Located near the
confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers in Stung Treng province, Cambodia,
the Lower Sesan 2 Dam threatens the vitality and biodiversity of two of the
Mekong River’s most significant tributaries.
If built, the 400
MW project will have a costly catastrophic impact on the Mekong River’s
fisheries and biodiversity. A 2012 study by the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences found that the Lower Sesan 2 Dam would
cause a 9.3 percent drop in fish stocks basin-wide, while threatening more than
fifty fish species. These impacts would be felt as far downstream as the
Mekong Delta in Vietnam - the rice bowl of the country - and as far upstream as
Laos and Thailand. Experts have also warned that the Lower Sesan 2 Dam
will contribute to the changing of the Mekong’s hydrological flows, as well as
a reduction of sediment flows by approximately six to eight percent.
Approximately
five thousand people, many of whom are ethnic minorities, will be forcibly
evicted to make way for the dam’s 33,560 hectare reservoir. The
project will also forever alter the livelihoods and cultures of tens of
thousands of people living along the Sesan and Srepok rivers, whose lives and
traditions are closely linked to the river system and its rich natural
resources. As people who have already experienced the adverse downstream
impacts of Vietnam’s hydropower dams for more than a decade, communities living
along the Sesan and Srepok rivers have been voicing their opposition to project
for more than five years.
The project was
approved by Cambodia's Cabinet in November 2012, despite the dam’s
Environmental Impact Assessment report failing to
meet international best practice. Affected people have yet to be properly
consulted and resettlement plans have not been disclosed to the public. A
law offering government guarantees to the project developers was approved in
February 2013, despite concerns raised by some lawmakers and NGOs.
The $816 million
project to be implemented by Hydropower Lower Sesan 2 Co., Ltd. is a joint
venture between Cambodia’s Royal Group and Hydrolancang
International Energy Co., Ltd (90%) and EVN International Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of
the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) (10%). Financing for the
project will come from the company's capital (30%) and an undisclosed bank loan
(70%). The economic viability of this project has also been called into
question, especially in light of increased droughts due to climate change and
upstream dam operations.
Clearing for the
dam's reservior began in March 2013 by Cambodia's Ang & Associates Lawyer
Ltd. (a company owned by Royal Group's Kith Meng). The logging was halted in October 2013 and a commission of inquiry
was established to investigate the operations of Ang & Associates,
after repeated allegations of logging occuring outside of the concession area.
Shorly after the call for a halt to logging, there were reports from villagers
in the area that logging has continued. Since 2014, construction towards
the dam has been underway, with a floating bridge constructed across the Sesan
River, access roads built, as well as signs that an embankment wall or coffer
dam is being built.
In June 2013 and
2014, international donors, including the governments of Australia, Finland,
Japan and the USA, called upon Cambodia to voluntarily submit the Lower Sesan 2
Dam to the Mekong River Commission's 'prior consultion' process, which would
allow for regional decision-making given the dam's expected transboundary
impacts. Cambodia has yet to respond to these requests.
International
Rivers has heard reports in 2014 that Hydrolancang has resdesigned the Lower
Sesan 2 Dam with significant changes towards structure and the height of the
dam and urges the Cambodian government to halt the dam's construction, put the
new design into the public dominan, while also carrying out a new environmental
impact assessment, which also considers transboundary impacts, before a
decision is made over whether construction should proceed.
International
Rivers is working with partners in Cambodia calling upon the government of
Cambodia to cancel this project. With such significant environmental,
social and economic costs, the Lower Sesan 2 Dam is clearly the wrong solution
for the region’s energy and water needs.
To view the photographs
More information:
Read the Lower
Sesan 2 Hydropower Project Factsheet: (English) (Cambodia) (Vietnamese)
Read our 2014
report on Lower Sesan 2 called Starving the Mekong
Read the June
2013 statement made at the Mekong and 3S Rivers regional forum calling for the
cancellation of the Lower Sesan 2
Read news article
on the Lower Sesan 2 and Hydrolancang's history of violating laws on
dam projects in China
Read the March
2012, 3S Rivers Protection Network's Press Release Calling for a Stop to Plans
to Construct the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in English,
Khmer and Vietnamese.
Read the March
2012, Press
Release by the Cambodian Fishery Coalition calling for the cancellation of
the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in English, Khmer and Vietnamese.
Watch the
film Hydropower
in the Mekong Basin: Impacts and Alternatives questioning "How
can sustainable energy be developed, while avoiding the associated negative
impacts that dams can cause to food security and vital ecosystem services for
the people of Cambodia?" released on 14 November 2013.
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