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India’s new mega-dam will roil lives downstream with wild swings in water flow every day

https://theconversation.com/indias-new-mega-dam-will-roil-lives-downstream-with-wild-swings-in-water-flow-every-day-229085

The hydropower dam is part of a huge effort to boost India’s homegrown energy. But it will radically disrupt the lives and livelihoods of indigenous communities in the flood plains downstream.

4 comments

UnderpantsWeevil

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Hard to evaluate the construction of these mega-projects without exploring the counterfactuals. Where should Indians get their electricity from if not hydro power?

benjhm

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Well, in most countries wind and solar are rapidly growing compared to hydro. A more critical question for India is what else could replace the melting Himalayan glaciers and reducing snow cover, as a storage of water for the dry season?

UnderpantsWeevil

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Well, in most countries wind and solar are rapidly growing compared to hydro.

That's more a consequence of hydro sites having been built out already. If you've got a prime candidate for development, you'll find it difficult to get a better yield on the dollar over a smaller geographic footprint.

A more critical question for India is what else could replace the melting Himalayan glaciers and reducing snow cover, as a storage of water for the dry season?

Water conservation also a very big deal in India right now. Although the downstream impact of damming also tends to be droughts.

acockworkorange

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What? Dams usually have a regulating effect on flow downstream. Why would it cause swings?

For most of the day, the dam will hold back water, letting only a small amount through, roughly equivalent to the region’s dry season. But for about four hours each night, it will release water to generate power, sending a raging river downstream almost like during monsoon season.

Why would they build it like that? That’s stupid and wasteful. Why?!