INFORMATION DOCUMENT - DWA Home Page

More documents

Recommendations

Info

❏ Treaty commitments to environmental management, maintaining livelihoods and compensating for losses ❏ The need for a scientific approach to and policy for managing releases and downstream impacts ❏ Lesotho seeks to comply with the Treaty and protect the interests of its people ❏ South Africa seeks to comply with the Treaty and South African water law ❏ An IFR policy will ensure some water is reserved for ecosystems and communities downstream of control structures ❏ The IFR policy will ensure that reserved water is made available to the ecosystem and communities at appropriate times ❏ The IFR policy will outline standards or indicators for the management of the target river health. MOTIVATING FACTORS Why Do We Need an IFR Policy? Water Releases: Design and Practice When the LHWP was designed in the 1970s and 1980s, awareness of environmental issues in general, and downstream environmental and social impacts of large dams in particular, was much lower than it is today. Nevertheless, environmental issues were embedded in the Treaty (see Box below) and the relevant Treaty articles were given effect through the implementation of Environmental Action Plans (EAPs) for both Phases 1A and 1B. The difference between 1A and 1B was that Phase 1B environmental and socio-economic baseline studies were done in advance of construction/implementation in the case of Mohale Dam, whereas the Phase 1A baseline studies were being conducted while construction of the Project was already underway. Thus, the Phase 1B EAP benefited from lessons learnt in implementing Phase 1A. The Phase 1 EAPs have, to date, applied only to the dam basins and upstream catchment areas. It was the Phase 1B environmental impact assessment report in 1994 that identified the need for an instream flow assessment, to investigate environmental and social impacts downstream of both dams and to design measures to mitigate them or compensate for them. As far as management of the downstream environment goes, operation of dam releases under the Treaty articles (see box below) is the only operational mode currently approved by Project authorities. The Treaty specified compensation flows amounting to between 2% and 3% of Mean Annual Runoff (MAR). The Project was designed and, for the most part, constructed, on the basis of the intended transfer of approximately 93% of the water yield (MAR) from the rivers above the LHWP structures. From 1996-2001, releases or flows from Katse were substantially in excess of these parameters—averaging 32% of MAR, with a low of 4,2% MAR in 1999 and a high of 61,6% MAR in 2001 (see box below). Currently, to protect the river until an IFR Policy is in place, Katse Dam and the Matsoku weir are being operated to release 750 litres per second (l/s) and 600 l/s, respectively. Other than control of releases, to date no downstream management or mitigation measures have been undertaken, except for the regular monitoring of water quality in downstream rivers. 1996 64.0% 1997 30.5% Katse Releases (% MAR) 1998 27.4% 1999 4.2% LHWP TREATY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL COMMITMENTS 2000 6.5% 2001 61.6% Environmental considerations were incorporated into the Project from the beginning, notably as legally binding articles in the Treaty. The main provision for environmental matters in the Treaty (embodied in Article 15) states: “The Parties agree to take all reasonable measures to ensure that the implementation, operation and maintenance of the Project are compatible with the protection of the existing quality of the environment and, in particular, shall pay due regard to the maintenance of the welfare of persons and communities immediately affected by the project”. Furthermore, Article 7(18) of the Treaty enjoins the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA, the body set up to implement the Project and be responsible for its operation and maintenance), to: “effect all measures to ensure that members of the local communities in the Kingdom of Lesotho, who will be affected by flooding, construction works or similar project-related causes, will be able to maintain a standard of living not inferior to that obtaining at the time of first disturbance, provided that such Authority shall effect compensation for any loss to such member as a result of such project-related causes not adequately met by such measures”. The Treaty, in recognition of downstream needs, specified Phase 1 downstream flows (the “Treaty Minimum Releases”) of not less than 500 l/s and 300 l/s from Katse and Mohale dams, respectively. It made no mention of the Matsoku weir. 2
PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AND INVOLVEMENT Public disclosure and input into policy development is the policy of the LHDA and a World Bank requirement. It involves the use of two-way communication: ❏ May-June 2002: a pilot consultation process was conducted, in 16 potentially affected villages downstream of Phase 1 structures in a 5 km wide corridor each side of the river ❏ May-August: meetings with the Principal Chiefs of Lesotho are an important matter of protocol ❏ June-August: extension of this process to all downstream villages in potentially significantly affected river reaches in a 5 km wide corridor each side of the river (IFR Sites 1, 2, 3 and 7) ❏ Public disclosure: this document represents the first step in a process which will inform the broader interested and/or affected community about the IFR policy ❏ Public consultation: the posting of the Draft IFR Policy on websites and in libraries, in early August 2002 for 30 days, for the purposes of public comment ❏ Public notification: the posting of the final IFR Policy and a Response Report, to notify stakeholders of the final Policy and to explain how LHDA has responded to concerns. What is an Instream Flow Requirements Policy? Instream flow requirements (IFR) refer to the amount, quality and timing of water released through or over dams and associated structures to meet riverine ecosystem and social needs in the reaches downstream of dams. The objective is to mitigate the impacts of such structures on the downstream environment and people. Downstream affected people have to be consulted about the potential impacts of the project on their livelihoods and compensated for any losses, in such a way as to restore those livelihoods. The approach adopted by LHDA, and endorsed by the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission and the World Bank, was to focus on the obligations contained in the Treaty and in the World Bank Loan Agreement to mitigate the adverse effects of the dam on the downstream environment and people. The IFR Policy will emphasize the establishment of a pattern of target water releases—base flows and floods, in wet, average and dry years—that will ensure that adverse impacts on the downstream environment do not exceed agreed levels of river health conditions. In contrast to the impact evaluations undertaken for areas upstream of the LHWP dams, which typically dealt with largely significant impacts on a relatively small number of people (a few hundred), downstream evaluation has had to deal with relatively small impacts on a large number of people (tens of thousands) in an area that had not previously been studied. This approach - managing the river rather than managing the dam – makes the ecological health of the river and the welfare of downstream communities key elements in decisions regarding the allocation and use of water. It also paves the way for establishing a firm basis for determining losses of and compensation for downstream aquatic and riparian resources. It will lead to an IFR policy that covers the geographic scope of the policy’s interventions, a monthly release schedule that specifies base flows and flood releases for wet, normal and dry years, dam operating procedures, monitoring, the principles of the social mitigation and compensation process, record keeping, audits, disclosure and consultation and the budget commitments required to operate the policy. Senqunyane River. (Photo: George van der Merwe) 3
Page 1: This document is intended as a mean
Page 5 and 6: Instream Flow Requirements: Theory
Page 7 and 8: WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION The 3
Page 9 and 10: RECORDED IMPACTS Metsi Consultants

INFORMATION DOCUMENT - DWA Home Page

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?