Final Paper - Executive Summary
November 2000

Introduction

As part of its activities the World Commission on Dams (WCD) sponsored case studies of several dams in different regions of the world and country-review papers on the development experience with large dams in India and China. To complete the world coverage, this briefing paper looks at the Russian Federation and Central Asian States formerly part of the CIS.

Two background papers were used to develop this briefing paper. They were prepared by organisations in Russia and Central Asia and translated into english. The paper was prepared by members of the Russian Academy of Sciences based in the Institute of Geography in Moscow. The work was co-ordinated by the IUCN office in CIS. It provides a the historical view of dams and hydropower, and the current decision-making context more specific to Russia rather than to other states (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia). Information that covers the developments up to the 1990s and the general context refer to all the former Soviet Union states together. Information on other central Asian States is provided in Annex 3 as a contributing paper entitled, "Summary Paper on Dams and Reservoirs in Central Asia". This contribution was prepared by the experts from five Central Asian states, namely: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan. The work was co-ordinated by the Law and Environment Eurasia Partnership a NGO network in Central Asia. Access to current information was limited for Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan. While both background papers are limited in scope and depth, they nevertheless provide an overview of the circumstances and trends concerning water resources and dams in these states, as well as emerging perceptions. A network of professionals drawn from the government, industry, NGO and Civil society interests within the region as well as regional experts from abroad was asked to provide contributions, inputs and comments on the draft papers.

Summary Points:

Most of Russia is not water stressed. The official statistics indicated that most of the major reservoirs and dams in the Russian Federation and other NIS are hydropower, though many are multipurpose. A total of 205 large dams are reported in the World Register of Large Dams (1998) maintained by the International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD). The following table shows the number registered by state and provides comments based on any additional information contained in the papers.

The official data sources focus on dams with roles in hydropower production and therefore the data very likely underrepresent the total number of dams for all purposes. For example, other statistics suggest there are more than 2 000 different large water storage reservoirs in Russia alone, which points to additional large dams beyond the 91 reported in the ICOLD Registry (1999).

In most periods of the last century, the Russian political and economic system was orientated to the development of large public infrastructure projects. Similar to situations in most western countries, the environmental and social implications were not fully understood or even recognised, and certainly these factors were less important in decision-making than were the broader economic growth aims of the day and the engineering considerations. Moreover, the Russian State has always maintained ownership of all land, water and energy resources and the collective and agriculture and industrial enterprises. In the decades after World War II Russia also had a major influence on dam building programmes in many countries in the world though its technical assistance and development assistance programmes. For example, Russian engineers and technicians assisted China in its own dams development programme in the 1950s and 1960s where approximately half the world dams have been built.

After the political and economic disintegration of the former CIS in the early 1990s, dam construction came largely to a halt in the region. This included the abandonment of a number of large dams under construction. During the 1990s, as a result of the economic crisis, the water consumption for both general and industrial purposes in Russia decreased. It fell by more than 25% in regions such as Far East and by 35-50% in Povolzhsky and the Northern-Caucasian regions. As compared to 1990, the water use levels at the century's turn decreased by 40% on average for agricultural purposes and 10% for domestic needs. In the mid to late 1990s, due to the deteriorating quality of existing water and energy services and shifting patterns of demand and use, more attention was paid to restoring and upgrading existing facilities including the completion of several large dams previously abandoned mid-way through construction. This included the resumption of construction on the world's tallest dam (the 325m Rogun dam) in Tadjikistan. More recently, authorisation to proceed with construction of some new dams has been under consideration. Nevertheless, all the governments in the region are struggling to finance these activities, whether it is for normal maintenance, restoration or expansion of existing assets, or for new projects.

The political, economic transition and institutional landscape for water and energy resources development in the Russian Federation and Central Asian states is being totally reshaped and transformed. Within this ongoing transformation civil society and public participation are emerging. This has resulted in a broader range of constituencies involved in water and energy resources planning. Increased scrutiny, criticism and in some cases opposition to plans for renewed dam building by emerging environmental movements is also apparent. Challenges for the future relate both to the refurbishment, upgrading and management of existing assets and investment in new development initiatives, as the broader circumstances and the criteria for decision-making evolve.

Water Resources of Russia and the NIS

The total freshwater resources of Russia and the NIS amount to nearly 65 000 km³. The cumulative mean annual river streamflow equals 4400 km³, where Russia's share is about 4 000 km³, equivalent to 10% of the world stream flow, and second only to Brazil.

• The volume of water per unit area is 1.5 times less than the world average. Spatial distribution of water resources is extremely uneven and in most cases does not correspond to the population density, and the location of industry and agriculture. The problem is exacerbated by the high seasonal variability of streamflow and climate.
• The stream flow of many rivers in the NIS has reportedly decreased in the past decades as a result of river basin modification, abstractions and water resources development. The rivers in the southern regions, where water resources are mainly used for irrigation have been affected most. The streamflow depletion is most acute in Central Asia, particularly in the downstream of Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. This is often cited as one of the main reasons for the desiccation of the Aral Sea.
• The quality of water resources is deteriorating because of the continuous pollution of rivers and reservoirs with wastewater. Based on the international criteria, by the early 1990s, about 20% of all water resources of Russia were included in the national list of polluted and heavily polluted. The downstream reaches of rivers in Central Asia are characterised by high salinity levels.
• Water use in Russian Federation amounts to about 1/3 of the total water consumption of the NIS countries. Less than 20% of the total water consumption in Russia is used for agricultural and household needs; the rest is used to satisfy industrial requirements.

In the Russian Federation water resources planning and management are now to be based on the river basin planning principle, the requirement for which has been integrated into government legislation - though in practice the institutional capacity has yet to be developed. The Federal body of Water Resources Management is a member of the government. Basin Water Boards and Local Committees on Water Management have been established under the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources and are regulated by government. All entities of the Federation located in the basin of the same river are required to sign a Basin Agreement (Treaty) with each other and with the federal body on joint sound management and protection of trans-boundary rivers. This Basin Agreement is to be based on a programme of water activities developed for the entire basin, as applied to the existing and planned 'water economic complexes'. The basin treaty signed by all the territories and entities located in the basin assigns the rights to dispose property. In the mid-90s, a set of targeted Federal programmes was initiated on a number of river systems including the Volga revival, the Ob and Tom.

The modern period of transition to market economy is also characterised by paid water use, inter alia for water pollution (proceeding from the 'polluter pays' principle) on the basis of licenses for water resources use and regulation. A package of legislative and regulatory acts has been developed in Russia to regulate the imposition of payment for water use, which has yet been implemented - only partially due to institutional constraints.

Dams and Water Reservoirs: Statistics and History

More than 2 000 different water storage reservoirs and more than 90 large dams have been built and put into operation in Russia alone. From the total number of reservoirs, 105 have volumes over 100 million m^3. The cumulative volume of reservoirs, each with the capacity of more than 1 km³, amounts to nearly 90% of the total water volume in Russian reservoirs. In the republics of Central Asia, there are 60 reservoirs with the storage capacity in excess of 10 million m³; the total reservoir capacity accounts for about 50% of the annual stream flow in Central Asian rivers.

• About 55% of reservoirs in Russia and the NIS are multipurpose (hydropower - 78%, irrigation - 58%, water supply - 47%, navigation - 43%, recreation - 15%, flood control - 7%).
• The distribution of functions for single purpose dams is: irrigation - 57%, hydro -35%, water supply/flood control/navigation each - less than 3%. While there are only 205 large dams (including 91 large dams in Russia) registered with ICOLD, it should be noted that the number of dams is under-reported.

Use of rivers for hydropower began in the late 19^th century. By 1941, the foundations of energy development in the Soviet era were laid and all regions of the country relied on the hydropower resources to some extent. The post World War II years were the main decades of large hydropower construction, at its height in 1960-80s.

Hydro Power: Statistics and Prospects for Development

Hydro plants generated 157.5 TWh in 1997 in Russia, about 5% of the estimated gross theoretical hydro potential of 2 900 TWh/year. Dams now contribute 20% of the total electricity production in the Russian Federation with the balance provided mainly from fossil fuel and nuclear sources.

• The proportion that hydropower represents of electricity production in other states varies. Georgia's electricity is 89% hydro-generated, Tajikistan (96%), Kyrgyzstan (45%), Armenia (25-30%) with further development of small hydro stations to decrease dependency on imported fuels. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have about 13% of power from hydro with plans for further development; Azerbaijan (11%) Ukraine (5%) with a number of large dams under construction or planned by the year 2010; and Turkmenistan-less than 1%, Belarus (0.1%).
• Russia has one of the largest hydropower stations in the world - Sayano-Shushenskaya with a capacity of 6 400 MW. Tajikistan has some of the highest dams built in the world; Nurek (300 m) and Rogun (325m - under construction); reservoir-induced seismicity applies reportedly applies to both but is not considered to be a safety hazard.

In recent times the short-term and long-term objectives of hydro development in Russia have been identified in official documents such as "The Russian Energy Strategy up to the Year 2010" (1994) and "An Ecological Programme of Power Engineering of Russia" (1996). The latter document identifies the main directions of nature conservation activities associated with the power construction up to the year 2025. At present the main attention is on the Far East and Northern Caucasus regions to address severe energy crisis that exists in these regions. The current emphasis is placed on the upgrade and modernisation of the operational dams and thermal power stations. Development of hydropower potential of the major Siberian Rivers is expected to secure self-reliance of the adjacent territories in energy supply in the future. Large-scale dam construction is foreseen to be limited at present due to financial constraints and unresolved environmental concerns.

One focus in the future development of hydro power potential is likely to be greater emphasis on the construction of small and medium hydro power stations (SHPS), which have a number of advantages over large HPS on major rivers in the current financial and political circumstances. Another major trend is to the greater regional interconnection of power grids to obtain the advantages of complementary operation of the grids, which includes reserve sharing.

Benefits and Adverse Impacts Derived from Hydro Power Stations and Reservoirs

The government and power industry of the Russian Federation and Central Asian States see a number of advantages in continued dam development as related to hydropower. The reasons cited in policy documents and reflected in the perception presented in this report include:

• reduction in fossil fueluse;
• the possibility to meet peak demands in energy;
• labour savings (Hydropower is characterised by higher productivity as compared to thermal and nuclear power, as well as by the decreased labour resources required due to the elimination in hydro power industry such processes as extraction, transportation and processing of fuel and production of wastes disposal. Reduction of labour demand in such regions as Siberia, Far East and Far North is of particular significance.);
• hydropower is not severely affected by inflation processes in the economy. (This consideration is particularly attractive to the regions and entities of the Russian Federation and other NIS countries which have an under-developed economy and a fuel and energy resources deficit.);
• water supply is regulated at the national economy level, where all the dams and stations are connected and integrated into unified energy system (Integral use of water resources was one of the main conditions of hydro construction in the previous years.);
• transformation of the regime of rivers by means of reservoirs makes it possible to deliver cargo from inland to the nearest seaports (Recently, the situation deteriorated due to the adjustments of flow regulation made by individual local administrations, leading to the risk of transit navigation being terminated in the European parts of Russia.);
• flood protection;
• development of recreation facilities and health care institutions;
• assured water supply for industrial, agricultural and domestic purposes.

Among the adverse impacts that are increasingly cited as issues that the government and industry must address, and on which the emerging civil society and environmental NGOs are now focusing attention include the following:

• inundation of agriculture and other lands: the cumulative area of lands withdrawn from beneficial use as a result of hydro construction was estimated to be 4,4 million ha;
• reduction of fish productivity: the attempts to install fish ladders at dams have not yielded the desired results (Artificial cultivation, establishment of ponds and lakes, commercial fishery farms proved to be more efficient.);
• loss of Livelihood of Indigenous People: adverse effects on fauna and flora, which in turn affected livelihoods of many indigenous peoples whose survival was largely based on hunting;
• riverine Ecosystem Transformation: changes in stream flow and temperature regimes, the loss of fertility and bio-productivity of flood plains and changes in meteorological conditions are concerns. (River runoff reduction and desertification of Amu Darya and Syr Darya deltas contributed to an extreme sanitary-epidemiological situation in the Aral Sea area. The biological reproduction of water and land ecosystems is undermined leading to health risks and environmental hazards.);
• resettlement: according to data provided by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, during the entire period of hydro construction in Russia 832, 000 people were resettled, including 666 000 resettled in the course of Volga-Kama construction programme. While some compensation was provided to individual families, the compensation measures would in most cases be considered inadequate to the level dislocation caused - certainly judged by the standards of today.

The paper provides estimates of the number of persons displaced by the construction of hydropower dams in Russia. However, displacement and all the aspects of resettlement were conducted within the political and economic system of the day. Retrospective assessment of the practices in Russia is complicated by the problems of determining the numbers displaced due to all dam construction programmes within the massive scale of population displacement that occurred throughout the different periods of Soviet history.

The Impact of the Economic Crisis of the 1990s

By the late 1990s, as a result of the economic crisis, the water consumption for both general and industrial purposes in Russia decreased by between 25% and 50% in different regions.

• The rate of decrease in the main indicators of water use and consumption was considerably lower than the rate of production decline (gross agricultural output declined often by more than 50% in most countries). The efficiency of the water use deteriorated, while water use per unit of output increased by between 150% and 200%.
• Political and economic instability, especially in the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Chechnya) and Tajikistan, led to the disruptions in the construction, operation and maintenance of hydro facilities, and increased the danger of damage as a result of military and terrorist activities.

The circumstances that emerged in the 1990s is regarded within Russia and other NIS countries as a temporary one, caused by transition to a new economic system with a considerable share of market structures and features.

In the early 21st century, the revival of the economy with the implication for increased water and energy services is expected. The extent to which the incremental demand in services is to be met by improvement in the supply and use of existing resources or by new developments is uncertain at this point. It is envisaged that the economic transformation will have implications for an increased demand for hydropower development. The official policies for energy production development in Russia are reflected in the Basic Directions of Energy Policy Development and Structural Adjustment of the Fuel and Energy Complex of the Russian Federation of May 7, 1995 N 472, and in the Russian Energy Strategy adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation on October 12, 1995. Specifically, the Decree states that "further electrification development, inter alia through economically and ecologically justified use of atomic and hydro-power stations, and non-traditional renewable sources of energy" is a priority of Russian energy policy for the period to 2010.

Public and Institutional Influences on Water Resources Development Projects

Prior to 1980, participation in and influence on water resources development decisions by general public and environmental groups in the Soviet Union was minimal. Since the late 1980s and during the 1990s, the environmental movements has become more organised and have spread throughout all the regions, leading to formation of the environmental lobbies, extensive publications and the wide dissemination of their findings. Most of the NGOs are just beginning to deliver services and be held accountable to communities. They are active to different extents throughout the region, with the recent exception of Turkmenistan, where they face extreme government opposition.

• It is believed that criticism by the environmental NGOs of the hydro projects contributed to the minimisation of dam construction conducted in the 80s and 90s within the NIS territory. However, construction of many facilities stopped due to the convergence of a number of factors so it is difficult to attribute events to any one reason. Visibly growing problems with some of the existing facilities, growing understanding and acknowledgement of problems and cause and effect relationships, financial constraints and critique both internally and from the emerging environmental movements and public attitudes were all factors.
• As early as the 1960s, reportedly due to adverse environmental implications, the projects of Nizhne-Obskaya (Lower Ob, Siberia) and Nizhne-Volzhskaya (Lower Volga) HPS were turned down by authorities. In the 1980s extensive discussions were held in respect of projects involving large-scale inter-regional transfer of water resources in the European and Asian parts of the USSR. The Government decided to terminate the project and research activities on the transfer of Siberian river flows to the south due to the lack of information on the environmental implications. There were also what were considered to be extreme suggestions for environmental restoration, such draining some reservoirs (Rybinskoye on Volga, Tsimlianskoye on Don etc.).
• The Russian public is generally aware of the controversial environmental, social and health hazards related to mines and nuclear power. After the Chernobyl nuclear incident in 1987, interest and awareness in the media and general public in environmental matters became more widespread. Hydropower is today largely perceived to be a cleaner and renewable alternative to nuclear and thermal power generation. The negative impacts of damming rivers on ecosystem functions, and on the environment more generally, as well as the situation-specific social consequences of displacement are mainly recognised in academic circles and relevant state agencies. Such issues have fairly recently entered into the media and public view.
• Despite local opposition and by environmental movements, the latest Russian government decision, in May 2000, was to raise the level of the dams for some reservoirs and proceed with the construction of a few controversial projects (eg Boguchany on the Angara river, Bureya on the Bureya river, Irganai and Zaramag in the Caucasus etc.).
• There is also some internal criticism of the new institutional arrangements in the water, energy and environment sectors. For example, the State Committee on Ecology and Environment Protection is no longer a separate government body, but operates as part of the Ministry of Natural Resources. This is seen by critics as constituting a conflict of interest and undermining the possibility of balanced debate before decisions are taken.

Other views are that decisions regarding the water and energy sector and the energy portfolio for all the states are still driven by the government and industrial monopolies, allowing very limited public involvement. While NGOs involvement in the political decisions of the nature of dams is increasing, this does not seem to translate into changes in policies or their implementation. Public participation in the political context is developing but is still considered to be fragile. Information and knowledge access is uneven throughout the regions and segments of population, often leading to misinformed choices and the opportunity to manipulate perceptions.

Key Challenges for the Future

Among the challenges for the future that are cited in the briefing paper are:

• difficulty in integrating the principles of environmental sustainability with political and economic decisions to increase productivity and provide adequate supply of services (including hydropower generation and flow regulation) under the constraints of a country in transition and a recurring financial crisis;
• securing financing and investments for refurbishment and upgrading of the existing dams is constrained and dependent on overall investment climate. The quality of the projects underway depends to a large extent on the government control and regulation and policies of international financial institutions. Enforcement and monitoring are problematic;
• The Russian Federation and other NIS are at different stages of transition with different political priorities attached to environmental and social goals. The transformation process is slow and uncertain. Building further public awareness and improving investment climate are considered to be essential.