Small Decentralized Hydropower Program National ... - Cd3wd.com

adelante, Es obvio que frecuentemente es difkil
conseguir suficiente tiempo corn0 para colectar infor-
macibn ambiental adecuada, antes de la construction
de un proyecto cuyo desarrollo se ha planificado.
Aunque costoso y que toma tiempo, este es el metodo
mas precise - aunque el menos usado - para medir
10s verdaderos impactos ambientales de1 desarrollo de
un proyecto determinado. Los metodos m&s comunes
son la simulation y hay varias otras tknicas
analiticas que utilizan descripciones, diagramas,
mapas, cuadros, matrices, y metodos cuantitativos de
complejidsd variada.
La cooperation de las instituciones que proveen
information contactos, asistencia t&mica y financiera,
es de primordial importancia en la ejecucion de un
asesoramiento ambiental. Las agencias de1 gobierno
en agricultura, energia y minas, recursos naturales y
otros campos deben poner a un lado sus propios
intereses y deben evitar la defensa “territorial” y 10s
“juegos de poder” poniendo por encima de todo el
inter& corntin de utilizar 10s recursos para el bien
comun.
Con pocas excepciones, la cantidad de tiempo
asignado para realizar un asesoramiento ambiental es
siempre insuficiente. A veces, se piensa acerca de1
asesoramiento ambiental despues de1 hccho, 6 en el
mejor de 10s cases se lo considera un lujo deseable si
hubiera ticmpo y dinero disponible. Este fenomeno
todavia existe en las mentes de muchos en 10s
Estados Unidos, particularmente en el sector
priva.do.
Una solution partial es el desarrollo programatico
o generico de las declaraciones de impact0 ambiental
que generalmente delinean 10s impactos de un pro-
grama o un proyecto de desarrollo a gran escala al
mismo tiempo que se solicits el programa 0 10s
fond(os de1 presupuesto de! proyecto. Si se identifican
10s riesgos ambientales en potencia asi coma 10s
beneficios, mediante un amplio asesoramiento en ias
primer-a:. etapas de la planificacion, se podra enfocar
tiempo y atencion en detalle a 10s impactos m&s
criticios. Este metodo tambien suministra infor-
macion titil que puede ayudar a 10s que tengan que
tomar decisiones en el proceso de la aprobacion de1
presupuesto.
Muchas dificultades se originan cuando se establece
un prejuicio sobre 10s impactos que un desarrollo
determinado ha de tener sobre el medio ambiente.
Esto results especialmente dificil cuando una agencia
gubernamental de desarrollo, que tiene intereses
creados en el desarrollo de un proyecto o en la imple-
mentacion de un programa, tiene ‘tambien a su cargo
natural resources and other fields must put self-
interest aside and avoid “turf protecting” and
“power plays” in the interest of sharing
resources for a purpose that will benefit all.
With few exceptions, the amount of time
allocated for an environmental assessment is
always insufficient. At time, an environmental
assessment is thought of after the fact, if at all,
or at best it is considered to be a luxury that
would be nice to do if there were time and money
available. This phenomenon still exists in the
minds of many in the U.S., particularly in the
private sector.
A partial solution is to develop programmatic
or generic environmental impact statements
which lay out the general impacts of a program
or large scale development project at the same
time that the program or project budget is
requested. By identifying potential environmental
hazards as well as benefits via a broad assess-
ment at such an early stage in planning, time and
attention can then be focused in more detail on
the more critical impacts. This approach also
provides useful information that would aid
decision-makers in budget approval.
Many difficulties arise when a pre-judgement
has been made on the environmental impacts of
a given development. This is most troublesome
when a government development agency with a
vested interest in seeing a project developed or
program implemented, is also charged with con-
ducting the environmental impact of said project.
This intra-agency conflict of interest usually
results in the underestimation of environmental
impacts. In the US. and other developed
countries, this is often the point at which environ-
mental interest groups become involved, often to
the point of litigation.
This leads to the last problem area of public
involvement. The difficulties with public involve-
ment are in educating government agencies con-
cerning the utility of public involvement and in
using public opinion and participation in an
effective way. Public involvement is becoming an
increasingly important factor in decision-making
in resource planning and development as popula-
tions increase and many resource bases
diminish. In the U.S., government agencies
actively solicit public participation in planning via
holding town meetings, public hearings and coor-
dinating with key special interest groups who
represent the common interests of large sectors
of the population in one or more subjects.
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