The Last of Brazil's Pharaonic Dam Boondoggles
5/29/98
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: The Last of Brazil's Pharaonic Dam Boondoggles
Source: International Rivers Network
tel/fax: +55.65.791.1313
Email: glen@nutecnet.com.br
Status: Distribute freely with proper credit to source
Date: 5/29/98
Porto Primavera Dam: The Last of Brazil's Pharaonic Dam Boondoggles
History:
Construction of Porto Primavera Dam, on the Parana River (whose name comes from
the Guarani word for "as large as the sea"), 750 km. west of S+o Paulo, began
in 1979, with completion scheduled for 1985. Given the fact that the military
regime had undertaken a number of expensive public works projects, including
the world's largest dam, Itaipu, work on Porto Primavera was halted for lack of
money. Originally budgeted at $2.2 billion, it is now estimated that the final
cost of Porto Primavera 19 years later will exceed $9.3 billion, making it the
second or third most costly hydroelectric dam in the world.
Despite the fact that construction of the dam has taken nearly 20 years, basic
mitigation and compensation measures have either never been undertaken, or have
not been completed by the S+o Paulo state electric company, Cesp, which is
responsible for the dam. The company has failed to deforest the area which will
be inundated, which is expected to cause impacts on fish populations and a
proliferation of mosquitoes around the shallow reservoir. Only 340 of the 1,700
families who will have to be relocated have received compensation or
replacement land and housing.
State operating licenses have been granted to partially fill the reservoir to
the level of 253 meters above sea level. But, no federal operating license,
required for projects of "significant regional or national impacts" has ever
been applied for. For these reasons, and the fact that the inundation of
conservation units has not been authorized by legislative action, a flurry of
lawsuits is challenging the legality of closing the dam.
If the floodgates are closed on May 31st, as planned, some 1,700 families
(6,200 people) will be expelled from their homes, without any permanent
resettlement provisions, and without any guarantee of receiving new lands. The
S+o Paulo state governor, Mario Covas, who is running for re-election says that
there will be energy shortages if the floodgates are not closed immediately.
Dimensions:
Porto Primavera will create one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, the
equivalent of 300,000 football fields, five and a half times the size of Rio de
Janeiro's Guanabara Bay, and larger than Itaipu reservoir. Despite this fact,
it will generate a maximum of only 1,815 MW of electricity (one-eighth the
generating capacity of Itaipu). The cost per megawatt/hour of electricity from
Porto Primavera will be $150, making it among the most costly in the world
(CESP charges $40 per megawatt for energy it sells). In order to complete the
dam, CESP has issued shares of the energy which the dam will produce to
construction companies, meaning that $6-8 billion may eventually have to be
written off as losses by Brazilian taxpayers to poor planning, corruption and
political expediency.
Technical considerations:
The project involves construction of a 38 meter-high earth embankment dam,
creating a 250 km.-long reservoir. Installation of the initial turbine (of
18) is nearly completed. A 460 kV transmission line is expected to be ready
in July. The floodgates are scheduled to be closed on May 31, while maintaining
a minimum flow to guarantee the generating capacity of Itaipu dam downstream.
The principal contractor is Camargo Correa, one of Brazil's largest and most
politically powerful construction companies, responsible for construction of
Serra da Mesa, Tucurui, and Itaipu dams, which have each had serious social and
environmental impacts, and have come in far over budget. After the departure of
the military government, authorities threatened to halt the project, charging
that irregularities in the electric company's relationship with Camargo Correa
had illegally inflated construction costs. Instead, successive state
governments in S+o Paulo approved budget "bonuses" for the construction giant.
Reportedly, the transnationals Techint Montreal, Potain, GEC Alsthom, and Asea
Brown Boveri have also participated in the construction of the dam.
Environmental and Social impacts:
The dam will flood 251,000 ha. of farmlands, forests, and wetlands, destroying
ecosystems and inundating "protected" areas. Among these are the Lagoa S+o
Paulo Reserve (13,000 ha.), which is considered a key part of S+o Paulo's
"varj+o", a smaller version of the Pantanal wetlands; the Pontal Reserve (of
which a part will be flooded), Figueiral Park, and floodplains along the Peixe
and Aguaei Rivers, habitat for the endangered species marsh deer, maned wolf,
jaguatirica cat, giant anteater, broad-snouted caiman, and spotted jaguars,
giant river otters, and others, including a recently discovered species of
black jaguar. The region has ecosystems which are characteristic of the
Atlantic Coast forest, savanna, deciduous forests, and the Amazon rainforest.
The dam will also affect the last community of the Ofaie-Xavante indigenous
people (14 families) have been moved six times in the past ten years.
Other populations who will suffer loss of livelihood include artisanal ceramic
makers, who depend on the clay deposits along the Parana River for their raw
materials. The ceramic makers are demanding to be resettled in an area with
natural clay deposits, but CESP is promising only 8 years of replacement
stocks, which the artisans believe to not be of sufficient quality.
Fishermen, who say that fish stocks have alrready been severly affected by the
closing of some of the floodgates, are asking for an area along the reservoir
for subsistence farming and eventually to raise fish in captivity, as well as
compensation for losses in income.
CESP has made promises of compensation to some small farmers affected in Mato
Grosso do Sul state, but has failed to follow through, and the farmers fear
that with the closing of the dam, there will be little incentive for CESP to
make good on its word. Many are living along the side of the road under black
plastic tents protesting CESP's intransigence.
Despite the fact that dam construction has created 7,000 temporary jobs,
hundreds of families have permanently lost their source of income, with no
alternative in sight. The impending layoffs of thousands of construction
workers will worsen the economic crisis affecting the region.
For more information:
International Rivers Network
tel/fax: +55.65.791.1313
Email: glen@nutecnet.com.br
Secretaria Nacional do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (in Portuguese)
Rua 7 de Abril, 264 - sala 722 - 7- andar
Centro - Cep 01014-000 - S+o Paulo - SP, Brasil
Telefax +55.11 256-0839 - Email: mnab@zaz.com.br