New journal article on the far-reaching implications of potentially rolling-back Environmental Licensing and Impact Assessment in Brazil

/in , /by

 

Simone Athayde and colleagues wrote a recent article on the far-reaching implications of the potential setback in environmental impact assessment and environmental licensing legislation in Brazil. The article was recently published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review. The article is co-authored by Profs. Alberto Fonseca, Suely Araújo, Amarilis Gallardo, Evandro Moretto, and Luis Sánchez.

Viewpoint: The far-reaching dangers of rolling back environmental licensing and impact assessment legislation in Brazil

 

Abstract

In the context of compounding health, environmental, and climatic crises, Brazil may witness two of its most important environmental policy instruments, environmental licensing and impact assessment, be severely weakened. On May 13, 2021, the Chamber of Deputies passed a new General Law of Environmental Licensing, ignoring the concerns of civil society, scientists, and other relevant parties. If approved by the Senate and ratified by President Bolsonaro, this law will further undermine Brazil’s increasingly fragile environmental protection and public participation in decision-making. Here, we review the bill’s main provisions, highlighting potential far-reaching implications for environmental protection and governance, public participation in decision-making, and human rights in Brazil and beyond. Scientists can play an important role in debunking misinformation and advising Senators and the public opinion on the bill’s dangerous effects.

Link to article…

 

New paper: Functional responses of fisheries to hydropower dams in the Amazonian Floodplain of the Madeira River

/in , /by

New paper: Functional responses of fisheries to hydropower dams in the Amazonian Floodplain of the Madeira River

This new paper finds that dams affect the functional composition of fisheries yields and reduce catches, negatively impacting fishing-based income of communities in the Amazon.

Authors: Caroline C. Arantes, Juliana Laufer, Mac David da Silva Pinto, Emilio F. Moran, Maria Claudia Lopez, Jynessa Dutka-Gianelli, Danielle Mendonça Pinto, Suyog Chaudhari, Yadu Pokhrel, and Carolina R. C. Doria

Read more at: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14082

Climate change threatens hydropower energy security in the Amazon basin

/in , /by

A new paper in Global Environmental Change led by Rafael Almeida examines the implications of climate change for hydropower production in the Amazon Basin. Projected changes in river discharge regimes will have serious implications for the reliability and cost-effectiveness of hydropower in many locations, suggesting that alternative energy sources such as wind and solar would be wise investments in place of an excessive dependence on hydropower alone. Excerpts from a press release and link to the open-access paper are below.

From EurekaAlert! press release:

Hydropower is the dominant source of energy in the Amazon region, the world’s largest river basin and a hotspot for future hydropower development. However, a new Global Environmental Change study warns that in the coming decades, climate change-driven reductions in precipitation and river discharge will diminish the Amazon’s hydropower capacity.

The study’s authors examined 351 proposed hydropower projects in the Amazon basin. Their findings suggest that hydrologic shifts by midcentury will reduce hydropower generation at many locations. As river discharge becomes increasingly variable and hydropower output declines, alternative energy sources like solar and wind are expected to become ever more important.

Lead author Rafael Almeida, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University who was formerly a visiting graduate student at Cary, explains, “Run-of-river hydropower dams are designed to operate within a particular range of flows. Flows that are too low won’t generate power, and flows that are too high must be ‘spilled’, causing problems, and not generating extra power. As the Brazilian Amazon experiences more variability in precipitation, with higher ‘highs’, lower ‘lows’, and fewer periods of optimal flow, it will mean proposed hydropower plants will operate at full capacity less often.”

Link to full paper.

The impacts of hydroelectric dams on Amazonian artisanal fisheries from the perspective of socio-ecological systems

/in , /by

 

O artigo “Os impactos das barragens hidrelétricas na pesca artesanal amazônica sob o olhar dos sistemas socioecológicos”, com autoria de Ramos Júnior e outros, foi publicado na Revista Ibero-Americana de Ciências Ambientais. Os autores observaram que o sistema pesqueiro da região amazônica foi afetado pela construção de barragens hidrelétricas. A pesquisa mostrou ainda que a defasagem de informações sobre os impactos ambientais causados por essas construções pode comprometer o desenvolvimento das medidas compensatórias. Roteiro: Juliana Rocha Gravação e edição: Roni Lima

The article “ The impacts of hydroelectric dams on Amazonian artisanal fisheries from the perspective of socio-ecological systems ”, by Ramos Júnior and others, was published in the Revista Ibero-Americana de Ciências Ambientais. The authors noted that the fishery system in the Amazon region was affected by the construction of hydroelectric dams. The research also showed that the lack of information about the environmental impacts caused by these constructions can compromise the development of compensatory measures.

Link to full article: https://doi.org/10.6008/CBPC2179-6858.2020.006.0018

Link to video: https://youtu.be/eVJ-zF7OjKM

 

 

New paper: Impacts of an Amazonian hydroelectric dam on frog assemblages

/in , /by

Authors: Jussara Santos Dayrell, William Ernest Magnusson, Paulo Estefano Dineli Bobrowiec, Albertina Pimentel Lima

Citation: Dayrell JS, Magnusson WE, Bobrowiec PED, Lima AP (2021) Impacts of an Amazonian hydroelectric dam on frog assemblages. PLoS ONE 16(6): e0244580. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244580

Pesquisadores do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) realizaram uma pesquisa pioneira na avaliação de longo prazo dos impactos de uma mega hidrelétrica, localizada na Amazônia brasileira, sobre as comunidades de sapos. Jussara Dayrell enviou o texto abaixo sobre artigo, o primeiro derivado de sua tese de doutorado:
.
“Os levantamentos de fauna associados às avaliações de impacto ambiental da hidrelétrica de Santo Antônio (Rondônia) estão entre os mais intensivos, bem planejados e de longo prazo já realizados no Brasil. É uma hidrelétrica com turbinas do tipo bulbo que requerem menos água e produzem um reservatório de tamanho reduzido (271 km2). Foi usada a base de dados do Monitoramento da Herpetofauna, compilado entre 2010 e 2017. Os dados foram coletados 2 anos antes, em áreas posteriormente inundadas pela hidrelétrica (estágio pré-inundado) e não inundadas (pré-não inundado), com intervalos logo após o enchimento (pós 1) e 2 anos depois do enchimento (pós 2).
.
Registramos 96 espécies de sapos. O enchimento da barragem da hidrelétrica teve pouco efeito no número de espécies. A composição de sapos nas áreas permanentemente inundadas pelo barramento do rio não se restabeleceu nas áreas remanescentes e 6% das espécies não foram mais registradas. As hidrelétricas de Santo Antônio e Jirau inundaram 118 km² de floresta de várzea. Com isso, nossos resultados mostram a necessidade de proteção das florestas de várzea afetadas por barramentos de hidrelétricas.
.
Nas áreas não inundadas, também houve mudanças na composição de espécies ao longo do tempo, com o ganho de espécies em 82% das parcelas amostradas, principalmente naquelas localizadas próximas da nova margem do rio Madeira. Esse aumento no número de espécies nas áreas remanescentes pode ser uma resposta à inundação das áreas baixas, pois, após o enchimento do reservatório, os sapos podem ter se deslocado às áreas mais próximas, aumentando o número de espécies registradas. Isso ocorre no período de reestruturação da comunidade após uma perturbação, onde algumas populações podem diminuir enquanto outras ocupam os novos ambientes.”
.
Para ler o artigo: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244580

ABSTRACT

About 90% of the Amazon’s energy potential remains unexploited, with many large hydroelectric dams yet to be built, so it is important to understand how terrestrial vertebrates are affected by reservoir formation and habitat loss. We investigated the influence of the construction of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River in southwestern Amazonia on the structure of frog assemblages based on samples collected in two years before the dam flooded (pre-stage) and one (post1-stage) and four years (post2-stage) after its construction. We surveyed five 500-ha plot systems three times during each stage; in the pre-stage we sampled 19 plots in low-lying areas that would be flooded by the dam, (from now called flooded pre-stage plots) and 45 plots in terra-firme forest (from now called unflooded pre-stage plots). At the post1-stage we sampled the 45 unflooded plots and in the post2-stage we sampled the remaining 39 unflooded plots. We detected frogs by active visual and acoustic searches standardized by both time and sampling area. Few species recorded in the pre-stage flooded plots were not found in the pre-stage unflooded plots or in stages after flooding. However, the composition of frog assemblages based on relative densities in flooded pre-stage plots did not re-establish in plots on the new river margins. In unflooded areas, frog assemblages were distinct among the flooding stages with no tendency to return to the original assemblage compositions even four years after the dam was filled. For the areas that were not flooded, there was an increase in species richness in 82% of the plots between the surveys before dam construction and the first surveys after dam completion, and 65% between the pre-stage and surveys four years after dam completion. Lack of understanding by the controlling authorities of the long-term effects of landscape changes, such as water-table rises, means that studies covering appropriate periods post construction are not required in legislation, but the data from Santo Antônio indicate that changes due to dam construction are either long-term or difficult to distinguish from natural fluctuations. Future environmental-impact studies should follow strict BACI designs.

New paper on land cover change and dams on the land–water interface of the Tocantins River

/in , /by

Christine Swanson and Stephanie Bohlman recently published a paper in Frontiers in Environmental Science: “Cumulative Impacts of Land Cover Change and Dams on the Land–Water Interface of the Tocantins River.”

This was published as part of the special research topic “Riverine Biogeochemistry Under Increasing Damming: Processes and Impacts.”

New paper: “Stakeholder Perceptions on the Governance of Fisheries Systems Transformed by Hydroelectric Dam Development in the Madeira River, Brazil”

/in , /by
New paper by ADN members and colleagues Carolina R. C. Doria, Jynessa Dutka-Gianelli, Mariluce Paes de Souza, Kai Lorenzen and Simone Athayde

Link to paper

ABSTRACT

Hydroelectric dams often have significant impacts on freshwater fisheries. Major impacts are known to be driven by changes in river hydrology and fish ecology, but the role of governance arrangements in mitigating or exacerbating fisheries impacts from hydropower development is less understood. This study presents an analysis of stakeholder perceptions about the effects of hydroelectric dam implementation on fisheries governance arrangements in the Madeira River basin, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 stakeholders representing the fishers and fish traders, government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Fishers, non-governmental, and private sector agents perceived hydropower development to be the strongest factor driving fisheries decline or change over the past 10 years, while government staff perceived overfishing to be an equally or even more important factor. Most stakeholders affirmed that fisheries governance arrangements have weakened in the face of hydropower development, and that these arrangements have been insufficient to effectively mitigate or compensate for negative impacts on fisheries. Fishers, non-governmental and private sector agents saw lack of opportunities to participate in fisheries governance as a major contributing factor, while government staff emphasized lack of qualified personnel, lack of trust between agencies, and control over the decision-making process held by hydropower companies. Perspectives on other implications of governance arrangements were shared across stakeholder groups. These included increased conflicts; lack of interaction and coordination between agencies; the fragility of fishers’ social organization; lack of trust and reciprocity between organizations; and power imbalances between stakeholders. The results show that hydropower development impairs and changes relationships between diverse players involved in fisheries governance, which can exacerbate existing weaknesses and negatively affect fishery sustainability. Drawing from the perspectives and comments of the various stakeholders who participated in the study, we provide recommendations to improve freshwater fisheries governance in the Madeira River basin and in the Brazilian Amazon.

Este estudo apresenta uma análise das percepções dos atores sobre os efeitos da implementação de barragens hidrelétricas nos arranjos de governança da pesca na bacia do rio Madeira, Brasil. Com base nas perspectivas e comentários de vários atores que participaram do estudo, são fornecidas recomendações para melhorar a governança da pesca de água doce na bacia do rio Madeira e na Amazônia brasileira.

FIGURE 4. Cognitive map of the Madeira Fisheries System after implementation of the Santo Antônio and Jirau dams. The circles represent the institutions cited by the respondents: the green lines represent strong relationships that contribute to sustainability, while red lines represent weak relationships that do not contribute to the fishing sustainability. Line density represents the percentage of responses related to all answers.

New paper on rethinking dams / in-stream turbines

/in , /by

New paper out in the journal Nature Sustainability: In-stream turbines for rethinking hydropower development in the Amazon basin by Suyog Chaudhari, Erik Brown, Raul Quispe-Abad, Emilio Moran, Norbert Müller & Yadu Pokhrel.

Abstract
Given growing energy demands and continued interest in hydropower development, it is important that we rethink hydropower to avoid detrimental socioenvironmental consequences of large dams planned in regions such as the Amazon River basin. Here, we show that ~63% of total energy planned to be generated from conventional hydropower in the Brazilian Amazon could be harnessed using in-stream turbines that use kinetic energy of water without requiring storage. At five of the nine selected planned dam sites, the entirety of energy from planned hydropower could be generated using in-stream turbines by using only a fraction of the river stretch that large dams would affect. We find the cost (US$ kWh−1) for in-stream turbines to be ~50% of the conventional hydropower cost. Our results have important implications for sustainable hydropower development in the Amazon and worldwide through transition to power generation methods that meet energy needs while minimizing the negative socioenvironment impacts.