Silenced Rivers
Entirely updated in light of the recent World Commission on Dams Report, and responding to it, this new edition of Patrick McCully's now classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries. He explores the wide-ranging ecological impacts of large dams, the human consequences, the organization of the dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies in promoting it. He also looks as the...
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Entirely updated in light of the recent World Commission on Dams Report, and responding to it, this new edition of Patrick McCully's now classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries. He explores the wide-ranging ecological impacts of large dams, the human consequences, the organization of the dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies in promoting it. He also looks as the extensive technical, safety, and economic problems associated with large dams. New in this edition, the author tells the story of the rapid growth of the international anti-dam movement, and suggests alternative methods of supplying the services supposedly provided by large dams. Tom Athanasiou A superlative account of the plethora of problems with dams.
AcknowledgementsGlossaryIntroduction to the Updated Edition: A New Order for Rivers and Society: The World Commission on Dams, and Beyond1The Power and the Water1A Short History of Rivers8Dams: What They Are and What They Do11A Short History of Damming12The End of the Big Dam Era?232Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Dams29Flooding for Posterity32Dams and Geology: Morphological Effects33Dirty Dams: Effects on Water Quality36They Shall Not Pass: Dams and Migratory Fish41Foil'd Wanderers: Hydrological Effects43The Mitigation Game49The EIA Industry543Temples of Doom: The Human Consequences of Dams65Dammed Lies and Statistics66The Final Blow: Dams and Indigenous People70Waiting for the Dam72After the Deluge76The Failure of Resettlement Policies82Dams and Disease864When Things Fall Apart: The Technical Failures of Large Dams101Not on Solid Ground: Dams and Geology102Political Hydrology104Mud against Dams: Sedimentation107Reservoir-Induced Seismicity: Dams that Cause the Earth to Move112Iron Dams and Corpses: Dam Safety115Getting Old: Dam Ageing and Decommissioning1255Empty Promises: The Elusive Benefits of Large Dams133Generating Risk and Debt: Hydropower134Dams to the Rescue? Hydro and Global Warming141The Great Illusion: Flood Control146Too Much to Drink: Dams and Public Water Supply148Blocking the Passage: Dams and River Transport151The One that Got Away: Reservoir Fisheries153All the Fun of the Reservoir: Dams and Recreation1556Paradise Lost: Dams and Irrigation164Killing the Land: Irrigation and Soil Degradation168The Social Effects of Large-Scale Irrigation172The Technical and Economic Failure of Large-Scale Irrigation1797The Wise Use of Watersheds188Managing the Land to Manage the Water189Flood Management192Farming Drylands without Large Dams194Going Underground199Traditional Diversions202Modern Irrigation: Back to the Future205Fix the Pipe, Spare the River2088Energy: Revolution or Catastrophe?217The Renewables Are Coming222Bringing Hydro Down to Size227Storming the Palace Gates2329Industry Applies, Man Conforms: The Political Economy of Damming236The Ideology of Dams237Dams and Domination241Dams and Pork242Technocrats without a Cause: Dam-Building Bureaucracies243A Vibrant Corps? Dam-Building Companies247The Ties that Bind: Dependent Industries254Those Who Pay the Piper: Dams and 'Aid'255Incomprehension and Intimidation: The Dam Builders' Reply263Nemesis: The Economics of Large Dams26910We Will Not Move: The International Anti-Dam Movement281Aesthetics and Taxes: Dam Fights in the US282Arrests and Restoration in the Tasmanian Wilderness287Eastern Europe: Fight the Dams, Fight the System289Warriors and Workers Fight Back: Brazil292Struggle Over the River Kwai: Thailand296Clinging to the Land: Resistance to Dams in India299Dam Fighting on a Global Scale306Afterword: From the Dam to the Watershed312App. 1The San Francisco and Watershed Management Declarations313App. 2Manibeli Declaration316App. 3Dams Involving Forced Resettlement321App. 4Declaration of Curitiba343Contact Addresses347Index349
\ Tom AthanasiouA superlative account of the plethora of problems with dams.\ \ \ \ \ From The CriticsThe campaigns director of a Berkeley-based environment and human rights organization, McCully stands by his assertion that dams have had massive negative impacts on nature and society, and that their benefits have been exaggerated and could often have been produced by less destructive and more equitable means. Here he updates his 1996 tract with recent information from the World Commission on Dams, evidence from the many dams built in the interval, and the flood of literature that is now being published about dams and their impact. Distributed in the US by Palgrave. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
