The Evaluation of Cumulative Impacts in the Environmental Planning of Hydroelectric Plants in the Teles Pires River Basin in the Amazon Region

Authors

  • Amarilis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo Departamento de Engenharia Hidráulica e Ambiental, Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo (USP) Programa de Mestrado em Gestão Ambiental e Sustentabilidade e Programa de Mestrado em Cidades Inteligentes e Sustentáveis, Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove) http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5169-997X
  • João Carlos da Silva Programa de Mestrado em Gestão Ambiental e Sustentabilidade e Programa de Mestrado em Cidades Inteligentes e Sustentáveis, Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove)
  • Guilherme Leite Gaudereto Programa de Mestrado em Gestão Ambiental e Sustentabilidade e Programa de Mestrado em Cidades Inteligentes e Sustentáveis, Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove)
  • Davi Wilkson Furtado Sozinho Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v43i0.53818

Keywords:

cumulative impacts, environmental impacts, environmental impact assessment, hydropower planning, hydroelectricity

Abstract

The Amazon river basins concentrate a large part of the hydroelectric plants planned to meet the national electricity demands. The debate about the significant socio-environmental impacts associated with the advancement of hydroelectric frontiers in the Amazon region has been intense. Due to the socio-environmental vulnerability of the Amazon region to the hydroelectric dams, it is relevant to discuss the associated cumulative impacts. The planning of the hydropower sector uses two impact assessment tools: the Environmental Impact Study (EIS), for analyzing the environmental feasibility of hydroelectric dams, and the Integrated Environmental Assessment (IEA), for analyzing impacts from a set of hydroelectric into watershed. The research focuses on the Teles Pires river basin where a series of hydropower projects is planned. The objective was to analyze the assessment of cumulative impacts from the watershed to the hydroelectric through the impact assessment instruments. A research instrument was used to synthesize guidelines for the evaluation of cumulative impacts in watershed and criteria were used for associating impacts in the watershed and in the individual hydropower projects. The main results reveal that: a) some of the good international practices for assessing cumulative impacts in watersheds are present in the environmental planning of hydroelectric dams; b) the analysis of cumulative impacts in the basin considers only the effects of hydroelectric projects; c) the cumulative impacts identified at the river basin level - in the IEA - were partially observed in the hydroelectric dams - in the EISs. The sector has the merit of integrating cumulative impacts assessment principles in taking decision in watersheds. However to guarantee the effectiveness of the instrument it is recommended to extend the scope of this analysis to other actions besides the hydroelectric ones. More value can be achieved by adopting procedures to carry out the EIS embedded in good practices for considering cumulative impacts at the level of hydroelectric projects.

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Published

2017-12-24

How to Cite

Gallardo, A. L. C. F., da Silva, J. C., Gaudereto, G. L., & Sozinho, D. W. F. (2017). The Evaluation of Cumulative Impacts in the Environmental Planning of Hydroelectric Plants in the Teles Pires River Basin in the Amazon Region. Desenvolvimento E Meio Ambiente, 43. https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v43i0.53818

Issue

Vol. 43 (2017)

Section

Environmental Impact Assessment

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