Ejes de actuación (EN)
Water Privatization · 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
Vaiont Dam • Italy
A TRAGEDY FORETOLD During the construction of the Vaiont Dam, in the Italian Alps, some geographical studies indicated that the side walls of the dam were potentially dangerous due to their instability, especially one of them, Mount Toc. However the … Sigue leyendo
Hurricane Katrina • USA
A “non-natural” disaster Finally, the Katrina touched down 80 kilometers from New Orleans; the city had escaped the hurricane. However, four fifths of the city ended up flooded, with up to 6 meters of water. 1,200 people died and 28,000 … Sigue leyendo
The Chixoy Dam · Guatemala
The Massacre of Río Negro · Guatemala 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 … Sigue leyendo
The 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. The diversion of water from Jordan to new wide-ranging cultivated fields in the … Sigue leyendo
Ilisu Dam · Turkey
FLOODING EDEN The Pharaonic Project in the Southeast of Antolia, (GAP) planned by the Turkish government since the 1960s, consists of the construction of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric plants in the Tigris valley, proclaimed as the base of development … Sigue leyendo
The Mekong River · Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
THE COLLAPSE OF AN ARTERY The livelihoods and cultures of the 60 million people living in the Lower Mekong Basin are intimately connected with the river’s natural cycles. Boasting one of the world’s most diverse and productive inland fisheries, the … Sigue leyendo
The Gibe 3 Dam · Ethiopia
KILLING THE OMO’S HEARTBEAT Half a million people live along the Lower Omo in remote southwestern Ethiopia and around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya which receives the Omo’s waters. The crops, livestock and fisheries of at least eight distinct indigenous … Sigue leyendo
Tree Gorges dam · China
MONSTER DAM, MONSTER PROBLEMS The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s ultimate pharaonic mega project. The project sets records for the number of people displaced; at least 1.3 million, number of cities and towns flooded; 13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 … Sigue leyendo
Sardar Sarovar Dam · India
SAVE THE NARMADA The Narmada River, one of the most important rivers in India, is being seriously harmed by the construction of dozens of dams. The most notorious of these dam projects, Sardar Sarovar, is flooding tens of thousands of … Sigue leyendo
Kariba Dam · Zambia-Zimbabwe
NO MONEY, NO POWER British colonial authorities evicted more than 57,000 Gwembe Tonga people in the 1950s to make way for the Kariba Reservoir, one of the world’s largest. Eight villagers were shot and at least 32 wounded by police … Sigue leyendo
Yacyretà Dam · Paraguay – Argentina
FAREWELL TO PARADISE The hydroelectric dam Yacyretá, on the Paraná River, with its 5 km wall and 65 km of dikes, has meant the flooding of 500 square kilometers and the forced displacement of more than 40,000 people. The vast … Sigue leyendo
La Parota · Mexico
«THE EARTH IS NOT FOR SALE» In January 2010, the Mexican press reported that, due to financial problems, the La Parota Dam project promoted by the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE) was being cancelled. The CFE came to the area … Sigue leyendo
The Urrá Dam in the Sinú River · Colombia
Do wâbura. Goodbye River / The Urrá Dam – Colombia The Urrá I dam along the Sinu river flooded a surface area of 7,400 hectares, breaking the balance of an ecosystem that had been conserved for centuries by the … Sigue leyendo
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
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