheco). Over the last 40 years, Brazil has destroyed 700,00 square kilometers of rainforest, an area about the size of Texas (BBC) (Enchanted Lear...
Pottinger, Lori. "Environmental Impacts of Large Dams: African Examples." International Rivers. N.p., 1 Oct. 1996. Web. 04 May 2014.
IYER, R.I. (19X9) "Large Dams: The Right Perspective.' Economic and Political Weekly, 14, 107- 116.
of the lands(PeaceNet). The report claims that, "in reality, most most indian lands whether demarcated or not are coveted for some form of development." This claim is substantiated by the fact that "mineral concessions have been made on fifty-eight percent of all demarcated indian lands, while thirteen percent are affected by hydroelectric projects," (PeaceNet) The link between global environmental change and the rights of indigenous populations results from the close relationship between indigenous people's cultural and economic situations and their environmental settings. Therefore, if the environment of the native Indians of Brazil continues to be changed and removed, the people born on these lands will be exterminated out of existence. Additionally, many societal views of the indigenous people is killing them. The Amnesty International report, as commented upon by PeaceNet cites one occasion in which a thirty-five year old Macuxi Indian by the name of Damiao Mendes was found lying face down on a muddy riverbank, shot in the neck. Nearby lay his nineteen year-old nephew, murdered by the same means.
In the early 1970's, the Brazillian military urged people to allocate to new land in hopes of more modern society that would allieviate poverty and encourage social stability in other areas of the country by having the people move to what they thought was empty land. They ignored the already in place indigenous people that have for many centuries, as we learned in the book "Nature Across Cultures", have shaped the past and the development of the Amazonia through Indigenous knowledge. The ancestors of their ancestors are responsible for creating the vast
The paragraphs below will prove that the construction and presence of dams always has and will continue to leave devastating effects on the environment around them. Firstly, to understand the thesis people must know what dams are. A dam is a barrier built across a water course to hold back or control water flow. Dams are classified as either storage, diversion or detention. As you could probably notice from it's name, storage dams are created to collect or hold water for periods of time when there is a surplus supply.