Mangla Dam

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Mangla Dam, embankment dam on the Jhelum River, Pakistan, completed in 1967. Mangla Dam is one of the two main structures in the Indus Basin project (the other is Tarbela Dam. The Mangla Dam rises 453 feet (138 m) above ground level, is about 10,300 feet (3,140 m) wide at its crest, and has a volume of 85,500,000 cubic yards (65,400,000 cubic m). Along with its three small subsidiary dams, it has an installed power capacity of at least 600 megawatts and impounds a reservoir with a gross capacity of 5,900,000 acre-feet (7,250,000,000 cubic m.

Tarbela Dam,

giant rock-fill dam on the Indus River, Pakistan. Built between 1968 and 1976, it has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 cubic m). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 acre-feet (13,690,000,000 cubic m), the dam is 469 feet (143 m) high and 8,997 feet (2,743 m) wide at its crest. Tarbela Dam is one of two main structures (the other is Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River) in the Indus Basin project, which resulted from the Indus Waters Agreement between India and Pakistan. Together with their subsidiary dams, Tarbela and Mangla were built to control ... (100 of 106 words)

Large Hydro Power Projects in Southeast Asia Hydro Power Plants in China
China counts half of the worlds large dams within its borders, and is the biggest producer of hydropower. Today there are more than 25,800 large dams in China. Yet, the Chinese government has ambitious plans to expand hydropower power plants, more than doubling capacity to 250,000 MW by the year 2020.

During the huge Ertan and Three Gorges projects of the 1990s, western companies interested in the multi-billion dollar contracts had to manufacture half the turbines and generators on China in cooperation with Chinese partners. In such way the leading hydropower firms of the time (ABB, Alstom, General Electric and Siemens etc.) transferred their technology in the process. In recent years, Chinese institutions have taken a lead in building dams not also abroad. Chinese banks and companies are involved in constructing some 216 large dams in 49 different countries, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia, including Kamchay Dam (Cambodia), Mphanda Nkuwa Dam (Mozambique), Merowe Dam (Sudan), and Tasang Dam (Burma). Huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in the country's remote southwest, in the protected area of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan it is where three of Asia' greatest rivers - the Nu (Salween), Lancang (Mekong) and Jinsha (Yangtze) run almost parallel before two of them wind their way into Southeast Asia. System of cascading eight hydropower works is being planned for the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, with a total investment of 30 billion dollars. The Mekong is destined to become Chinas new water tower and electrical powerhouse. A total of eight hydroelectric dams are planned on the Mekong, four projects have been already completed. One of the largest in the cascade, Xiaowan dam in the remote southern province of Yunnan, with a capacity of 1,750 MW have been completed in October 2008 and started power production in May 2009. Xiaowan dam is the worlds tallest, as high as the Eiffel Tower and the reservoir is more than 170 kilometres long. By 2014, engineers will have completed the Nuozhadu dam, which will be less high but will have an even larger reservoir. If all planned hydro power stations in southwestern China will be built over in the next 10 years, the amount of electricity generated would equal the output of five Three Gorges Dams. The Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River is by far the worlds largest hydropower project. With 18,200 megawatts, its capacity is bigger than the 500 hydropower plants and five nuclear reactors of Switzerland combined. Chinese hydropower projects have already forced to move more than 10 million people from their homes and land. Pollution is another problem - creation of a water reservoirs impeded the rivers capacity to cleanse itself. Around 30% of China's rivers are severely polluted, and some rivers dont meet the sea anymore. In addition, heavily polluting industries are allowed to settle in the area of hydro power plants. If government funded the construction of sewage treatment plants in the area, lots of them are idle because of their high operating costs. Dozens of scientists and environmentalists have also appealed for the government to suspend the approval of big dams in the quake-prone southwest and to review of plans to build more dams in geologically unstable areas as Sichuan and Yunnan, which have seen the most earthquakes in the country. A earthquake which struck the region on 12th May 2008 killed almost 80,000 people and wrecked or damaged more than 2,000 dams.

Hydro projects on Mekong River will drastically change natural

flood-drought cycle and block the transport of sediment, affecting ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions living downstream in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This cascade of dams will be able to store half the entire flow of the Mekong. In the future, the annual flood will be released gradually as turbines are switched on and off to supply year-round electricity. The new regime will largely eliminate the rivers annual flood pulse and wreck the ecosystems that depend on it. Impacts to water levels and fisheries have already been recorded along the Thai-Lao border. In 1995 Vietnam,

Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand the four downstream nations on the

river formed the Mekong River Commission, an intergovernmental body tasked with overseeing sustainable development along the river. China never joined and is building dams without any prior consultation with its neighbors.

Mekong River
The Mekong River, known as the Lancang in China, is the heart and soul of mainland Southeast Asia. Over 60 million people depend on the river and its tributaries for food, water, transport and many other aspects of their daily lives. Mekong supplies people with about 80% of their protein needs. The Mekong is almost 5,000 kilometers long stretching from the Tibetan plateau, through southern China, and then along the border of Myanmar, Laos Thailand, through Cambodia to Vietnam. Since the 1960s, several mega-schemes to dam the Lower Mekong River's mainstream to generate electricity have been proposed. The most recent plan, prepared by the Mekong Secretariat in 1994, was shelved in part due to public outcry over the predicted impacts on the river's fisheries. In 1995 Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand the four downstream nations on the river formed the Mekong River Commission, an intergovernmental body tasked with overseeing sustainable development along the river. China never joined and is building dams without any prior consultation with its neighbors. Since mid-2006, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Russian and Chinese companies have been preparing detailed studies for a cascade of eleven large hydropower dams on the Mekong Rivers mainstream. The projects are located at Pak Beng, Luang Prabang, Sayabouri, Pak Lay, and Sanakham in northern Laos; Pak Chom and Ban Koum on the Thai-Lao border; Lat Sua and Don Sahong in southern Laos; and Stung Treng and Sambor in Cambodia. Most of the power generated would be sent to energy-hungry cities in Thailand and Vietnam.

Laos
Landlocked Laos is one of the least developed countries in the region and Lao government have been eager to use one of its few natural resources - an abundance of mountains and surging rivers (Lao river network is contributing 35 percent of the Mekong River's flow) and to transform the country into the battery of Southeast Asia by exporting the power generated by numerous hydroelectric projects to their neighbor

countries, especially to Thailand and Vietnam. There are already seven hydroelectric dams in Laos and development plan contains 55 building of new large dams, seven of which are under construction and nearly fifteen more at advanced planning stages.

The massive Nam Theun 2 dam with a capacity of

1088MW is under construction. In March 2006, the the Lao government signed an agreement with Mega First Corporation Malaysia, to do a feasibility study to build a Hou Sahong dam, located in Laos less than 2 kilometers from the Laos-Cambodia border on the Mekong Rivers mainstream. The dam would be 32 meters high and generate up to 360 MW, mainly for export to Thailand or Cambodia. A Project Development Agreement was signed in 2008, but as yet no final decision has been made by the Lao government. Project would block the crucial passageway through the Hou Sahong channel, the only major channel of fish migration between Cambodia and Laos, which would put at risk 70% of the fish catch in the Lower Mekong Basin. It will also severely reduce the flow to the Khone Falls, Asia's largest waterfall.

Burma
Burmas military junta is in the process of selling the countrys rich river resources to hydropower developers from China, Thailand, and India. China is investing particularly heavily. EarthRights International survey identifies that at least 45 Chinese companies have been involved in approximately 63 hydropower projects in Burma, mainly on Salween river, longest free-flowing river in mainland Southeast Asia. Electricity produced from the proposed dams will be exported to neighboring countries instead of supplying local populations. Since 2005, Burmas military junta in partnership with the China Power Investment Corporation and China Southern Power Grid Corporation have been preparing plans to build the 3,600 megawatt Irrawaddy Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy river, which would be the largest dam in the country.

Vietnam
More than 30 projects are under development or at an advanced stage of planning to meet Vietnam's growing demand for energy. Since 2003, Electricity of Vietnam company is developing a series of dams in both the Sesan and Srepok basins. To make way for these projects, around 190 000 people will be displaced. In addition to developing its domestic hydropower resources, Vietnam with the support of the Asian Development Banks Mekong Power Grid plan is signing contracts to import electricity from Laos and Cambodia.

Cambodia
The Cambodian government is on the threshold of committing to an extensive hydropower program, mostly with the backing of Chinese financiers and construction companies. In 2005, the Cambodian Government started construction of Kamchay Dam, cambodian first large domestic hydropower project. The 112 meter high dam will be built

by Sinohydro Corporation (China's leading dam builder, having built 70% of China's hydropower capacity). In April 2006, China announced a US$600 million aid package to Cambodia, almost half of which financed the Kamchay Dam. In October 2006, the Cambodian government gave approval to the China Southern Power Grid Company to prepare a feasibility study for the massive 3,300 MW Sambor Dam, located on the Mekong mainstream in Kratie province. If approved, it would have a massive impact on the Mekong Rivers fisheries as well as on endangered species such as the Irrawaddy dolphin. Further seven projects have started with feasibility studies, four of them are located close to or within the Central Cardamom Protected Forest in Southwest Cambodia.

End
The Mekong river sustains the worlds second-largest inland fishery (only the Amazon has greater biodiversity) and is home to 1,200 fish species - approximately 50 of which are caught commercially. According to the Mekong River Commission, approximately 2.6 million tons of wild fish and other aquatic resources are harvested each year, worth at least US$2 billion at first-sale value. Taking into account secondary industries, such as fish processing and marketing, the total economic value for the Mekongs fisheries is between $5.6 and $9.4 billion per year, contributing significantly to the regions economy. In Laos, a report for the World Fish Centre in 2007, Eric Baran and Blake Ratner calculated the amount of wild fisheries to 64,600 tonnes 78% of the country's total fish production and the direct value to the Laos economy is between $66m and $100m - 6% to 8% of GDP. Around 70 percent of the Mekong Rivers commercial fish catch migrate long distances, which is essential for their life cycle. Building dams on the Mekong Rivers mainstream will block these migrations. Experience around the world indicates that these impacts cannot be mitigated. Existing fish passage technologies cannot handle the massive volume of fish migrations which can reach up to 3 million fish per hour at peak migration times. Building dams would block this migration routes and could cause severe problems with supplying food for rural population of Laos and Cambodia, which depends almost completely on river fisheries nowadays.

Resources
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/laos-hydroelectric-dam http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/Don%20Sahong%20Fact%20sheet%20Sept %202008%20ENGLISH.pdf http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/southeast-asia http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/WRR%20Mekong%20Map.pdf http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/2275