Lecture 7: The Amazon River (contd)

Transcription

1 Lecture 7: The Amazon River (contd)

2 Geomorphology and Ecology Some issues of River Management

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4 An Andean Influence: Sediment and dissolved solids Nutrients Organic matter Floodplain Sedimentation

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7 Three major categories of Amazonian tributaries: Black water (e.g. Jutai and Negro) Clear water (e.g. Trombetas, Tapajos, Xingu and Tocantins) White water (e.g. Madeira, Purus, Jurua, Ucayali)

8 White Black Clear McClain and Naiman, Bioscience, 2008

9 All quantities are for total organic carbon unless otherwise noted McClain and Naiman, Bioscience, 2008

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11 Jaraqui

12 Dolphin (Boto)

13 Dorado

14 McClain and Naiman, Bioscience, 2008

15 Meade, 2007

16 Fernandes et al., Nature, 2004

17 Fernandes et al., Nature, 2004

18 Major mode of forest regeneration in upper Amazon is on new riverine soils = f(lateral erosion and channel change) Salo et al., Nature, 1996

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21 Tucurui internationalrivers.org

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23 Dams on the Rio Madeira

24 Dams on the Rio Madeira Madeira scheme main characteristics Jirau Santo Antônio Main dam Type: Earth and rockfill Crest length Auxiliary Dam 1,150 m 990 m 575 m (rolled concrete) 200 (earth) Spillway Maximum discharge 82,600 m3 /s 84,000 m 3 /s Number of spans 21 21

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26 Fearnside, Environmental Management, 2005

27 Needs: Electricity Demand Costs: Direct Monetary Costs Opportunity Costs Fearnside, Environmental Management, 2005

28 Environmental Costs: Forest Loss Sedimentation Aquatic Ecosystems Water Table Greenhouse Gas Emissions Social Costs: Resettlement Health Impacts Mitigating Measures: Forest Reserve Faunal Rescue Fearnside, Environmental Management, 2005

29 News Brazil's Ibama clears way for Madeira schemes Thursday, July 12, 2007 The Santo Antonio and Jirau hydro projects planned to be built on the Madeira river in Rondonia state, Brazil, have been given a conditional environmental licence by the national regulator Ibama. Ibama said that the conditional approvals of the environmental licences clears the way the federal government to auction concessions for the two hydro schemes this year. The Santo Antonio and Jirau schemes are designed to have capacities of 3150MW and 3300MW and reservoirs with surface areas of 258km2 and 271.3km2, respectively. Electricity from the scheme would be transmitted to Porto Velho. Conditions on the environmental licences include: removal of cofferdams built during construction works to ensure sufficient river flows for sediments and fish larvae; establishing effective monitoring of sedimentation, fish spawning activities, and pollutants such as mercury. Earlier this year federal prosecutors filed an action questioning the environmental licensing process for the 6450MW Madeira schemes in the north west of Brazil, near the border with Bolivia. The complaint was that the developers, utility Furnas and construction group Odebrecht, had not included the transmission lines in their environmental impact study.

30 Judge Suspends Second Madeira Dam November 25, 2008 Aviva Imhof Update: On December 4, the Regional Federal Court overturned the injunction stopping work on the Jirau dam, stating that the decision "interferes with the planning of the generation and distribution of electricial energy, which is necessary for the progress of the country." This decision is being appealed by NGOs. Brazil's environmental protection agency, Ibama, granted a "preliminary" construction license in mid- November for the Jirau Dam on the Amazon's principal tributary, the Madeira River. Ten days later the license was suspended by a Federal Court judge, who stated that Brazilian law does not allow the granting of a preliminary license. The judge said that construction couldn't start on the project until a final license was issued by Ibama. The preliminary license gave a consortium led by French energy giant Suez permission to begin construction on the 3,300 MW project, although Ibama wasn't planning to issue the final license for two months. Jirau is the second of two dams being built on the Madeira. Construction on the first, the Santo Antonio Dam, started earlier this year. Ibama granted the preliminary license despite the fact that the consortium announced after winning the project auction that it was planning to move the dam nine kilometers from the area specified in the original bidding rules. Although it appears that no additional environmental impact assessments were carried out to determine the impacts of this move, Ibama authorized construction with few contingencies, only requiring some additional environmental analysis prior to construction of the coffer dam. A petition for an injunction was filed by the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for Environment and Development, which requested revocation of the preliminary license granted by Ibama. Ibama's creation of the phony license is the latest in a series of decisions by the Brazilian government that demonstrates its determination to move forward with large dams in the Amazon Basin at any price. A number of other lawsuits are also working their way through the Brazilian courts challenging the approval of the new dam site, any of which could put further obstacles in front of the project developers. The Madeira River dams have been the subject of intense controversy in Brazil because they would block the transport of sediment and the passage of fish, and threaten the river's unique biodiversity. The project would affect the land and livelihoods of thousands of river-bank dwellers and indigenous people. america/amazon basin/madeira river/judge suspends second madeira dam

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32 McClain and Naiman, 2008, Bioscience, 58, Fearnside, 2005 Environmental Management, 35, see links on course website

33 Big Rivers: The Rio Paraná