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The Crisis Behind The Crisis?Forced Migration and its Consequence as a Result of Environmental Change
and Natural Disaster in ASEAN
15th December 2011, at 9.00-17.30 hrs.Chumpot - Pantip conference room
4th floor of Prajadhipok Rambhai - Barni building Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Ame Trandem
15 December 2011
Hydropower Development on the Sesan River, Hydropower Development on the Sesan River, Vietnam, and its downstream consequences Vietnam, and its downstream consequences
on Cambodiaon Cambodia
(1) Sesan River Hydropower Development & Transboundary Conflict
• Poor planning and governance(2) Downstream impacts
• Hydropower dams that have been built to date have exacerbated rather than reduced poverty, creating local and basin-wide impacts
(3) Abandoned Villages• Environmental insecurity due to dams have led to
environmentally motivated migration (4) Healthy rivers are critical for supporting life
• Big dams reduce water quality and quantity, dry up forests and wetlands, flood productive land, exacerbate biodiversity loss, and destroy fisheries.
Presentation Outline
(1) Sesan River Dams and Transboundary Conflict
“the degradation of water resources (and watershed) and growing pressure on these resources…. clearly indicates that there is a sense that the 3S is approaching some degree of a water crisis and that there are fundamental problems associated with current trends in resources use that threaten long term development ambitions.” (ADB, 2010)
• 720 MW dam built 70 km from the border in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Full operation in 2001. First major flood in 1996.
• Built by Electricity of Vietnam• Operation has affected
55,000 people downstream in Cambodia.
• Sesan Protection Network first established to campaign for compensation and better development process.
Yali Falls Dam, Sesan River and civil society response
RiversBasin boundaries
Streams
VietnamLaosCambodia
Installed Capacity (MW)
%U Irrigation dams
#S 1 - 10#S 10 - 50#S 50 - 200#S 200 - 400#ท 400 - 1,000
#Y
#Y#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#Y
#S
#S
#S
#S#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#ท#S
#ท
#ท
#ท
#S#S
#S
#ท
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S%U
#S
#S
#S
#S
#ท
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
#S
%U
%U
%U
%U
#S
#ท
#S%U
%U
%U
#S
#S
%U
%U
%U
VIETNAM
LAOS
CAMBODIA
Pakxe
Snuol
Kratie
Xekong
Pleiku
Pakxong
Attapeu
Kon Tum
Dac Min
Ban Long
Saravane
Senmonorom
Stung Treng
Khongsedone
Muang Khong
Buon Ma Thuot
Existing or Proposed Hydropower Sites in the Sekong, Sesan, Srepok Basins - Project Status
Project Status
#S#S
#S OperationalUnder ConstructionProposed
Sources including: Australian Mekong ResourceCentre; I. Baird; Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy; Electricite du Laos; Electricity of Vietnam; Maunsell and Lahmeyer; Mekong RiverCommission Secretariat.
Prepared at Oxfam America East AsiaRegional Office, August 18th, 2005.
Map Projection: UTM Zone 48N Indian 1975.
30 0 30 60 Kilometers
Extensive hydropower development in the 3S basin and poor governance
The dams’ development process has been poor:
-Poor quality EIAs, often not released. No transboundary EIAs (until too late)
-No options or cumulative impacts assessment
- No public consultation
-No compensation or remedy for affected Cambodians
The EIA conducted by Electrowatt for the Yali dam only reached 8 km downstream of the dam and concluded that the population downstream of Yali Falls is very sparse, and are not dependant on the River in any way”. – AMRC 2003
(2) Downstream Impacts
Disturbed Ecosystems
Riverbed dry-ups, flow changes, loss of fish and aquatic plant resources impacting the local
economies and peoples’ livelihoods
Irregular Water Fluctuations & Frequent Flooding
Sesan-Andong Meas:Hourly Fluctuations of Water Level in February
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
01-28 February
Wat
er L
evel
, m
2001 2002 2003
•Water surges and erratic water changes due to peak operation•Increased and prolonged flooding (1996, 2000, 2001)•39 deaths are documented caused by flooding.
Hourly water recordings by the CNMC 2003
• Loss of riverbank gardens• Fisheries depletion due to increased
turbidity, water fluctuations, blocked migration routes and loss of fish habitat and food :– Reduced catches by 73% to what
they were before the dams (3SPN, GAPE, 2006)
– Some species decline and disappearance
• Food insecurity undermines other areas of life, such as good health, ability to learn, and a productive working life
Food Insecurity
“Today, their food security has vanished- only rice remains a consistent part of villagers’ diets. They see a life worse than that of their parents.”
(NGO Forum, 2005)
• Deteriorating water quality since construction of Yali Falls
• Striver report identifies toxic blue-green algae and E.Coli in Sesan linked to dams upstream that exceeds WHO safety limits (Striver 2009)
Water-borne illness and disease
Problems have included:
•Itchy skin
•Stomach illnesses
•Temporary paralysis
•Death of livestock and people
• Decrease in household income from $109 to $46 per month in 1999, a drop of 57%.
• Local people lost over $800,000 in tangible goods from 1996-1999.
• Loss of alternative incomes• Not all losses are quantifiable
(2001 Economic Valuation Report)
Lost incomes
Community based research bythe 3S Rivers Protection Network(2007) found that 722households composed of 3,545people had abandoned theirhomes away from the SesanRiver to live in upland areas.
Main reasons include:1) Frequent flooding2) Food shortages3) Fear that dam may break
(3) Abandoned Villages
“Villagers have lost their hopes and dependencies on this river (Sesan), because nearly all of river resources are gone”
-Sesan Villager
From River-Resource Livelihoods to Forest Dependency
© Oxfam America- Brett Eloff
Positive Impacts of Migration• After 3 years, food security
for most families has improved
• Better access to income by selling NTFPs and wildlife animals
• Improved health due to increased food intake, forest resources available
• Sense of security“While living along the Sesan River was afraid all day and night that the dam may break, but now my family no longer fears it because we
are living in the mountainous area.”
-Sesan villager
Negative Impacts of Migration• Loss of chamkar and paddy
field• Access to education for most
children affected• Forest clearing for new
chamkars• Water shortages in dry season• Transportation difficulties• Lack of land titles and
protection from land grabbing• New move to cities
“Many people have moved to work on plantations, earning a regular income, but without improvements in their standards of living.” (Jammes, 2010)
Ongoing Pressure on Natural Resources
Extreme change since 2007 is compounding difficulties:
•Road building
•Internal migration and human trafficking
•Illegal logging and land grabbing
•Economic land concessionsLeading to increased
environmentally motivated migration and disruption of
traditional livelihoods
Healthy Rivers:• Healthy rivers are crucial for
supporting fisheries and biodiversity, maintaining water quality and quantity, nourishing agricultural floodplains, and sustaining livelihoods and food security.
• The case of the Sesan River could have been prevented with the use of sustainable energy options and participatory planning in development decision-making
(4) Healthy Rivers Promote Resilience
Conclusions
Widespread damming and poor planning and governance on the Sesan River has led to widespread environmental impacts, which has led to significant livelihood disruption
Impacts of dams, compounded with other growing natural resource pressures, has led to increased internal migration on the Sesan River
Healthy Provide for the Future
More sustainable energy technologies exist
Collecting traditional medicine along Sesan tributary. Photo: © Cindy Godden
