Reservoirs, Dams and Cities - EWA - European Water … European ICOLD Club: Mission and Activities Regional Clubs have been established by ICOLD, the International Commission on Large

10th EWA Brussels Conference 18th November 2014

Water in the Cities Reservoirs, Dams and Cities Pros and cons of a complex relationship

Mod. PPT v. 00

Guido Mazzà President of European ICOLD Club

European ICOLD Club – Mission and Activities Reservoirs and Dams – Figures and uses Reservoirs and Dams – Energy Reservoirs and Dams – Floods Reservoirs and Dams – Environmental issues Reservoirs and Dams – Public acceptance European ICOLD Club – Programme 2014-2016 Conclusions

Summary

European ICOLD Club: Mission and Activities

European ICOLD Club


Regional Clubs have been established by ICOLD, the International Commission on Large Dams, to facilitate the interchange of knowledge and experience between countries with common interests and similar socio-economic contexts.


The European ICOLD Club has the mission to: • Encourage the exchange of up-to-date information and

research on matters related to design, construction, operation, maintenance, socio-economic, and environmental aspects of dams and reservoirs

• Facilitate the interchange of information on the different

legislation, standards, and practice applied in respect of reservoir safety and environmental impact in different countries

• Participate in public relations activities to explain the social, environmental and economic benefits of dams and reservoirs and encourage the organization of regular European Symposia on Dams and Reservoirs

• Co-operate in the professional training of young

engineers in relation to dams and reservoirs through participation in Symposia and Working Groups organized by the Club and in exchanges of staff between countries


SYMPOSIA Venice, Italy April 2013

Innsbruck, Austria September 2010

Freising, Germany September 2007

Canterbury, UK June 2004

Geiranger, Norway June 2001

Barcelona, Spain June 1998

Stockholm, Sweden June 1996

Crans-Montana, Suisse Septembrer 1995

Chambery, France September 1993


Working Groups • GEOMEMBRANES AND GEOSYNTHETICS AS FACING MATERIALS

• UPLIFT PRESSURES UNDER CONCRETE DAMS

• SLIDING OF CONCRETE DAMS

• EUROPEAN WATER DIRECTIVES

• SEISMIC CRITERIA

• AGEING OF CONCRETE DAMS

• EDUCATION

• FLOODS

• PUBLIC SAFETY

• DAM SAFETY OF EXISTING DAMS

• INTERNATIONAL EROSION

• DAM SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

• MANAGEMENT OF DAM INCIDENTS


Reservoirs and Dams: Figures and uses

European ICOLD Club


Dams in the World: 50,000 large dams, regulating 4,000 km3 of water

representing 31% of the renewable world water resources

Dams in Europe: About 6,100 large dams, 12% of the total number of

large dams in the world, which create a reservoir capacity of about 5% of the world reservoir capacity

Dams in Europe Main countries N. dams Power (GW) % generation by HP Spain 990 19.7 8 France 572 23.0 7 Italy 523 17.8 15 United Kingdom 517 1.7 1 Norway 336 30.7 95 Germany 311 4.8 3 Albania 306 1.5 80 Portugal 242 5.0 10 Bulgaria 216 1.5 8 Austria 212 13.2 59 Romania 209 6.5 20 Sweden 190 16.2 44 Switzerland 167 14.5 59 Turkey 753 20.0 26

Source: Hydropower &Dams. 2014


Produce around 15% of world electricity, representing 80% of renewable electricity

Supply water to millions

of people, sometimes in very large cities without any or limited sources of fresh water

Produce 40% of the world’s food using irrigated agriculture


Ensure better inland navigation and recreational facilities

Mitigate the effects of recurrent floods and droughts

Restore wetlands for animals, flora and ecological biodiversity, in arid and semi-arid areas


Reservoirs and Dams - Energy

European ICOLD Club

Hydropower is a fully mature technology in use in 159 countries worldwide. It provides 16.3% of the world's electricity, more than nuclear power (12.8%), much more than wind, solar, geothermal and other sources combined (3.6%), but much less than fossil fuel plants (67.2%).


Source: International Energy Agency. Technology Roadmap – Hydropower. 2012

Hydropower is currently Europe’s largest renewable energy resource with about 361 TWh generated in Europe in 2012. This corresponds to 11.7 % of the European net electricity generation and about 60 % of electricity from renewable resources in 2012.


Source: EUROSTAT. 2012



Reservoir Hydropower Plants and Pumped Storage Plants can provide electricity grids with a basic range of energy services: Back-up and reserve Regulation and frequency response Black start capability

Reservoir Hydropower Plants and Pumped Storage Plants facilitate the

expansion of other renewables: integration may necessitate changes in the way hydropower facilities operate

to provide balancing, reserves or energy storage



The deployment of sustainable hydropower should avoid the annual emission of 1 billion tons CO2

Reservoirs and Dams – Floods

European ICOLD Club

Reservoirs and Dams - Floods

150 casualties per year, 4% of the casualties caused by natural disasters

27% of affected people 40% of all economic

damage caused by natural events

Source: L. Berga, 9th European ICOLD Club Symposium. Venice, 2013

Floods are one of the most important categories of natural disasters. In Europe, between 1989 and 2008, there were 11 significant floods per year which caused:

The main European areas more prone to flooding are: The Mediterranean coast The dykes areas of The

Netherlands The central areas of Ireland The North German coastal

plains The Rhin, Seine and Loira

valleys The Alpine valleys The Po valley The Danube and Tisza

valleys


The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC AR5 SPM, 2013) shows dramatically different possible scenarios for the climate projections at medium-long term, according to possible different environmental policies.



Genoa flood, Italy (October, 2014)

Damage costs from floods are expected to increase both for the effects of climate change that influence intensity/frequency of extreme weather events and to the grow of population, economic wealth and human activities in hazard-prone areas.

Source: EEA Report No 12/2012-Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe. 2012

The role of dams in flood mitigation in different European countries has been investigated by the European ICOLD Club on more than 50 significant real cases. The reduction of flood peak was very variable, ranging between 12% and 100%, with a mean value of 54%.


Source: Report of the European ICOLD Club Working Group “Dams and Floods”. “Dams and floods in Europe. Role of dams in flood mitigation”. 2010

In general, the greatest reductions and benefits in the flood mitigation are obtained by flood control dams, built with the predominant aim of flood mitigation.

Florence flood, 1966


The construction of Bilancino Dam, 1984-1996

The heightening of Levane Dam to improve the resilience of the River Arno hydraulic system: a proposal under discussion

Reservoirs and Dams - Environmental Issues

European ICOLD Club

The report issued by the European Commission “A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources “ states that the most widespread pressure on ecological status in the EU originate from changes to water bodies due, for example, to dams for hydropower and navigation or draining land for agriculture, embankments for flood protection.

Source: The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water resources. Communication from the Commission to EU Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - COM(2012)673


Dams interrupt the continuity of rivers


Dams and reservoirs, like any other significant change within natural setting, have implications for landscape, wildlife and biodiversity, population settlement, health and water quality, some of which represent negative externalities.

Dams and reservoirs have impact on the aquatic system …


… and change the chemical, physical

and biological processes of river

ecosystems


Dams cut off sediment flow to downstream habitats and increase the coastal erosion

Dams and reservoirs represent a great concern for the downstream territories


The Malpasset Dam failure (1959)

The Vajont disaster (1963)


Dam Failure statistical analysis ICOLD Bulletin 99, 1995

Impacts of project size: the Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River, intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and reduce the potential for floods, has produced resettlement of about 1.3 million people, archaeological and cultural site flooding, and is causing significant ecological changes.


Small is beautiful? This is an over-simplistic vision: the cumulative impacts of many smaller-scale plants compared with a single plant with the equivalent power installed/similar energy generation or equivalent reservoir capacity can be considerably higher. Sustainability issues are actually more under scrutiny and control in large plants than a myriad of smaller ones.

Reservoirs and Dams - Public Acceptance

European ICOLD Club

Public acceptance is crucial to any hydro and hydropower project because the perceptions that shape public opinion influence the regulatory context (permits, approvals, licenses, etc.).


In 2000, the World Commission on Dams formulated an influential set of recommendations that led the repositioning of the industry.

Source: The World Commission on Dams . Dams and Development: A Framework for Decision Making. 2000

Since WCD 2000, hydropower developments have placed more emphasis on investigating, implementing and communicating sustainability aspects, and incorporating multi-purpose benefits


Dam owners and Stakeholders have different perception – and often,

conflicting interests – about the role of hydro and hydropower plants in terms of

environmental and socio-economic impact

In order to have an objective assessment of the relationship between Dam Owners and Stakeholders, an enquiry promoted by ITCOLD has been carried out in Italy to measure the pro-activity of dam owners towards the «host territories».

• Hydropower plants • Dams for water

supply


The results of the inquiry have been presented at the 9th European ICOLD Club Symposium.

More recently, in a Workshop held in Bolzano (Italy), Dam owners and Stakeholders have debated on the benefits and negative externalities of dams.

The inquiry will be possibly proposed at European level in the frame of the European ICOLD Club activities in the period 2014-2016.


SYMPOSIUM: Share experience for safe and sustainable water storage. 9th IECS Symposium. Venice, 10-12 April, 2013 WORKSHOP: Dighe e Territorio - Dämme und ihr Umfeld ITCOLD. Bolzano–Bozen, 15-16 Mai, 2014

European ICOLD Club: Programme 2014-2016

European ICOLD Club

KEY ISSUE # 1 Ageing of hydro/hydropower plants and Asset Management

Throughout the world, many existing hydro projects have been in operation for a long time and some are in operation far beyond their design life. If the assessment of an existing hydro plant indicates that the safety conditions are not acceptable, decisions have to be made: repair, rehabilitation or maintenance, upgrading or uprating, redevelopment.


KEY ISSUE # 2 Reservoir sedimentation

The silting of reservoirs can interfere with dam operations affecting safety, reducing the storage, and shorten the intended lifespans. Desiltation is extremely expensive and environmental problems are associated to it.



KEY ISSUE # 3 Renewal of concessions

The European States are in various situations with regard to their legislation for granting or renewing rights to use hydropower. Some countries implement a competitive process to grant rights in the use of hydropower for new installations (e.g. France, Italy, Great Britain or Spain) or to renew them (e.g. France or Italy), while others do not (e.g. Norway) and their duration greatly varies from some years (in Great-Britain, for new hydropower plants) to unlimited duration (Sweden).

Source: Regimes for granting right to use hydropower in Europe. J. M. Glachant, M. Saguan, V. Rious, S. Douguet, E. Gentzoglanis. Report jointly prepared by the

Florence School of Regulation and Microeconomix . 2014

http://www.microeconomix.fr/publications/regimes-granting-right-use-hydropower-europe#sthash.imVKaxol.dpuf


KEY ISSUE # 3 Renewal of concessions

Heterogeneity at a European level: Non-coordinated actions of the different EU policy bodies and Lack of common legislative and regulatory backgrounds. Heterogeneity at a national level: Different legislative framework and governance of the decision-making process (national vs regional policies)

Understanding and harmonizing the main differences between national hydropower regimes is then particularly important.

Source: Regimes for granting right to use hydropower in Europe. J. M. Glachant, M. Saguan, V. Rious, S. Douguet, E. Gentzoglanis. Report jointly prepared by the

Florence School of Regulation and Microeconomix . 2014

http://www.microeconomix.fr/publications/regimes-granting-right-use-hydropower-europe#sthash.imVKaxol.dpuf

KEY ISSUE # 4 Environmental aspects

The introduction of the Water Framework Directive claims to turn rivers back to their original environment as far as possible: in general, this will result in reduced hydropower generation capacity due to increased compensation flow. The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources states that the main causes of negative impacts on water status are interlinked and refer to: climate change; land use; economic activities such as energy production, industry, agriculture and tourism; urban development and demographic change.


KEY ISSUE # 4 Environmental aspects

Data from the Blueprint underlines the need to improve the resilience of the aquatic system to adapt to climate change. Moreover, it is deemed important to progressively retrofit existing structures in order to improve water status. Green Infrastructures can greatly contribute to the restoration of riparian areas, to support biodiversity and soil fertility, to help limiting negative effects of floods and droughts.


KEY ISSUE # 5 Socio-economic aspects

Consider sustainability issues in the coordinated operation of hydro/hydropower plants

Increase levels of education and training in all aspects of hydro/hydropower design, development and operation

Support young engineers in knowledge transfer




To prepare a White Paper expressing the position of European ICOLD Club with the aim: To promote actions to raise awareness of European policy to

support the role of reservoirs and dams for water supply and energy generation, preserving the environment, providing an effective contribution to climate change adaptation, and ensuring harmonization of infrastructural systems with the territories

Include hydropower in energy and water planning, treat

hydropower development as a strategic choice and include its financing in governments’ policy agenda


To promote the harmonization of European policies and legislation on water resources management and energy, including concessions

To encourage discussion between dam owners and stakeholders to improve public awareness, to promote dam owners proactivity towards the host territory and to improve the perception of stakeholders involved by the presence of dams and hydro infrastructures

To strongly support the organization of initiative to foster the knowledge transfer to fill the generational gap that exists between experts of the hydro sectors close to retirement and young technicians who wish to start activities in the hydro sectors

Conclusions

European ICOLD Club

Clearly, the views on the role of reservoirs and dams expressed in The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water resources and in Water Framework Directive in comparison with the position of Dam owners, IEA, and other sector organizations (e.g. EURELECTRIC) are basically different and even opposed.

Conclusions

A policy of contraposition is unlikely to produce positive results. Common sense should convince stakeholders to search for points of contact and mediation between the different positions.

Reservoirs and Dams, jointly with other structural, e. g. Green Infrastructures, and non-structural measures, can represent the key system into the framework of an Integrated Water Resources Management.

Conclusions

Efforts are needed at technical and institutional level to find the necessary mediation between different positions that should converge for the common well-being of the territories and of the people who inhabit them.

Initiatives like the signing of the Memorandum of Understangings between EWA and EIC and between EWA and IWA moves in the right direction.

Conclusions

10th EWA Brussels Conference 18th November 2014

Water in the Cities

Thanks for your attention

Mod. PPT v. 00

Guido Mazzà President of European ICOLD Club

Documents

Reservoirs, Dams and Cities - EWA - European Water … European ICOLD Club: Mission and Activities Regional Clubs have been established by ICOLD, the International Commission on Large