Earth Day 2016: NetWwater highlights damaging impact ‘mini hydros’ in Sri Lanka
Small hydropower dams have a reputation of being environmentally friendly alternatives for mega hydro dams such as the infamous Three gorges in China. There is however little evidence that the so-called ‘mini hydros’ indeed are ‘green’, while having severely damaging impacts for the environments and communities depending on the rivers they are a built in, often because an ill choice of locations.
Sri Lanka’s Anda Dola, a tributary of Gin Ganga river, is the latest victim of rapidly spreading mini-hydro projects throughout the wet zone. The projects are causing massive environmental destruction affecting the stream, rainforest, soil and endemic fish in the Dellawa rainforest region.
Women for Water Partnership member NetWwater is one of a few organisations raising awareness on the devastation caused by mini hydros in Dellawa, mobilizing communities, building community networks, putting the issues on the Sri Lanka media agenda and organizing meetings between all stakeholders involved, including bankers, developers , social auditors and aggrieved communities.
On Earth Day 2016 (April 22nd) NetWwater took a community protesting the construction of a mini hydro in Dellawa to another community in Eratna, which has three mini hydros on the Kuro river and is protesting the construction of a fourth. Activists, proponents, monks, men, women and children all got on buses to see for themselves the impact of the three mini hydros on Kuru river.
NetWwater will continue to organise public awareness events, presentations on scientific and community issues and is seeking partners to link up with for currently lacking studies on the many challenges related to mini hydros, I.e. community water security, gender issues related to minihydros affected villages, common property resources, threats to endemic species, and climate related impacts.
Learn more about the impact of small hydro power dams through below links:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/03/17/sustainable-hydropower-small-dams-better-fisheries-benefits/
http://efl.lk/v2/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mini-Hydro-Dialogue-Presentation.pdf
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2016/01/24/massive-environmental-destruction-due-to-anda-dola-mini-hydro-project/small dams can pose a greater threat to ecosystems and natural landscapes than large dams
Sri Lanka’s Anda Dola, a tributary of Gin Ganga river, is the latest victim of rapidly spreading mini-hydro projects throughout the wet zone. The projects are causing massive environmental destruction affecting the stream, rainforest, soil and endemic fish in the Dellawa rainforest region.
Women for Water Partnership member NetWwater is one of a few organisations raising awareness on the devastation caused by mini hydros in Dellawa, mobilizing communities, building community networks, putting the issues on the Sri Lanka media agenda and organizing meetings between all stakeholders involved, including bankers, developers , social auditors and aggrieved communities.
On Earth Day 2016 (April 22nd) NetWwater took a community protesting the construction of a mini hydro in Dellawa to another community in Eratna, which has three mini hydros on the Kuro river and is protesting the construction of a fourth. Activists, proponents, monks, men, women and children all got on buses to see for themselves the impact of the three mini hydros on Kuru river.
NetWwater will continue to organise public awareness events, presentations on scientific and community issues and is seeking partners to link up with for currently lacking studies on the many challenges related to mini hydros, I.e. community water security, gender issues related to minihydros affected villages, common property resources, threats to endemic species, and climate related impacts.
Learn more about the impact of small hydro power dams through below links:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/03/17/sustainable-hydropower-small-dams-better-fisheries-benefits/
http://efl.lk/v2/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mini-Hydro-Dialogue-Presentation.pdf
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2016/01/24/massive-environmental-destruction-due-to-anda-dola-mini-hydro-project/small dams can pose a greater threat to ecosystems and natural landscapes than large dams
