|
Links
The
official Website
(EBY)
Google
Webmap Yacyreta Dam
Yacyreta
- Energy for the future (official site)
The
website of affected people (Yacyreta)(es)
A
website on the cological and social Impact
(es)
to the Southamerican Rivers Homepage
Other
Rivers in other continents
to the RiverNet Homepage
About RiverNet and ERN
|
General
Informations
A part of our text is inspired by Wikipedia
Infomations on Yacyreta :
Yacyretá-Apipé
(or just Yacyretá, often Yaciretá) is
a hydroelectric dam located on the Paraná River
between Argentina and Paraguay, 83 kilometers downstream
of Posadas City, next to Paraguayan city of Ayolas,
and Argentine city of Ituzaingó, Corrientes Province.
It was named after the Yacyretá Island (Guaraní:
jasy "moon", reta "country"), now
80% covered by the waters of the reservoir, and the
Apipé islands, now completely covered.
The
dam is 808 metres long and has 20 turbines with a power
of
4 050 MW that can produce 19 080 GWh per annum, with
maximum water flow of 55 000 Cubic metres per second.
There
is a canal lock to let ships through the dam overcoming
the
25 metre water difference, as well as a system to allow
fish to go upstream during their reproductive season.
The
project was heavily criticised before construction,
as 1600 square kilometres of land were to be covered
by water as reservoir to the dam, which finally eliminated
the natural environment of a number of species. As a
result, a lot of fish died right after the dam was filled
(due to the oxygen difference in the water), and fish
mortality is at high levels. The reduction of inhabitable
environment has decreased the number of several species
of the area. Also in danger were the Iberá Wetlands
in Corrientes, through suspected underground infiltration.
City floods during heavy rains have been also said to
be caused by the higher level of the waters. Before
flooding the reservoir, new houses had to be built for
the relocation of 40 000 people who lived in the area.
( Phase 1)
Even
though it was started at the end of 1983, it was not
until 1994 that the dam started working, in the middle
of a corruption scandal (often called "The Monument
to Corruption"), and after the original budget
was largely exceeded.
Since 1998 all the generators are working, but the water
level only reaches 76 metres over the sea level, which
is 7 metres less than the original planned level of
83 metres. For this reason, the dam only generates about
60% of its planned power. While 7 meters may seem like
a small difference, because the dam is located on a
plain, that additional height of water would cover 500
extra square kilometres and affect the homes of 80,000
people (Phase 2)
In
2006, amid concerns about energy shortage in Argentina,
President Néstor Kirchner vowed to study the
feasibility of finishing the works by 2008. A few months
later, the governments of Paraguay and Argentina reached
an agreement to cancel Paraguay's debt of $11,000 million,
by having smaller countries supply Argentina with
8 000 GWh per year during 40 years in exchange.]
End of the Wikipedia text
The
Yaciretá dam, is a joint project between Paraguay
and Argentina. The project, although generally overshadowed
by the colossal Itaipú project, was one of Latin
America's major publicsector projects in the 1980s.
Established hastily by Argentina's Peronist government
on December 13, 1973, the Yacyretá project was
stalled for years as a consequence of regional maneuvering,
lobbying by the Argentine nuclear and oil industries,
and political instability in Argentina. After ten years
of delays, the first major engineering contract finally
was awarded in June 1983. As with Itaipú, Yacyretá
was hindered by the general lack of physical infrastructure
at the dam site. Also as with Itaipú, Paraguayan
firms did not receive equal work, despite stipulations
in the initial agreement. Construction of the dam and
the hydroelectric plant continued throughout the 1980s,
but the major construction phase did not begin until
the late 1980s, and numerous delays-- mostly political--persisted.
Yacyretá was not expected to become fully operational
until the mid-1990s, more than twenty years after the
treaty's signing and at a cost of as much as US$10 billion,
five times the original calculation.
An
early point of contention between Paraguay and Argentina
was the percentage of each country's land that would
be flooded for the project's dam; more than 1,690 square
kilometers would be needed--a larger area than was flooded
for Itaipú. It esd sgreed that flooding was to
be just about equally divided. Another disagreement
involved Paraguay's exchange-rate policies. Exchange
rates determined the final price Argentina would pay
for the plant's electricity. This issue continued to
be negotiated in the late 1980s.
The
massive reservoir is the source of big problems for
people living along the river, most notably the poorer
merchants and residents in the low lying areas of Encarnación
(Paraguay) , a major city on the southern border of
Paraguay and in Posadas ( Argentina). River levels rose
dramatically upon completion of the dam, flooding out
large sections of the cities lower areas.
The
last step is to rise the water level in 2008 for 5 -
8 meters and will affect 60 000 people in Argenina and
Paraguay.
When completed, Yacyretá would be roughly one-quarter
of the size of Itaipú.
The
affected people ( the forgotten people of Yacyreta)
back to the RiverNet Homepage
These
pages and their content are © Copyright of European
Rivers Network.
|
|
