Controversy About Belo Monte Dam
Last few decades have witnessed the booming construction of dams all over the world, leading to prosperous economic growth because dams give people with flood control, hydrological power, waste management, recreation and river navigation. However, what makes human sad is that some severe environmental and social problems induced by constructing dams cannot be ignored. Belo Monte Dam, the fourth largest dam in the world, is a good example of “controversial dam” because it faces with many problems during construction, including environmental problems, social issues, and assessment concerns.
Firstly, let me introduce the basic condition of Belo Monte Dam. It is located on the Xingu River in the state
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One of the most significant impacts is the evacuation of residents. According to Elizondo Gabriel(2012), The dam will directly displace over 20,000 people, mainly from the municipalities of Altamiraand Vitória do Xingu. Not only people directly evacuated will be affected, but people who live in the watershed will also be seriously influenced due to the changes of their fisheries, groundwater, and the transporting ability on rivers. For example, the fisheries will be negatively affected because stagnant pools will form in the river, increasing the ability of deseases distribution. Also, more importantly, a lot of the residents in the evacuated area are indigenous people, such as people from Juruna and Arara ethnical groups, making it more difficult for the government to negotiate with them. Recent years have shown conflicts between indigenous people and construction workers during the construction of Belo Monte Dam. According to Phillips Tom(2012), Indigenous Groups report attacks and harassment, and in several occasions the destruction of property and the death of indigenous persons as a result of constructing and (illegal) logging …show more content…
According to Fearnside Phillip M(2006), a study on the Brazilian Tucuruí dam showed that the actual greenhouse gas emissions were a factor ten higher than its official calculations showed, and this dam is no exception; it is feared that the Belo Monte Dam calculations are also deliberately undercutting reality and that the flooding of its reservoir will create a similar situation. If the organic matters are removed with forests being cut down, this area will produce less methane, reducing the pace of greenhouse effect.
In addition, I think Brazil government should continue to build Altamira Dam upstream. Critics said that only on condition that a year-round flow of water is ensured can Brazil sustain the development of the dam. Also, a study done in 2006 took several scenarios, including risks of cost overruns and the postpon of construction into consideration, demonstrating that Belo Monte Dam will create so much pressure to build upstream storage dams with much larger reservoirs no matter if it is a single project.
All in all, governments should make thorough scientific assessments and risk analyses to promote a feasible plan of the construction of Belo Monte
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.
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
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...
Hooker dismissed various scholars’ theories as to why indigenous conclusion as to why Afro-Latinos experience less m... ... middle of paper ... ... eas about the other to discredit claims to the land and present themselves as better caretakers before potential decision-makers. Mollet’s qualitative methods are similar to those I would like to employ, but I would be working in a different nation. I will conduct interviews to gather the opinions of both Afro-descendent groups and indigenous groups on how they view environmental management and decision-making.
The use of turbines from dams to provide power was a brilliant idea until water levels started running lower than normal. The water waste from humanity is directly contributing to portions of it, aside from drought conditions affected by pollution, widespread fires battled, and more adds to the depletion thereof. When humanity is relying on power provided from dams to handle the demand, they are essentially relying on the assumption that water levels will always be there to provide it. The Hoover Dam provides power to the southwestern portion of the USA that has a large number of people.
...t the year in search of temporary job opportunities. One might argue that indigenous groups continue to seek independence in the twenty-first century against a backdrop of capitalistic globalization, a lucrative drug trade, and struggles between conservative, liberal, and militant leaders.
The Hoover Dam is a modern marvel and a testament to American ingenuity. At over six million six hundred thousand tons and jetting seven hundred sixty feet from the canyon floor, six hundred sixty feet across the bottom and, one thousand two hundred forty four feet across the top, the structure is awe inspiring even to a modern audience. Three quarters of a century since its completion it still stands as a symbol of one of the greatest construction projects of the ages. The need for a dam to block the Colorado River was not a new idea when construction began in 1931, but had been mulled around since the dawn of the century. Flooding due to runoff from the Rocky Mountains had devastated crops, and a need for hydroelectric power increased the need for a dam. In 1922 Black Valley was chosen as the spot for the dam’s construction. No one construction company was large enough to take on the project alone, so a group of companies formed a joint venture in order to bid the job. The Six Companies Inc. made up of Morrison-Knudson, the J.F. Shea Company of Portland, MacDonald & Kahn Ltd, Pacific Bridge Company of Portland, Henry J. Kaiser, Bechtel Company of San Francisco were awarded the winning bid for the dam at forty eight million eight hundred ninety thousand nine hundred fifty five dollars. The construction management team had a Herculean task in building this behemoth and faced many problems in its construction. A few of the major issues posed to the team were diverting the Colorado River, provisioning the men and material to get the job done, and the actual construction of the Hoover Dam. The heights involved with project led to many safety obstacles that had to be overcame.
Dill, Jordan S. First Nations Issues of Consequence. 1 Feb. 2005. 20 Feb. 2005 .
For example, the influx of mining corporations into the Indian reservations meant that the families of miners joined the community. The resultant effect was racism and even the educational system of the Indians was affected because they were directed to schools in the border towns. In Gail Small’s words, “I never experienced so much racism before and never heard some of those words before” (LaDuke 1999, 85). The white men did not like the Indians and so refused to hire them, thereby causing unemployment, and increasing poverty. LaDuke also discusses the issue of urban based environmental movements who seem so engrossed in the bigger struggles like climate change, that they do not give much thought to native struggles like that of the Northern Cheyennes (1999, 88). This brings up the issue of how potent grass root movements like Native Action can be because they share the same history, experience, culture, and struggles of the very same people they
The history of indigenous peoples disadvantage began with the dispossession of land. Indigenous people were stripped off their hunting grounds and ...
This paper will critically discuss the oppression the Indigenous peoples of Canada have experienced through examining the loss of socio – economic stability and environmental spaces due to past and present actions of the Canadian government.
Whilst including a plethora of academic sources and government documents, Barman also draws extensively from sources of indigenous voice, such as conversations between August Jack Khatsalano and Major Matthews. This allows for the expression of indigenous agency, and reveals how they reacted to a chronology of systematic displacement. This first-hand approach is appropriate in supporting Barman’s thesis, which says that Indigenous peoples are the most adversely affected by urbanization in a variety of ways.
IYER, R.I. (19X9) "Large Dams: The Right Perspective.' Economic and Political Weekly, 14, 107- 116.
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.