Date: Sun, 27 Feb 94 01:29:58 EST Subject: E-Link;_Rainforest_Rivers.txt Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1993 11:05:57 -0500 (EST) From: Student Enviro-Link Subject: E-Link: Rainforest & Rivers Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 8:32:50 PST _GRAction_ #1/93 February 9, 1993 Usumacinta Hydroelectric Project--Mexico -box- *"The Usumacinta is essential for the natural circulation of water in the rain forests of the region....Its well-being and fate are inextricably linked to that of the Lacando'n Forest."* -Homero Aridjis, President of the Mexican environmental organization "Grupo de Los Cien", at a press conference calling for the cancellation of any destructive development projects along the Usumacinta River. -end box- *Global Response* members are asked to write letters to help protect the *Usumacinta River* from the negative effects of a proposed hydroelectric dam project. In 1989 the Mecican government, bowing to domestic and international pressure, shelved plans to build a series of dams on the Usumacinta River. Mexico has _reintroduced_ the project and has scheduled construction on the first dam to begin in 1994 at *Boca del Cerro*, at the mouth of the *San Jose Canyon*, 20 miles from the Guatamalan border. Environmentalists and archaeologist are concerned that this "dangerous and costly scheme of multiple hydroelectric dams" will severely damage the ecology of North America's largest surviving rainforest and destroy ancient Mayan civilization centers. The project was originally estimated to cost between $2.1 and $3.7 billion and would have flooded an area of 500 square miles. The *Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)* is currently funding a $2 million feasibility study for the development of a regional power network. Electricity from the proposed Usumacinta dams is included in these power grid schemes. The Usumacinta is the largest river in Mexico south of the Rio Grande. Draining an area of more than 40,000 square miles, it is the backbone for the *Lacandon Rainforest*. The Lacandon Rainforest is home to endangered species such as ocelots, jaguars, crocodiles, howler and spider monkeys, toucans, and tropical songbirds. Its incalculable archaeological and cultural resources include the largely unexplored *Classic Maya* ruins of *Piedras Negras* and *Yaxchilan*, and the *Lacandon Indians*, a small band of several hundred nomadic gatherers and rudimentary agriculturalists. The Lacandon are the purest descendants of the Maya. *Recommended Action-Letters/Fax to: {}Enrique V. Iglesias/President - IADB* -Mention that you are aware of the IADB's funding of a feasibility study for a regional power grid using Usumacinta hydroelectric power; -Stress that further IADB funds for this project should be withheld pending a full analysis of the impact the dams will have on the Usumacinta's ecosystem; -Remind Mr. Iglesias that alternatives such as conservation, increased energy efficiency, and *alternative energy sources* are available to meet the region's power needs; and, -Ask Mr. Iglesias and the IADB to join Mexican environmentalists in opposing *any* damming of the Usumacinta River. -box- *Background: Tropical hydroelectric dams* not only inundate forest resources and kill wildlife, but they can also lead to the spread of undesirable aquatic vegetation, increased incidence of disease such as schistomaisis and malaria, forced resettlement of human communities, and the loss of productive agricultural land. Potential problems to the dams include the destruction of hydroelectric equipment by hydrogen sulfide produced by decomposing forest vegetation and the premature siltation of reservoirs caused by the destruction of the surrounding forest. *Piedras Negras*, on the Guatamalan side of the Usumacinta, and *Yaxchilan*, on Mexico's side of the river, are considered to be two of the New World's most important *Classic Maya* sites. Archaeologists are just beginning to explore their magnificent ruins of temples, palaces, sports arenas and baths. A dam at Boca del Cerro would flood much of Piedras Negras. Companion "check dams" needed to make the Boca del Cerro dam economically feasible would flood Yaxchilan, inundate dozens of indigenous villages along the river, and perhaps forever cover many still undiscovered sites. At the mouth of the Usumacinta is Mexico's most important wetlands resource--the *Great Delta Wetlands*. It is feared that this 4.9 million acre system of fresh water marshes, coastal lagoons, mangrove forests, and transitional lowlands will be adversely affected by the changes caused to the seasonal pattern of water flows by the Usumacinta dams. These wetlands are a major waterbird habitat and support Mexico's largest shrimp fishery and significant fresh and salt water fisheries. *{GR}* -end box- *Addresses:* The *President* of the *Inter-American Development Bank* is in a position to help protect the *Usumacinta* (Mayan for "River of the Sacred Monkey") *River*. Given that the IADB has already funded the feasibility study for the power grid, it is considered likely that they will be asked to help finance the construction of the *Boca del Cerro Dam*. Please send copies of your letters to President Salinas of Mexico in care of the Embassy of Mexico in your country. *Note:* As reported in the December 1992 *Action Status*, the *World Bank*, in spite of intense worldwide pressure and against the recommendations of its own *Independent Review*, decided to continue funding India's controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam. (GRAction #8/92) The reluctance of major lending institutions to sever the funding pipeline for ongoing projects, no matter how socially and environmentally destructive, emphasizes the need for us to apply pressure on the IADB while financing for the Usumacinta Dam project remains uncertain and *before* construction begins. Mr. Enrique V Iglesias President Inter-American Development Bank 1300 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20577 USA (tel: 202-623-1101) (Fax: 202-623-3614) President Carlos Salinas de Gotari c/o Ambasador Gustavo Petridoll Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20006 USA -box- The information for this *Global Response Action* was provided by the following organizations: _International Rivers Network_, 1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 (510-848-1155); _Grupo De Los Cien_, Sierra Jiutepec No. 155-B, Lomas Barrilaco 11010 Mexico DF -end box- GLOBAL Response Environmental Action Network POB 7490 Boulder CO 80306-7490 (303)444-0306 "As environmental awareness and activism help reveres destructive trends at home, one result has been the export of severe ecological degradation to the developing world. GLOBAL RESPONSE is a dedicated letter-writing network of environmental activists focusing attention on specific planetary environmental threats, and mobilizing broad-based campaigns to hold those responsible accountable. GLOBAL RESPONSE issues _GRActions_ [bulletins] on rainforest destruction, ocean dumping and pollution, atmospheric contamination, nuclear disarmament, extinction, and threats to marine mammals and fisheries. GR also issues a monthly _Young Environmentalist's Action_, a simplified, larger print version of our _GRActions_ for use by elementary and junior-high school students." GR also publishes an Action Status report on the results of earlier campaigns. 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