Silenced rivers : the ecology and politics of large dams / Patrick McCully.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCully, Patrick.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dams--Environmental aspects.

Dams.

Dams--Social aspects.

Dams--Economic aspects.

Physical Description:

lxxii, 359 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Edition:

Enlarged and updated edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Zed Books ; New York : Distributed in the USA exclusively by Palgrave, 2001.

Summary:

Entirely updated in light of the recent World Commission on Dams Report, and responding to it, this new edition of Patrick McCully's now classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries. He explores the wide-ranging ecological impacts of large dams, the human consequences, the organization of the dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies in promoting it. He also looks as the extensive technical, safety, and economic problems associated with large dams. New in this edition, the author tells the story of the rapid growth of the international anti-dam movement, and suggests alternative methods of supplying the services supposedly provided by large dams.

Contents:

Introduction to the Updated Edition: A New Order for Rivers and Society: The World Commission on Dams, and Beyond xv

The Prehistory of the World Commission on Dams xix

Conspiracies and Consultations xxiii

Findings xxvi

Dirty Reservoirs: Greenhouse Gas Emitting Dams xxxii

A Changing Climate for Dams xxxvii

The Century of the Small: Alternatives to Dams xxxviii

Bringing the Harvest Home xl

We've Got the Power xliii

Recommendations l

Reactions li

Changing the World, Dam by Dam liv

The Rise of the Dam Decommissioning Movement lxi

1 The Power and the Water 1

A Short History of Rivers 8

Dams: What They Are and What They Do 11

A Short History of Damming 12

The End of the Big Dam Era? 23

2 Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Dams 29

Flooding for Posterity 32

Dams and Geology: Morphological Effects 33

Dirty Dams: Effects on Water Quality 36

They Shall Not Pass: Dams and Migratory Fish 41

Foil'd Wanderers: Hydrological Effects 43

The Mitigation Game 49

The EIA Industry 54

3 Temples of Doom: The Human Consequences of Dams 65

Dammed Lies and Statistics 66

The Final Blow: Dams and Indigenous People 70

Waiting for the Dam 72

After the Deluge 76

The Failure of Resettlement Policies 82

Dams and Disease 86

4 When Things Fall Apart: The Technical Failures of Large Dams 101

Not on Solid Ground: Dams and Geology 102

Political Hydrology 104

Mud against Dams: Sedimentation 107

Reservoir-Induced Seismicity: Dams that Cause the Earth to Move 112

Iron Dams and Corpses: Dam Safety 115

Getting Old: Dam Ageing and Decommissioning 125

5 Empty Promises: The Elusive Benefits of Large Dams 133

Generating Risk and Debt: Hydropower 134

Dams to the Rescue? Hydro and Global Warming 141

The Great Illusion: Flood Control 146

Too Much to Drink: Dams and Public Water Supply 148

Blocking the Passage: Dams and River Transport 151

The One that Got Away: Reservoir Fisheries 153

All the Fun of the Reservoir: Dams and Recreation 155

6 Paradise Lost: Dams and Irrigation 164

Killing the Land: Irrigation and Soil Degradation 168

The Social Effects of Large-Scale Irrigation 172

The Technical and Economic Failure of Large-Scale Irrigation 179

7 The Wise Use of Watersheds 188

Managing the Land to Manage the Water 189

Flood Management 192

Farming Drylands without Large Dams 194

Going Underground 199

Traditional Diversions 202

Modern Irrigation: Back to the Future 205

Fix the Pipe, Spare the River 208

8 Energy: Revolution or Catastrophe? 217

The Renewables Are Coming 222

Bringing Hydro Down to Size 227

Storming the Palace Gates 232

9 Industry Applies, Man Conforms: The Political Economy of Damming 236

The Ideology of Dams 237

Dams and Domination 241

Dams and Pork 242

Technocrats without a Cause: Dam-Building Bureaucracies 243

A Vibrant Corps? Dam-Building Companies 247

The Ties that Bind: Dependent Industries 254

Those Who Pay the Piper: Dams and 'Aid' 255

Incomprehension and Intimidation: The Dam Builders' Reply 263

Nemesis: The Economics of Large Dams 269

10 We Will Not Move: The International Anti-Dam Movement 281

Aesthetics and Taxes: Dam Fights in the US 282

Arrests and Restoration in the Tasmanian Wilderness 287

Eastern Europe: Fight the Dams, Fight the System 289

Warriors and Workers Fight Back: Brazil 292

Struggle Over the River Kwai: Thailand 296

Clinging to the Land: Resistance to Dams in India 299

Dam Fighting on a Global Scale 306

Afterword: From the Dam to the Watershed 312

Appendix 1 The San Francisco and Watershed Management Declarations 313

Appendix 2 Manibeli Declaration 316

Appendix 3 Dams Involving Forced Resettlement 321

Appendix 4 Declaration of Curitiba 343.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1856499014

1856499022

OCLC:

45757778