LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE LESOTHO HIGHLANDS WATER...
Transcript of LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE LESOTHO HIGHLANDS WATER...
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Environmental Flow Policy Development and Implementation:
Lessons from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project
Dr Rafik Hirji & Dr Peter L Watson
10th International Riversymposium & Environmental Flows Conference3-6 September 2007, Brisbane, Australia
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What are EFs?
“An allocation of water with a prescribed distribution in space and time, and of a specific quality, that
is deliberately left in a river, or released into it, to manage river
health and the integrity of ecosystems and communities
sustained by river flows”
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The Challenge• The decision-makers’ task is to allocate
water between all users of water in multi-purpose projects
• Water supply, Irrigation, Energy, Industry, etcetera
And the Environmental and Social uses that are typically “voiceless constituencies”
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Lesotho Highlands Water Project Southern Africa
LHWP
OVTSTVTS
The Lesotho Highlands
Water Project
Water Rich
Water Poor
www.lhwp.org.ls
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Lesotho Highlands Water ProjectSchematic Project Layout
Mohale Dam (145m)
Mohale Tunnel(32km)
Matsoku Diversion(19m weir; 5.6km tunnel)
Katse Dam(185m)
Muela Dam/Powerhouse (72MW)
Transfer Tunnel (45km) Delivery Tunnel(16km
+21km)
Phase 1A: 16.8m3/s
Phase 1B: 11.8m3/s
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Katse Dam: 185 m high; Storage = 1,950m m3
To deliver 18 m3/sTransfer Tunnel: 45 km Delivery Tunnel: 15 km in Lesotho; 22 km in RSAHydropower Plant: 72 MW installed capacity Muela Dam: 55m high concrete arch type
LHWP Phase 1A
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Phase 1A Water TransferKatse Dam – First Overflow
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LHWP Phase 1B
Mohale Dam - 145 m high ; Storage= 958m m3To deliver 11.7 m3/sTransfer Tunnel- 32 kmMatsoku Diversion weir & tunnel
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Mohale DamPhase 1B
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What can we learn from the Lesotho Highlands
Water Project?
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Engineering• Katse and Mohale are world class dams
which have received many accolades• But nowadays dams are not judged
merely on engineering excellence• Dam projects must also deal with
environmental and social issues• Multidisciplinary teams are essential to
ensure that EFs are taken into account at all stages of dam planning and design
• This does not always happen in agencies that lack non-engineering competencies
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Timing of EF Work
• EF work should be undertaken very early in project preparation as part of the EIA
• So that EFs can be built into project design and feasibility studies and
• Agreement on EF Policy and Procedures reached--and problems resolved--well before any legal agreements need to be signed
Undoing mistakes by re-engineering and retrofitting can be very expensive
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Start With Legal Framework• No legal framework for EFs in Lesotho
– No national legal obligation to protect downstream environment and communities
– No “river classification system” or river health targets at outset
• no way of judging what level of environmental degradation might be considered unacceptable by Lesotho society or their South African partners
– or how trade-offs between water users should be made
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Without a policy or legal framework, Environmental Flow initiatives are
burdened not only with determining environmental flows, but also with
giving them legitimacy.EF discussions take place in a policy and legal vacuumPutting scientists and decision-makers in an impossible positionLeading to confusion and ad hoc decision making
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The EF Science• How reliable is the science?• Can we really predict environmental
and social impacts?
• Lesotho EF science was state-of-the art• First comprehensive impact evaluation of
downstream environmental and social impacts under a World Bank dam project
• But it was complicated
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Is it too complicated for decision-makers?
Environmental Consequences of IFRs Reach 1:
Matsoku Reach 2:
Malibamats’o Reach 3:
Malibamats’o Reach 7:
Senqunyane T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD
% MAR 40 36 40 59 4 18 33 66 17 29 41 56 13 22 35 65 Geomorphology S+ S S- L CS S+ S- M S+ S S- N S S+ S- L Water quality M+ S M- L CS S M L S M+ M- L CS S M L Vegetation M+ M M- L S+ S- M M S M+ M- L S+ S- M N Macroinvertebrates M+ M M- L CS S+ S- L CS M+ M- L S+ S S- L Fish S+ CS S- M CS CS S N CS S N N CS S+ S- N Amphibia L L L N S N M N M+ M M- N S M+ M- N Mammals & birds L L L N S L L N S L L N L L L N -with greater variation--pluses and minuses
Environmental Consequences of IFRs Reach 1:
Matsoku Reach 2:
Malibamats’o Reach 3:
Malibamats’o Reach 7:
Senqunyane T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD T 4th DL MD
% MAR 40 36 40 59 4 18 33 66 17 29 41 56 13 22 35 65 Geomorphology S+ S S- L CS S+ S- M S+ S S- N S S+ S- L Water quality M+ S M- L CS S M L S M+ M- L CS S M L Vegetation M+ M M- L S+ S- M M S M+ M- L S+ S- M N Macroinvertebrates M+ M M- L CS S+ S- L CS M+ M- L S+ S S- L Fish S+ CS S- M CS CS S N CS S N N CS S+ S- N Amphibia L L L N S N M N M+ M M- N S M+ M- N Mammals & birds L L L N S L L N S L L N L L L N -with greater variation--pluses and minuses
Quantified Reaches 2 and 3
• Unweighted numerical scale• CS=9; S+=8; S=7; S-=6; M+=5……N=1
Reach 3: Malibamats’o T 4th DL MD 17 29 41 56 8 7 6 1 7 5 3 2 7 5 3 2 9 5 3 2 9 7 1 1 5 4 3 1 7 2 2 1 52 35 21 10
Reach 2: Malibamats’o
T 4th DL MD
17 29 41 56
9 8 6 5 9 7 5 2 8 6 5 5 9 7 6 2 9 9 7 1 7 1 5 1 7 2 2 1
58 40 35 17
Quantified Reaches 2 and 3
• Unweighted numerical scale• CS=9; S+=8; S=7; S-=6; M+=5……N=1
Reach 3: Malibamats’o T 4th DL MD 17 29 41 56 8 7 6 1 7 5 3 2 7 5 3 2 9 5 3 2 9 7 1 1 5 4 3 1 7 2 2 1 52 35 21 10
Reach 2: Malibamats’o
T 4th DL MD
17 29 41 56
9 8 6 5 9 7 5 2 8 6 5 5 9 7 6 2 9 9 7 1 7 1 5 1 7 2 2 1
58 40 35 17
Is this really understandable?
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-2.2
-1.7
-1.2
-0.7
-0.2
0 100 200 300 (c.54%) 400 500 600 700
Total volume used (MCM)(Percentage MAR in brackets)
STATE II
STATE IV
STATE III
STATE V
Fourth Scenario
Design Limitation Scenario
Fifth Scenario
Treaty Scenario
Minimum Degradation Scenario
Present River State = State IID
RIF
T In
tegr
ity S
core
Is this better?
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A Decision Framework is Needed• So decision-makers can debate the
consequences of EF options at an early stage• Articulating values of stakeholders up-front• Ensuring that understandable EF data is
available to non-specialist decision-makers• With explicit data reliability limitations• And weights for each factor consistent with
societal values• That permits decision-makers to see the
implications of their decisions in a safe space
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LHWP Decision FrameworkTreaty
Minimum FourthDesign
LimitationMinimum
Degradation
Annual Economic Value of Losses(1999 Maluti million)
8.0 6.4 5.7 2.9
Lost Variable Royalty (Maluti million)
0 41 218 463
% of Total Royalties 1.5% 8.0% 17.0%
Rate of Return 7.6% 7.4% 7.3% 7.1%
Reach 2 Environmental Indicators 58 40 35 17
Reach 3 Environmental Indicators 52 35 21 10
Reasonableness Flag MEAN REASONABLE GENEROUS
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A Last Word 0n Environmental Impacts
• MONITOR• MONITOR• MONITOR
• MONITOR•MONITOR
• Establishing baseline data before construction begins is a good investment
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Marginalised Impacts,Marginalised People
• Downstream is different from upstream– Less certainty regarding impact– Uncertainty increases with distance– Smaller impacts--larger numbers of people– Hard to determine the cut-off point– Compensation in situ, not resettlement– Likely to involve compensating communities not
individuals• Ensure capacity to communicate, negotiate
and deliver compensation
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Marginalised Impacts,Marginalised People
• Imbalance in political influence and negotiating strength of:– Urban dwellers, commercial farmers,
textile factory owners• usually well organized, vocal pressure groups
which have the means to participate in and influence decision-making
– impacted people• often poor, less well-educated, under-
represented in the decision making process and politically marginalized
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The Precautionary Principle“Where there are threats of
serious or irreversible damage*, lack of full scientific certainty
shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective
measures to prevent environmental degradation”
(Principle 15 of the UN Conference on Environment and Development)
*One might add “or social impacts”
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The Economics• Did EFs significantly affect ERR? No
• Treaty Minimum Scenario: 7.6%• Selected Scenario: 7.35%
• Dam costs are often underestimated because they fail to account for ALL the economic costs of the project, e.g.– Design features to permit EF releases (valves, etc)– Additional operational & monitoring costs--staff,
consultants, equipment, EF audits– Mitigating environmental and social impacts– Compensation payments– Consultations and communications—Website, PR,
Meetings
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Environment Protection Service
Procedural Control
Development Partners
Instrumental Control
Civil Society & NGOs
Direct Outside Control
Panels of Experts
Professional Control
Government Environmental
Watchdog Evaluative
Control
Political and Technical
Oversight AgencyEvaluative & Instrumental
Control
Lead Project Executing Agency
Professional Control
“Control Mechanisms”Influencing EF Design
A combination is required for effective oversight
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10 KEY LESSONS FROM LESOTHO
1.Dams are multi-purpose projects involving trade-offs between water uses—including “voiceless” users
2.Establish a policy/legal framework3.Ensure decision-makers understand
the environmental science4.Use a DSS to move from predicting
impacts to quantifying trade-offs5.Let decision-makers explore EF
options without compromising their positions or values
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10 KEY LESSONS FROM LESOTHO
6. Monitor7. Establish control mechanisms
for EF success8. Start early, VERY EARLY9. Do not underestimate
resistance to EFs10. Be patient—it will take time!
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Lesotho EF Work Achievements1. EF methodology that systematically
links biophysical and social impacts2. EF Policy developed in legal vacuum3. More effective EF release mechanisms4. EF Releases 300-400% more than
planned5. EF Policy river health targets largely
met or exceeded6. Substantial downstream compensation
programme