dams

Deadly Dam Collapse in Laos Leaves Thousands Homeless

Deadly Dam Collapse in Laos Leaves Thousands Homeless

A dam in Laos collapsed Monday following heavy rains, killing 26, leaving thousands homeless and confirming worries expressed by environmental groups over the safety of hydroelectric development in one of Asia’s poorest countries, Al Jazeera reported. Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told reporters Wednesday that at least 131 people are still missing after the Xepian-Xe […]

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    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    By James Blair Local residents and environmentalists in Chile are enjoying a prolonged New Year’s celebration, thanks to two major legal decisions that will protect the country’s free-flowing rivers. Chile’s justice system put a final stop to two controversial large hydroelectric dam developments in Chilean Patagonia: 1) Mediterráneo S.A.’s run-of-the-river project proposed on tributaries of […]

    Will Tanzania Save the Great Ruaha River?

    Will Tanzania Save the Great Ruaha River?

    By Brennan PetersonWood and Adam C. Stein The Great Ruaha River in southern Tanzania is the lifeblood of Ruaha National Park, one of the last strongholds of major elephant and lion populations in Africa. Flowing through Ruaha National Park before emptying into the Rufuji River, the Great Ruaha and associated river systems also provide a […]

    Colorado Water Plan Has Become ‘Colorado Dam Plan’

    Colorado Water Plan Has Become ‘Colorado Dam Plan’

    You’d have thought the earth moved exactly two years ago with all the ballyhoo at the State Capitol when Gov. John Hickenlooper unveiled the final Colorado Water Plan. I stood in the west foyer of the Capitol as every TV camera in the city pointed at Hickenlooper and his then-Colorado Water Conservation Board director, James […]

    Balkan Dams Pose Major Threat to Protected Species

    Balkan Dams Pose Major Threat to Protected Species

    Construction sites for hydroelectric dams are popping up all over southeast Europe and endangering mountain rivers and the region’s unique biodiversity, according to researchers. More than 2,700 hydropower plants are in the planning phase across the Balkans, with 37 percent of dams slated to be built on land with “high protection status,” according to Save […]

    Where Have All the Salmon Gone?

    Where Have All the Salmon Gone?

    By Heather Smith To get to the largest surviving population of wild Spring Chinook salmon on the Klamath River, I drive farther north than I’ve ever been in California, then turn right. Gradually, the highways disappear, and the roads narrow. Commerce becomes more improvisational. Grocery stores and restaurants disappear and in their place there is […]

    Shocking New Investigation Links Berta Cáceres’s Assassination to Executives at Honduran Dam Company

    Shocking New Investigation Links Berta Cáceres’s Assassination to Executives at Honduran Dam Company

    We look at shocking revelations released Tuesday that link the assassination of renowned Honduran indigenous environmental leader Berta Cáceres to the highest levels of the company whose hydroelectric dam project she and her indigenous Lenca community were protesting. We speak with New York Times reporter Elisabeth Malkin, who has read the new report by a […]