May 14, 1964 Egypt's president Gamal Abdel Nasser and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pressed a button that effected the diversion of the Nile River necessary to build the next stage of the Aswan Dam.
"I will make the rivers (of Egypt) dry...
and I will make the land waste, and all that is
therein, by the hand of strangers."
(Ezekiel 30:12-13)
“Millions of people worldwide are facing serious threats to their livelihoods and cultures due to the construction of large dams. Intended to boost development, these projects have led instead to further impoverishment, degraded environments and human rights violations. An estimated 40-80 million people have been forcibly evicted from their lands to make way for dams. Evidence shows that these people have often been left economically, culturally and psychologically devastated.
Growing evidence shows that dams often fall short of meeting their projected benefits. In November 2000, the World Commission on Dams released a highly critical report showing that dams have generated less power, irrigated less land and supplied less drinking water than projected. While dams can prevent some floods from occurring, the WCD found that they can also exacerbate damages suffered when floods do occur. Projects studied by the WCD incurred an average cost overrun of 56 percent, and about half faced delays of one year or more. For more information on the economic, social and environmental impacts on dams, please click on the About Dams link.” Source: International Rivers Network
The High Aswan Dam: Environmental Impacts
Long-Term Negative Impacts of Aswan High Dam
1. Erosion of coastline barriers, due to lack of new sediments from floods, will eventually cause loss of brackish water lake fishery that is currently the largest source of fish to Egypt.
2. Subsidence of Delta, due to lack of new sediment supplies from flood, will lead to inundation of northern portion of Delta, much of which now used for rice crops.
3. Deposition of sediments in Lake Nasser will eventually eliminate irrigation water storage volume from the reservoir, preventing the main use for which the High Dam was constructed.
4. The quantities of sediments which will accumulate in Lake Nasser are so large that there are no plausible ways to remove them in the future.
"I will make the rivers (of Egypt) dry...
and I will make the land waste, and all that is
therein, by the hand of strangers."
(Ezekiel 30:12-13)
“Millions of people worldwide are facing serious threats to their livelihoods and cultures due to the construction of large dams. Intended to boost development, these projects have led instead to further impoverishment, degraded environments and human rights violations. An estimated 40-80 million people have been forcibly evicted from their lands to make way for dams. Evidence shows that these people have often been left economically, culturally and psychologically devastated.
Growing evidence shows that dams often fall short of meeting their projected benefits. In November 2000, the World Commission on Dams released a highly critical report showing that dams have generated less power, irrigated less land and supplied less drinking water than projected. While dams can prevent some floods from occurring, the WCD found that they can also exacerbate damages suffered when floods do occur. Projects studied by the WCD incurred an average cost overrun of 56 percent, and about half faced delays of one year or more. For more information on the economic, social and environmental impacts on dams, please click on the About Dams link.” Source: International Rivers Network
The High Aswan Dam: Environmental Impacts
Long-Term Negative Impacts of Aswan High Dam
1. Erosion of coastline barriers, due to lack of new sediments from floods, will eventually cause loss of brackish water lake fishery that is currently the largest source of fish to Egypt.
2. Subsidence of Delta, due to lack of new sediment supplies from flood, will lead to inundation of northern portion of Delta, much of which now used for rice crops.
3. Deposition of sediments in Lake Nasser will eventually eliminate irrigation water storage volume from the reservoir, preventing the main use for which the High Dam was constructed.
4. The quantities of sediments which will accumulate in Lake Nasser are so large that there are no plausible ways to remove them in the future.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 6:37 PM | Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home