Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Hydropower Projects (Environmental Earth Sciences)

Description

This book describes the entire process of environmental impact assessment for hydropower and dam projects, not from a legal or regulatory point of view, but from a very applied one, based mainly on the personal experience of the author, who is involved in this field of work since over 40 years, by describing the different steps of such an assessment, covering all major aspects to be dealt with. The focus is on environmental issues, while the other main subject―social impacts―is mentioned here only briefly. It will be of interest not only for ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessment) practitioners, be they consultants involved in the preparation of such studies or staff members of environmental protection agencies having to come to decisions based on them, but also for engineers and planners involved in such projects, developers, and people interested in questions related to energy, environment, and climate change. Overall, this book aims at contributing to put the discussion about hydropower and dam projects on a more objective level. Acknowledgements Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Part I Approach 1 Introduction 1.1 Prologue 1.2 Purpose and Scope 1.3 Limitations 1.4 My Experience 1.5 Sources Used References 2 Different Ways to Look at Things 2.1 Environment, Society and Economy 2.2 Same Point, Different Points of View 2.3 Islands in a Reservoir 2.4 The Necessity to Understand References 3 Approach to ESIA 3.1 Origins of Water Management 3.2 The Early Days of ESIA 3.3 The Main Actors, Stakeholders 3.4 Structure 3.4.1 Basic Structure of an ESIA 3.4.2 Comparison of Different Approaches 3.5 Team Composition 3.6 The Bidding Process 3.6.1 Preparation of an EOI 3.6.2 Preparation of a Proposal 3.7 Who Should Do ESIAs? 3.8 The Use of Local Knowledge 3.8.1 Local Experts 3.8.2 Language 3.8.3 Knowledge of the Local Population 3.9 Purpose and Limits of ESIAs 3.10 Comments to Reports 3.11 Biased ESIAs 3.11.1 Criticism of ESIAs: Cuts Both Ways 3.11.2 Different Concepts 3.11.3 Incompetence 3.11.4 Under Pressure 3.11.5 Three Cases 3.12 Baseline: How Much Is Enough? 3.13 A Multitude of IAs References 4 Dams, Reservoirs and Power Plants 4.1 Main Characteristics of Dams and Hydropower Plants 4.1.1 Types 4.1.2 Cascades 4.1.3 Interbasin or Transbasin Projects 4.2 Project Stages 4.2.1 Identification 4.2.2 Pre-feasibility and Feasibility 4.2.3 Detailed Design 4.2.4 Implementation: The Construction Period 4.2.5 Operation 4.2.6 Decommissioning 4.3 Standard Impacts of Dam Projects 4.4 Good Dams and Bad Dams 4.4.1 What Is Good or Bad? 4.4.2 Efficiency Ratios 4.4.3 Conclusions 4.5 Why the Focus on Dams? References 5 Impacts 5.1 What Is an Impact? 5.2 Environmental Impacts 5.3 Definition of “Impact” in ESIAs 5.4 Assessment of Impacts 5.5 Impacts in Stages of the Project Cycle 5.6 The Problem of System Boundaries 5.7 Monetising Impacts 5.7.1 Cost–Benefit Analysis 5.7.2 Willingness to Pay (WTP) Analysis 5.7.3 Ecosystem Services 5.7.4 Comparison of Expected Gains and Losses 5.7.5 Conclusions References 6 Mitigation 6.1 The Mitigation Hierarchy 6.1.1 Avoiding 6.1.2 Minimising 6.1.3 Compensation 6.2 Conflicting Issues 6.3 Offset 6.3.1 The Critical Habitat Concept 6.3.2 The No Net Loss Approach References Part II ESIA Preparation 7 Introductory Chapters to an Esia 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Legal and Administrative Framework 7.3 Project Description 7.4 The Study Area References 8 Physical Environment 8.1 Climate 8.1.1 Temperature 8.1.2 Precipitation 8.1.3 Evaporation 8.1.4 Other Climatic Conditions 8.2 Climate Change 8.2.1 Baseline 8.2.2 Effects of Climate Change on Hydropower Projects 8.2.3 GHG Emissions from Reservoirs 8.3 Air Quality and Noise 8.4 Geology 8.4.1 Geology of the Dam Site 8.4.2 Geology of the Reservoir Area 8.4.3 Seismicity and Dam Safety 8.5 Soils 8.6 Sediments and Sedimentation 8.6.1 Prevailing Situation 8.6.2 Impacts of Dams 8.6.3 Measures References 9 Water 9.1 Hydrology 9.1.1 First Approach 9.1.2 Prevailing Conditions 9.1.3 Project Impacts 9.2 Hydrogeology 9.3 Water Quality 9.3.1 The Parameters: What, How Much and Why? 9.3.2 Baseline 9.3.3 Impacts 9.3.4 Mitigation 9.3.5 Monitoring 9.3.6 Importance of Qualification References 10 Biological Environment 10.1 Terrestrial Vegetation 10.1.1 Baseline 10.1.2 Impacts 10.1.3 Mitigation 10.2 Terrestrial Fauna 10.2.1 Baseline 10.2.2 Impacts 10.2.3 Mitigation 10.3 Fish 10.3.1 Baseline 10.3.2 Main Impacts 10.3.3 Interruption of Rivers 10.3.4 Change from River to Lake 10.3.5 Additional Potential Impacts on Fish 10.4 Disease Vectors and Water Related Diseases 10.4.1 Main Vectors and Diseases 10.4.2 Risks During the Construction Period 10.4.3 Risks During Operation 10.5 Biodiversity 10.5.1 What Is a Species? 10.5.2 Why Conserve Biodiversity? 10.5.3 Endemic Species 10.5.4 Exotic and Invasive Species 10.6 Protected Areas References 11 Human Environment 11.1 Conflicts Over Land Use 11.2 The Farmer’s View 11.3 Caught in the Limbo: Project Delays 11.3.1 Bumbuna 11.3.2 Bujagali 11.3.3 Rogun 11.4 Victims and Profiteers: Dealing with People 11.5 The Most Vulnerable of All: Poor People 11.6 Gender Issues 11.7 Ethnic Minorities 11.8 Cash Compensation 11.9 Impacts on the Spiritual World References 12 The ESMMP 12.1 EHS Management: The Contractor’s Responsibility 12.2 Off-Site Measures: The Owner’s Responsibility 12.3 Monitoring: A Shared Responsibility References 13 Decommissioning 13.1 ESIA and Dam Decommissioning 13.2 The Replacement of Rheinfelden HPP 13.3 Rehabilitation 13.4 Removal of Dams References 14 Comparison with Alternatives 14.1 Direct Project Alternatives 14.1.1 Different Dam Sites 14.1.2 Different Project Layout 14.2 The No-Project Alternative 14.3 Different Sources of Energy 14.3.1 Comparison 14.3.2 Fossil Fuel 14.3.3 Wind Farms 14.3.4 Solar 14.3.5 Combination 14.3.6 Nuclear References Part III Specific Issues 15 Access Roads 15.1 Impacts of Roads on Natural Habitats 15.2 Main Impacts of Access Roads 15.3 Mitigation References 16 Reservoirs as Habitats 16.1 Reservoirs Types 16.2 Reservoirs and Lakes 16.3 Vegetation, Floating Plants 16.4 Fish 16.5 Plankton 16.6 Benthos 16.7 Birds and Mammals References 17 Reservoir Stratification 17.1 Thermal Stratification Process 17.2 Oxygen Stratification 17.3 Impacts 17.4 Assessing the Impact 17.5 Mitigation References 18 Downstream Impacts 18.1 Main Types of Impacts 18.2 Floodplains 18.2.1 Main Characteristics 18.2.2 Floodplain Dynamics 18.2.3 Effects of River Regulation on Floodplain Ecosystems 18.2.4 Case Studies 18.2.5 Measures 18.3 Spray Zones References 19 Transboundary and Cumulative Effects 19.1 Transboundary Impacts 19.1.1 Definition of International Waterways 19.1.2 The Problems 19.1.3 TBIA: Transboundary Impact Assessment 19.1.4 Solutions to Transboundary Issues 19.1.5 River Basin Organisations 19.2 Cumulative Impacts References 20 Residual or Ecological Flow 20.1 A First Step 20.2 Rules for Calculation 20.3 Modern Scientific Approach 20.4 Guidelines and Models 20.4.1 How Much Good? References 21 Dam Projects: Pro and Contra 21.1 Controversial Projects 21.1.1 The Aswan High Dam 21.1.2 Three Gorges HPP 21.2 Sustainability of Hydropower 21.2.1 The Concept of Sustainability 21.2.2 Combination with Other Renewable Energy Sources 21.2.3 The Times They Are A‘Changin’ 21.2.4 Towards Defining Hydropower Sustainability 21.3 Wrong Arguments 21.3.1 Cry Wolf 21.3.2 The Risk in Using Models 21.3.3 Earth Rotation 21.3.4 The Kingfisher 21.3.5 The Jaguar and the Reservoir References Part IV Case Studies 22 Mekong Basin 22.1 Short Overview 22.2 The Mekong Cascade 22.3 Nam Theun 1 22.4 Don Sahong 22.5 Mekong—Tonle Sap References 23 Rogun: Water Scarcity in Central Asia 23.1 Background 23.2 The Project 23.3 Transboundary Impact 23.4 The Amu Darya Basin 23.5 The Aral Sea 23.5.1 Development in the Twentieth Century 23.5.2 Impacts on Aral Sea Biology 23.5.3 Prospects for Saving the Aral Sea 23.5.4 Problems with Water Allocation 23.6 The Role of Dams on Vakhsh River References 24 Impoundment and Reservoir Development 24.1 Lom Pangar 24.2 Nam Ngiep 1 References 25 HPPs in High Mountain Areas 25.1 Mauvoisin Dam Heightening and Mauvoisin II: Talking with NGOs 25.2 Pamir 1 References 26 Bad Dams? 26.1 Projects in Protected Areas 26.1.1 Ayago Nile 26.1.2 Sutjeska National Park 26.1.3 Ivindo National Park, Gabon: Kongou HPP 26.2 Palas Valley, Pakistan 26.3 Ilisu 26.3.1 The Project 26.3.2 My Involvement 26.3.3 Project Development and Conclusions 26.4 Lower Bosna Cascade References 27 Epilogue: Whither Dams? 27.1 A Future for Hydropower? 27.1.1 Growing Energy Demand 27.1.2 Remaining Potential 27.1.3 Increasing Resistance 27.2 Improving ESIA 27.2.1 The Weaknesses of ESIA 27.2.2 The Formalist and the Pragmatist 27.2.3 Improving the Process 27.2.4 Institutional Strengthening, Capacity Building and Training 27.2.5 Introducing Alternative Processes 27.3 Improving Implementation 27.3.1 The Result Is Important 27.3.2 Minimising Impacts on Rivers 27.3.3 You Get What You Pay For 27.3.4 Communication References Annex A TOC for an EIA