Archivo del Autor: User2
Indus Delta – Pakistan
“CLOSE YOUR EYES, IF YOU PREFER NOT TO LOOK” The desiccation of the Indus Delta is one of the world’s most underreported ecological disasters. A vast complex of massive dams, barrages, and irrigation canals has drastically reduced the flow of … Sigue leyendo
Mazahuan Women – Mexico
«THE FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO WATER» In September 2004, after years of struggle, the Mazahuan women symbolically armed themselves with farming tools and wooden rifles and formed the Zapatista Army of Mazahua Women in Defense of Water. The Cutzamala … Sigue leyendo
The ASA Project, One Million Cisterns – Brazil
Building Citizenry in Brazil’s Semiarid Northeast Brazil’s Northeast, a semiarid region, home to 22 million inhabitants, spans a surface area of 974.752 square km. Climate change there is leading to a water shortage crisis that could trigger an exodus, as … Sigue leyendo
The Opposition Against the Ebro Water Transfer Project – Spain
River Transfers Are Not the Solution / Ebro River · Spain The Spanish National Hydrological Plan (NHP), approved in the year 2000, provided for a water transfer of up to 1080 cubic Hm per year from the river Ebro to … Sigue leyendo
The Abandoned Jánovas Dam– Spain
«THE PEOPLE WERE WORTH NOTHING» Jánovas, Lavelilla, Lacort and 14 other villages in the Valley of Ara in the Spanish Pyrenees were destroyed in the sixties to build a dam that finally was never constructed. A conflict of interests between … Sigue leyendo
The Campaign to Undam the Klamath River · USA
“OPEN THE IRON GATE” The Klamath originates in marshes in eastern Oregon and descends through thickly forested canyons in the far north of California before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The watershed is comparatively small — the river is just … Sigue leyendo
The Fight Against the Alta Dam – Norway
«LET THE RIVER LIVE» The opposition to the construction of the Alta Dam in the 1970s pioneered the struggle against large dams throughout Europe. The Sami indigenous communities in northern Norway linked their struggle against the dam to their wider … Sigue leyendo
Loire…. A Beautiful Story – France
The Loire… A Beautiful Story The St. Etienne de Vigan and the Maisons-Rouges dams on the Allier and Vienne rivers, both tributaries of the Loire, were recently dismantled as part of the «Loire Grandeur Nature» plan. Local citizen groups had … Sigue leyendo
Privatisation in Ghana
HOW DOES AFRICA SHATTER AN ILLUSION? In the late 1990s, the management of 190 urban water systems in Ghana, then controlled by the public company Ghana Water Sewerage Corporation (GWSC, which later became the GWCL), faced a crisis. The company … Sigue leyendo
The Fight Against the Privatisation of Water in Cochabamba – Bolivia
“IT’S THE PEOPLE’S WATER, CARAJO!” In February and March 2000, public protests broke out in the city of Cochabamba, in response to the skyrocketing price of water. In 1999, under pressure from the World Bank, Bolivia granted a 40-year privatisation … Sigue leyendo
Open Cast Gold Mines in Cajamarca · Peru
Lives for Gold / Opencast Gold Mining in Cajamarca · Perú The Yanacocha company carries out opencast mining in Cajamarca, Peru. At a rate of 500,000 tons of dynamited material per day at the headwaters of the rivers Rejo, … Sigue leyendo
Indus Delta – Pakistan
“CLOSE YOUR EYES, IF YOU PREFER NOT TO LOOK” The desiccation of the Indus Delta is one of the world’s most underreported ecological disasters. A vast complex of massive dams, barrages, and irrigation canals has drastically reduced the flow of … Sigue leyendo
The Aral Sea – Kazajstan / Uzbekistan
“HOW COTTON KILLED THE SEA” Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has in the last five decades lost more than three-quarters of its area and two-thirds of its volume. To grow cotton and rice, the … Sigue leyendo
Lake Chad, An Environmental Catastrophe – Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon
THE DISAPPEARING LAKE Lake Chad was one of the largest lakes in the world, but climate change and the massive diversion of its waters for huge irrigation projects has reduced its surface area from 26,000 square km in 1960 to … Sigue leyendo
Hurricane Katrina, An Unnatural Disaster – US
«AN UNNATURAL DISASTER» Katrina is believed to have killed more than 1,200 people in New Orleans and the adjoining parishes. Four-fifths of the city was flooded, with some parts under more than six meters of water. The area suffered an … Sigue leyendo
Vajont Catastrophe – Italy
“A TRAGEDY FORETOLD” During the construction of the Vaiont Dam in the Italian Alps, various surveys showed that the chosen site was geologically unstable, especially the peak called Monte Toc, which rose next to the future reservoir. The construction company … Sigue leyendo
Conflict Over Water Between Palestine and Israel
«BLESSED AND CURSED RIVER» Israel has control over the headwaters of the Jordan River and holds the rights to use the groundwater in the Jordan River Basin, 80% of which is under Israel-controlled territory. The transfer of the Jordan to … Sigue leyendo
Chixoy Dam – Guatemala
THE MASSACRE OF RÍO NEGRO The Chixoy Dam was built on the lands of Guatemala’s indigenous Maya Achí people in the midst of the country’s brutal civil war. When community members opposed relocation and sought better compensation, they were massacred, … Sigue leyendo