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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Managing water
By Fatemah FaragParticipants were breaking virgin ground at the Africa-Middle East Regional Consultation on Dams, held in Cairo on 8-9 December. For the first time in Africa and the Middle East, governments, companies, non-governmental organisations, academics and representatives of public utilities met to discuss the social, environmental and economic consequences of giant water conservation structures.
The consultations, sponsored by the World Commission on Dams (WCD), were inaugurated by Mahmoud Abu Zeid, minister of irrigation and water resources; Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and WCD chair Kader Asmal, who is South Africa's minister of education and the former minister of water affairs and forestry in Nelson Mandela's government.
The WCD was established in 1998 at the request of both pro- and anti-dam interests with the aim of breaking the stalemate between the two sides regarding construction and management of dams as a means of water conservation. Initial meetings were brokered by the World Bank and the World Conservation Union -- an umbrella organisation of over 800 NGOs and government agencies with environmental concerns. The result was WCD -- an independent, non-partisan commission with a mandate to conduct a global review of the usefulness of large dams, probe dam alternatives and draw up criteria and guidelines for the assessment and implementation of future dam projects and possible alternatives.
What is it about large dams that makes the debate so crucial? The answer can partially be found in Kader Asmal's statement: "Water is one of the most vital elements for sustainable development and the debate over large dams has come to encompass all the issues at the heart of the unrealised dream of achieving sustainable development. On the one hand, large dams have fuelled agricultural and industrial growth while, on the other hand, this has often been at a cost to the environment, to tax-payers and to communities displaced by dams."
Abu Zeid took the point further: "The future context for water resources planning and consideration of dams and alternatives is set against the background of a number of larger global trends. These include rapid and uneven global population growth, the emergence of mega-cities, climatic changes, regional water shortages, growing environmental awareness, increasing sensitivity to human rights issues, increasing public participation in decision-making and shifts in global financing affecting large infrastructure projects. It has been estimated that about one billion people worldwide do not have access to water for daily needs and developmental aspirations."
The Cairo meetings were the third in a series of regional consultations aimed at providing the WCD with crucial input for the preparation of a final report, to be issued by mid-2000. The sessions dealt with a country perspective on Egypt; the social impact of displacement and resettlement; food security; assessing and managing environmental consequences; national development policies and alternative options. Participants came from countries ranging from Syria to Senegal.
The special character of the organisation manifested itself in the debates that combined papers making a strong case in favour of large dam construction with blatant criticism, such as the minute of silence observed in tribute to the Gwembe Tonga people of Zambia who were either displaced or died as a result of the construction of a dam over Lake Kariba.
Abu Zeid and other Egyptian participants extolled the many benefits of the Aswan High Dam, but the minister did concede that "there have been concerns that insufficient consideration as to who ultimately benefits and who ultimately pays for dams went into the decision-making process."
Another issue is Egypt's opposition to the construction of other large dams in the Nile basin. It was not long ago that fears were expressed regarding the proposed construction of a dam in Ethiopia. However, officials at the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources told Al-Ahram Weekly that such fears were now deemed groundless because the topography of that region was not conducive to the construction of large dams. And yet, plans to build the Kajabar Dam -- a 3,500-metre-broad structure in the northern province of Sudan -- may give rise to Egyptian concerns.
There are an estimated 800,000 dams worldwide, including 45,000 "large" ones (over 15 metres high). Some 1,600 large dams are under construction, in an industry whose annual turnover is estimated at $50 billion or more. The Middle East is home to at least 793 large dams, whose main purposes are for irrigation and flood control. Africa has 1,272 large dams, mainly for irrigation and water supply.
Government policy has been to promote optimum water use. Egypt has argued time and again that if the Nile water lost in the African marshes and swamps was conserved by the construction of canals, the littoral states would have an adequate water supply without having to resort to dam construction.
Participants were in agreement on the importance of conservation. UNEP's Toepfer highlighted the need to study alternatives to large dams, such as better management of water resources. He quoted estimates indicating that in African cities up to 40 per cent of the water supply is lost as a result of water pipe leakage. "Before we discuss the construction of dams, I believe the first priority is to determine how we can decrease demand through more efficient use of existing supply," he said. (See chart).
Studies from places as far away as South Africa support the validity of this argument. Highlighted in a paper presented by Scott Preston, adviser to the South African minister of water affairs, "invasive species," such as the Nile hyacinth, which afflicts Egypt, are major wasters of valuable water through evapotranspiration. International protocols have yet to deal with such issues.
Another factor, however, is that ever-dividing line between the haves and have-nots. Again, Preston indicated that a study of water consumption in Johannesburg showed that half of the water supply was consumed by 16 per cent of homes. "Whose taps will be serviced by dams is a relevant question. What has been happening is the subsidising of the rich at the direct expense of the poor and I challenge anyone to come up with data to refute that," said Preston.
At a subsequent news conference, Asmal took the issues of efficient water management and equity further. "How do you get communities to be involved not only in decision-making but also in management?" he said. "Another issue is how to encompass not just those directly affected -- like those being resettled -- but also the larger groups affected downstream. After all, the most directly affected are the poorest of the poor, who are very rarely organised and have very few people to speak on their behalf."
According to the WCD mandate, the organisation is not to intervene in, or arbitrate, the current controversies over dams. Although Asmal was careful to point out that "we are not a judge and jury," he would later concede that "we become a judge when we come to a decision on what is correct practice."
"The right to develop was fought so hard for. It is a right, however, that involves important legal and ethical questions. In the name of the sovereign right of a country, wrong decisions can be made. The emphasis, therefore, must be on the totality of needs," said Asmal.
