Hydroelectric dams

Il Grand Inga Dam Project rappresenta un mastodontico progetto idroelettrico sul fiume Congo dal costo stimato di circa 80 miliardi di dollari. Il grosso della spesa dovrebbe essere sostenuto dalla Cina, mentre in minima parte alcune organizzazioni internazionali sono state coinvolte nel finanziamento. I benefici che tale progetto apporterebbe al Congo e a tutta l’Africa sub-sahariana sono molti, soprattutto in termini di produzione di energia idroelettrica e di impiego. Allo stesso tempo, si riscontrano varie criticità, su tutte in merito all’impatto ambientale che un’infrastruttura così massiccia potrebbe causare ad intere regioni. L’obiettivo di questo paper è di fare chiarezza su questo grande progetto e sulle effettive conseguenze, positive e negative, che esso potrebbe comportare per molti milioni di Africani.

This report examines the implications of the Muskrat Falls hydro-electric project on Newfoundland and Labrador’s overall sustainability and recommends potential policy and governance directions to improve the province’s long-term wellbeing. We consider the contextual factors that led to the construction of the Muskrat Falls Hydro-electric project. We reflect on the role that Churchill Falls played in the decision to move forward on Muskrat Falls, as well as the catalyzing role of the economic boom that Newfoundland and Labrador were experiencing. The role of charismatic leadership and a supportive public also form a strong contextual basis for the project moving forward.

We highlight that as problems began to emerge in the plan and economic conditions deteriorated, public officials and decision-makers continued to move forward on the project. Red flags were raised by independent bodies such as the Joint Federal-Provincial Environmental Assessment Review Panel and the Public Utilities Board, despite the limited scope of the reviews that they were directed to undertake. From the early days of project inception, concerns were also raised by several public intellectuals through blogs, reports, and media-work. Despite these early warning signs, management problems and expanding budgets were continually excused and minimized, leading to unprecedented financial vulnerability. These findings are discussed in greater depth and consideration in the Muskrat Falls Inquiry report but are outlined broadly within this work.

Additionally, we discuss the limited recognition of Indigenous rights and the subsequent Settler-Indigenous conflict that emerged because of the project. In particular, we discuss the implications of methylmercury contamination, the destabilization of the North Spur and the approaches that members of Inuit and Innu communities and their allies undertook to contest the project, including hunger strikes, litigation, and occupying the site. Recommendations from independent advisory bodies that supported Indigenous concerns were ignored or poorly integrated into project management.

We evaluate the impact of Muskrat Falls on the province’s ecological, socio-cultural, economic, and political sustainability. Ecological sustainability considers the poor attention to climate change alternatives under the province’s analysis. This experience mirrors that of BC with the Site C Hydro-Electric project. The limited options for analysis suggest a myopic and unsustainable approach to considering climate change and sustainability. The implications of methylmercury for downstream Indigenous communities also challenges claims about the ecological sustainability of the project. Socio-cultural sustainability is primarily considered through the impacts to the social fabric of Indigenous communities due to distrust in their food systems due to methylmercury contamination and the potential unravelling of their traditional way of life. Additionally, we consider the lack of legal mechanisms available for decision-makers related to Muskrat Falls, while Indigenous protesters have faced significant legal battles. Both consequences generate challenges for socio-cultural well-being. Economically, we consider the impacts to rate payers, taxpayers, the Federal government, and Indigenous governments because of this project. The level of provincial debt that this project will have generated is unsustainable and may in fact be so insurmountable that the province could face insolvency in the near future. In political sustainability terms, we discuss the continual utilization of inquiries and reviews to de-escalate and re-target political failures. The Muskrat Falls Inquiry, as well as other reviews similarly undertaken in NL’s history, are useful in compiling independent data and evaluating concerns. However, they have limited judicial consequences, nor do they necessarily change political culture.

We provide several recommendations to consider for moving towards a more sustainable future. These include:

• Economic recommendations around avoiding insolvency and accepting the province’s comparatively limited capacity to support mega-projects without funding from private and Federal partnerships. The case remains that the price of Muskrat Falls hydropower is likely uncompetitive on the Eastern seaboard and NL may have a significant power surplus. We suggest focusing economic development on diversified industries that consume power and follow existing successes, like aquaculture, mining, and tourism. To draw major power users, corporate power rates will likely need to be subsidized.
• The use of independent oversight like the Public Utilities Board must be strengthened, as well as legal recourse for those that do not exercise proper due diligence in provincial decision-making. We advocate the widespread use of alternatives analysis and the integration of adaptive management approaches. We highlight that if legal structures only supported criminal charges for those peacefully protesting on their traditional territory, without penalties for those that have driven NL towards insolvency, then structures must shift.
• We also call upon NL to integrate FPIC and better partner with Indigenous communities in future economic development to ensure mutual benefit and shared decision-making mandates.
• Finally, we recommend that NLers refocus on democratic processes, re-evaluating the culture from “patriotic correctness” towards accountability, as we have seen in Iceland post-banking crisis. Valuing rigorous journalism, as well as respecting public dissent and criticism, plays an important role in creating this shift in the provincial political culture.

A valuable reference for controlling inland navigation and water resources, protecting coastal areas, mitigating flood risks, facilitating harbor procedures, generating hydroelectricity, and other water related activities
KEY FEATURES
• Presents extensive coverage of the operational profiles of hydraulic closures, including gates and valves in navigation locks,  closures of flood barriers, movable closures of river weirs and spillways, and more.
• Outlines the different structural types of hydraulic gates, including miter gates, vertical lift gates, flap and hinged crest gates, radial gates, rolling and barge gates, sector gates and many other.
• Clearly outlines the selection process for gates in navigation locks, spillways, river weirs, flood barriers, hydroelectric plants, shipyard docks and other hydraulic structures.
• Provides comprehensive discussion of design loads and other actions to which hydraulic gates may be subjected during their service life, followed by an overview of analysis methods and tools.
• Addresses the current challenges and concerns in hydraulic gate projects, such as  risk-based design, sustainability issues, environmental implications of hydraulic gates, handling accidents and calamities, and gate maintenance in view of asset management.
• Presents the experience from many recent projects in Europe and America, including the rolling gates in large European sea locks, gates of the Panama Canal new locks, flood barriers in New Orleans and the Netherlands.
CONTENTS
1 Introduction, 2 Operation Profiles of Hydraulic Closures, 3 Structural Types of Hydraulic Gates, 4 Selection of a Gate Type, 5 Design Loads and Load Combinations, 6 Other Actions and Risks, 7 Structural Analysis, 8 Detailed Gate Design, 9 Auxiliary Structures and Systems, 10 Filling and Emptying Valves and Gates, 11 Introduction to Gate Drives, 12 Sustainable Gate Design, 13 Construction Materials, 14 Project Execution Control, 15 Maintenance Issues, 16 Handling Accidents and Calamities, 17 Hydraulic Gates in View of Asset Management

There has been much written about the negative social and environmental impacts of large hydropower dams, particularly the impacts on people and the environment caused by flooding linked to the creation of large reservoirs. There has also long been recognition of the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge for understanding ecological processes and environmental impacts. In this paper, however, we focus on a topic that has received insufficient consideration: the downstream impacts of dams, and the role of Indigenous and local knowledge in assessing and addressing these impacts. Using examples from three river basins in different parts of the world: the Peace-Athabasca in Canada, the Mekong in mainland Southeast Asia, and the Amazon in Brazil, we demonstrate that the downstream impacts of hydropower dams are often neglected due to the frequently long distances between dams and impacted areas, jurisdictional boundaries, and the less obvious nature of downstream impacts. We contend that Indigenous or local knowledge, if applied consistently and appropriately, has important roles to play in understanding and addressing these impacts, with the goal of avoiding, reducing, and appropriately compensating for the types of environmental injustices that are frequently associated with the downstream impacts of dams.