ICOLD members - Spain

SPANISH NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON LARGE DAMS.

SPANCOLD.

COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS ON WCD REPORT.

• Spain has a regime of rainfall and flow in the rivers with a high irregularity in both time and space, for which since the time of the Roman Empire the construction of dams and the storage of water in the reservoirs has been necessary.
• At the present time there exists some 1,200 large dams in Spain, with a total reservoir capacity of some 56 km3., which has made possible to pass from a natural regulation of only 8% to a real regulation of more than 40% of the natural resources. All this supposes being able to have available some indispensable water resources for the country, which have made possible its development. The economic benefits of the dams in Spain in irrigation, water supply and hydropower suppose more than 6% of its Gross National Product.
• The dams and reservoirs in Spain are subjected to numerous standards, processes and evaluations of the environmental impact, regulations and laws, as well as diverse Directives of the European Union, which suppose a total publicity, a participation of all the parts directly or indirectly affected, a defence of the rights of the affected population, and definitively an approach within a sustainable social and environmental development.

From the study and analysis of the WCD REPORT, as also the numerous works, technical bulletins and position papers of ICOLD, SPANCOLD presents the following commentaries and conclusions:

1. The basic data on which are sustained the Report are very reduced as they only suppose an analysis of less than THREE PER THOUSAND of the existing dams, and only one detailed study of eight large dams in the world of a total of some 45,000 large dams. Also in these scarce cases, statistical criteria have not been followed in order to guarantee the representativity of the sample. From these reduced studies have been deduced, and extrapolated rashly, some difficultly demonstrable conclusions such as that the dams “ IN TOO MANY CASES an unacceptable and often unnecessary price has been paid” or that in” MANY dams there has been a lack of equity”, or that the dams have supposed an irreversible environmental impact. On the other hand, without any technical basis, it is deduced that the performance of the large dams has been totally disastrous, dedicating the Report to emphasize only the negative aspects of the dams, even reaching gratuitous affirmations such as those which indicate that the dams have lead to the impoverishment and suffering of millions of people.

All this supposes a Report without a scientific basis nor a solid methodology, which has not checked its analyses with the numerous studies, works and realities which explain and demonstrate the benefits that the large dams have supposed for the development of the countries of the world. The vision and evaluation of the performance of the large dams in the world is very bias and partial.

2. The analysis of the different alternatives for the water management and the electric services is very general and does not present a comparison of the global impacts between the different alternatives. In the description of the HOLIOSTIC APPROACH, which is the actual and scientific vision, which contemplates in an integrated manner all the possible structural and non-structural actions, it does not analyse the part which the dams can play in the water management, emphasizing only the other alternatives.

3. The conclusions and recommendations of the Report are very general, imperative, and are presented with a universal character without giving space neither to the variety nor to the variation. There does not exist any analysis of the standards, regulations and laws that exist in various countries of the world which make the construction of dams and their operation be carried out in a sustainable and transparent manner and with the maximum protections of the affected people.

4. Following the lines, proposals and position papers formulated in the last decades by ICOLD, ICID, IHA; and other international organisations, the recommendations of the report suppose a contribution on the way to improving the politics of water in the world and the sustainable construction of the large dams.

IN CONCLUSION it is understood that the Report in general does not contemplate in an equilibrated manner and with a scientific basis, the benefits and concerns which the large dams suppose. The analysis of the experiences that they present is unbalanced, addressing principally to reject the important role which they have had, and are going to continue having the dams in the development and welfare of the nations.