Damn in Toledo

[Stokke]

http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=11211
Yet another illegal dam...

This one is within the Columbia Forest Reserve and Bladden Nature Reserve. A stunningly beautiful, remote, sensitive, and pristine area (for the most part.) Opposing this are representatives from PACT, the Protected Area Conservation Trust, Toledo Tour Guide Association, The Maya Leaders Alliance, SATIM, Yaxche Conservation Trust, Tide, Monkey River Tour Guide Association, The Association Of Concerned Citizens from Placencia, as well as representatives from the Toledo Alcalde Association, which actually held an emergency meeting with regard to this.

Remember the bitter Chalillo dam controversy for the Macal? And the very recent S*** brown slurry flowing down it for the benefit of Belizeans living downstream? All those effected by that & this current proposal better be prepared for yet another ram-it-down-your-throat "economic benefit" to Belize. Remember--$$ doesn't talk--it SWEARS!

Sure, electricity is expensive, but how does that expense compare to what will be lost when (not if) this occurs? Would that make Bz more appealing to tourist dollars? Or economically beneficial to Belizeans? The Macal dam didn't lower electrical rates as promised, so why would any one expect this to be any different? Whose pockets will this project fill? I think the answer is fairly obvious.

All this doesn't even consider what will be lost in the quality of life for those Belizeans directly affected by such a project, or for those who visit and spend their dollars there. Some things should be considered sacrosanct, or inviolable, such as nature reserves. What's the point in designating them as such, if they're just going to be destroyed?

[Stokke]

Things such as this (from LoveFM) could be part of the solution:

Signing Ceremonies were held this morning in Belmopan for an exchange of notes and a grant agreement between the government of Japan and the Government of Belize. This is in respect of a Project for the Introduction of Clean Energy by Solar Electricity Generation Systems. The note provides a framework for Japanese economic cooperation to be extended to Belize with a view to strengthening friendly and cooperative relations between Japan and Belize and to support the efforts by the Government of Belize to address climate change as well as on the improvement of access to clean energy. This project involves the establishment of a photovoltaic electricity generation system in Belmopan which converts solar energy to electrical power, which in turn will be sold to the national electrical grid system. Work on the project is expected to commence in mid 2010 and to be completed by August 2011.

[Rigrat]

Except for the fact that the dam didn't cause the discolouration of the Macal. The discolouration came from the Raspaculo and flowed through all of the dams. I don't like dams, but if there is going to be sensible opposition, then people need to get their facts straight and not go off half cocked like the opposition to the Challilo dam that was based upon bad science.

Plus the Japanese are giving Belize a solar system as a bribe to try to encourage Belize to vote with Japan on ending the whaling moratorium. A double edged sword.

[woodsman]

Considering recent history most likely it's just another taxpayer funded gravy train for corporate and government cronies already trying to figure out how to transfer the government guaranteed profits to their off shore accounts.

Today's democracies are no different than medieval feudal fiefdoms - there's few folks who live it up high and the stupid docile peasants who take it up the ass without lubricant AND pay for it all.

[PaulS]

I would much rather prefer to see a manufacturing facility so that the photovoltaic cells can be made here.

Thanks for the headsup Stokke.

[Stokke]

A simple Google search (and photographs) will show that the dam did indeed cause the discolouration of the Macal, and that the science behind this is neither "bad" or "half cocked". The Raspaculo is a tributary of the Macal that was subject to drowned trees and subsequent siltation which contributed to the problem.

[Rigrat]

Stokke

A simple Google search does not show that the dam caused the siltation. And it was me who circulated those photos that show discoloured water downstream of the dam whilst apparently there was clear water upstream. When it was investigated it was found that warm water from several tributaries was on top of the discoloured colder water, and the two did not mix. Exactly the same as downstream where the Macal meets the Mopan. When the divers investigated the discolouration was four feet from the surface of the water behind the dam with clear water above. There was a very distinct thermocline.
The discolouration was caused by a 400 acre land slip up the Raspaculo that was caused by the deforestation of the riparian forest by fire and logging, NOT by the dam just sitting there doing nothing. This is actual verifiable FACT, not just stories made up by people who don't like Challilo.

Another verifiable FACT is that the Challilo dam takes water from the bottom of the dam unlike most dams that take water from spillways mid way or at the top. This was done specifically to allow siltation to flow through the dam, and not let it build up behind. It was known before the dam was built that the Macal carried a very heavy siltation load and the dam was designed to cope with this.

[PaulS]

Rigrat is so awesome.

[Stokke]

rigrat: Listen, I can see I've touched a sore spot with you & I gotta say I have no desire, ego, or stomach to engage with you in that kinda pissing contest. I respect your views and think the real problem here might be a matter of semantics. I don't appreciate the personal nature of your responses, however. You say that you don't like dams, and neither do I (obviously). I've seen what they do here in my home state (Elwha river), and it has not been good. I've watched the river below the dam here literally die. Mother nature does a fine job of keeping rivers habitable for fish, associated critters, & people. Dams have been shown to disrupt that balance, and I believe that the Challilo dam construction wasn't based on good science. Locally, Sharon Matola of the Belize zoo, amongst a host of other reputable scientists, think so too.

You say that the Macal dam "just sits there doing nothing" and I agree with you that as far as it is just a hunk of concrete, but if it wasn't there, I doubt that the deforestation & mess flowing downstream would have occured, and I don't think that the release of sediments was done in a responsible manner either; so in that regard, that's what I meant & mean by saying the dam "caused" it. I am not trying to post a "made up" story, as you suggest. I'm impressed & commend you for posting the photographs of the (June, I think ) '09 situation on the Macal.

Getting back to the original reason for my post, I would hate to see an area I have traveled in, and been awestruck by, be screwed up by another dam. Southern Belize (toledo dist) is my favorite part. My wife prefers Cayo, so we will have to come to some sort of agreement as to where we settle. Again, I'm sorry if my post has raised your ire to the point where you feel the need to be insulting.