Dams on thr Rio Xingo

rhino · Post by **rhino** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:47 pm

Not a pretty picture for the Amazon.

http://www.amazonwatch.org/amazon/BR/bm ... e_number=1

thebuddy · Post by **thebuddy** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:12 pm

Just out of curiosity doesn't a dam mean area for fish to live?
Or does it pollute the water.

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:42 pm

Dams do a lot of things to change the ecology of the river:

Dams change rivers to lakes by barring their flow
Downstream from the dam, water levels usually drop significantly
The speed of water flow decreases throughout the river

Those are really basics. For a more in depth look at the environmental disadvantages (and advantages) of dams visit Dam Problems - Environmental Impacts.

When you think of the zebra pleco, remember that they like high flow and lots of oxygen. There are also reports that zebras are collected from deep in the water - twenty or so feet down. Put a dam in the river and the flow rate drops massively. So does the oxygen level and the water level. Suddenly the zebra pleco - not just one or two of them, but all zebra plecos in the wild are in an environment hostile to their existence.

No more Zebra plecos in the wild.

rhino · Post by **rhino** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:47 pm

Depends on your view I guess. But the article states that one dam is going to lead to many more. Look at what happens to the river when a dam is built. The flow is greatly reduced not to mention the pollution created during construction. And the flooding that occurs introduces things into the river that weren’t meant to be there. None of this is good for the wildlife, just man!

Jojoyojimbi · Post by **Jojoyojimbi** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:54 pm

doesn't make a lot of sense to me to have a frickin ban that's meant to bolster their numbers when they're going to be wiped out in the wild by a dam... if i were in the brazillian government i'd advocate collecting every fish in the whole xingu and shipping them out to breeders

chanettt · Post by **chanettt** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:51 pm

that place is the origin of many species, i can't understand why they did that... we try to produce more but they try to destroy even more.

dave · Post by **dave** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:29 pm

The dam on the Xingu is on hold.

Dave

rhino · Post by **rhino** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:09 am

If that dam is on hold, that means that all the others that were to follow are on hold also. Are you sure about that Dave?

thebuddy · Post by **thebuddy** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 1:26 am

so this isnt a new one? thats good
I suspect that if they are sure there going to build it they will allow people to collect as many animals as they can to save the wild life.

inia · Post by **inia** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:37 pm

When the ecosystem is distroyed, we can not get it back even if we collect every fish from the river. The river ecosystem needs its every part, plants, insects and things, not only the fish.

If the dam is built, it destroys millions of years of evolutionary history.

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:14 pm

This is a difficult issue for me. I want the river Xingu ecosystem preserved. But I know that in saying that I am also saying that the people living in that area should be denied affordable, reliably electricity. That means people will die because hospitals won't be able to offer modern care.

The other options to get power to that region are equally unattractive. Oil and natrural gas based power plants will require large amounts of acreage cleared and will pollute the area. Coal plants (not sure how feasible they are there) will pollute worse.

I still come down on the side of saving the Xingu and thus our beloved Zebra pleco, but it is a mistake to see these issues in a one-dimensional framework. Each choice has consequences.

It would be a lot better if the roof of every building in the Amazon was covered in solar panels... but that might not help during rainy season. There just are no easy solutions.

blueblue · Post by **blueblue** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:19 am

I think there're other alternative places to build the electricity station and there're other means like the wind and the sun for generating electricity. Building a dam in Rio Xingu is simply a very bad idea which kills a lot of wild lives in the area, including zebra pleco...

rhino · Post by **rhino** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:37 pm

This is the worst news of all. Not only inefficient, it will require multiple dams.

Belo Monte will open the way for a series of large dams on the Xingu and tributaries that will impact on forests and many forest peoples. Belo Monte will generate no energy during the 3-5 dry months of the year making it one of the most inefficient dams in the world. Other dams upstream will be needed to guarantee an adequate, year-round flow of water into Belo Monte's turbines.

Refael Hdr. · Post by **Refael Hdr.** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:08 am

It's such a shame that they are putting the wild lives at the bottom of their priorities. Even if this acts are aiming to help the natives and improve their living, in the long run it's consequences will cause much more damage to them and to all of humanity.

Further than our love and concern for the magnificent Zebras, it's the entire ecosystem that stands here in front of an existential problem and it has much much more significance for all of us, thus it should be treated in great preeminence world wide and should be taking most of our concernment...

clownfish-god · Post by **clownfish-god** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:31 am

This is a huge lake we are talking about, will one dame really cause that much destruction! Is their a way if they are going to build it that we take as many fish/reptile/living creature out of that area?

Dams on thr Rio Xingo

Dams on thr Rio Xingo

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