While the government continued to deny that plans exist for the construction of dams in Chiapas, machines on the Tzaconeja River were opening the path through the jungle of Ocosingo in the face of the Zapatista and PRI discontent and protest in the region. While the Federal Electric Commission disclaims plans for construction of dams, on their web page (www.cfe.gob.mx) they offer the results of the studies of each one of the dams, information that might “disappear” from the site tomorrow. While President Vicente Fox signed the agreement for dams on the Usumacinta River with the Guatemalan president, and the InterAmerican Development Bank approved a loan for the project, the state government refused to acknowledge the existence of the dam projects.  At the same time, organizations in the Peten released a public letter demanding further information that the governments refuses to give to citizens. The government promises development and well-being for families through the construction of dams that would generate energy and control flooding.  However, the states of San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas were recently  declared in a state of disaster after poor planning and monitoring led to overflowed dams that collapsed during the recent rains. In the first half of August, the destruction of the dams of La Ventilla, Capulin, Malpaso and Santa Rosa caused the flooding of hundred of hectares, lost harvests, deaths of hundreds of heads of cattle, and dozens of deceased, wounded, and missing persons who were surprised in the middle of the night by the torrents of water that fell on their homes leaving thousands of people homeless. The rains and overflowed dams upriver threatened others downriver. In Germany, the overflowing of a dam from intense rains caused 16,000 people to be displaced.

This kind of hiding the truth is nothing new. The government affirms that development is taking place, at the same time it recognizes that more than 54% of the population lives in poverty, as does 93% of the indigenous population of the country. On the other hand, it denies that there is genetically modified produce in Mexico while last August it gave a license to transnational company, Monsanto, to sow transgenic soy in Tapachula.  It also refuses to admit that there are political prisoners in Chiapas and at one time even denied the existence of the Plan Puebla Panama.  In the same way, the federal government denies that there is a conflict in Chiapas, and then ratifies its will for peace with the visit of the supposed governmental commission for peace and later the Mexican Army arrives with more than 3000 members in more than 100 vehicles from the XXX Military Zone of Villahermosa, Tabasco, toward the Lacandon Jungle, where the expulsion of communities from Montes Azules is taking place.

Along with the hydroelectric projects on the Usumacinta Basin, as part of the National “Third Millennium” Project, other works are identified as priority. It is important to note that there have been no studies about social, ecological, or cultural heritage impacts. These megaprojects will seriously affect large indigenous populations of the region. Already, the indigenous communities of this region are reporting the presence of the Federal Electric Commission (CFE) to mark lands.  However, in these same communities, groups are already organizing to demand an explanation of their presence as well as information about their plans.

5) Quetzalli Dam. This dam is on the Lacantun River, about 90 kilometers to the east of the municipal seat of Las Margaritas, and 3.5 kilometers to the northeast of the community of Nuevo San Andres, near the Ixcan Station of the community called Flor de Café, and on the border of the Montes Azules biosphere. The dam will cause irreparable ecological impact, at 145 meters high and forming an artificial lake whose reservoir will flood 570 square kilometers or 57,000 hectares. (Note: one kilometer is equal to a million square meters, one hectare is equal to 10,000 square meters, so one square kilometer is equal to 100 hectares) This dam will have a capacity to store 32,375 million cubic meters of water. The project is justified in this way: “Controlling the enormous volume of blockage, raising the levels of friatics and the storage volume of the aquifers will contribute to the regeneration and protection of the flora and fauna of the entire Montes Azules reserve. But nothing could be further from the truth. The central objective will be to form an immense artificial lake in middle of the Lancandon Jungle, and to create big business and communication media “where fish farming and tourism will be allowed to develop on a large scale.” It will have a hydroelectric output of 1,200 megawatts (Mw) and 3,900 million kilowatts per hour per year (Kw/h-y) to provide electrical energy to the large agro-exportation businesses, irrigation systems, ports, airports, electric trains and maquiladoras. This project is just one more of the reasons for the planned evictions of the indigenous communities of Montes Azules. Nonetheless, the construction of infrastructure will begin soon, in contradiction of the professed focus on protecting biodiversity. But in either of the two cases, those that lose are the indigenous communities, as the common denominator is the expulsion of populations from their lands.

6) Huixtan I Dam. This dam will be situated on the principal tributary of the Lacantun River, on the Santo Domingo River, 63 kilometers to the east of the municipal seat of Las Margaritas and 23 kilometers to the south-southeast of the Quetzalli project. The dam will make use of the flow from the Santo Domingo River and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts and will generate 3,150 million Kw/h-y. It will include a dam 175 meters high that will form an artificial lake whose reservoir will have a capacity of 6,000 million cubic meters and will flood a total of 90 square kilometers (or 9,000 hectares). With this dam are planned benefits in the areas of “navigation, tourism, fish farming, control of blockage and flooding.”

7) Huixtan II Dam. This dam will also be located on the Santo Domingo River, 9 kilometers to the southeast of the hydroelectric project of Huixtan I, where the Santo Domingo River crosses the Guatemalan border. It will have a capacity of 1,413 million cubic meters and will complement the usage of the flows and falls of the Santo Domingo River. With a capacity of 600 megawatts, it will generate 1,900 million Kw/h-y, which would raise the hydroelectric potential of the Usumacinta River Basin. Furthermore, it will have a 225 meter-high dam, a reservoir which would flood 44 square kilometers of indigenous lands that are equivalent to 4,400 hectares – of which some 3 kilometers are on Guatemalan territory. Some indigenous communities would have to disappear, as they would be flooded.  Nonetheless the project is justified in the following way: “amplifying the perspectives of well-being and employment in the southern zone of the Lacandon Jungle and substituting the affected communities – Amparo Aguatinta, Ojo de Agua, Las Flores y California – by new population centers with municipal services, communicated by the amplified local network of roads and navigation systems, would convert the project into one of high energy and technical-economic indices that would support the actual and future development of the southeast.”

In other words, Zapatista lands of the autonomous municipality of Tierra y Libertad, as well as “ejidos” affiliated with the PRI are to be erased from the map. Curiously, it is where the communities have denounced permanent and constant fumigations of “Moscamed” that have destroyed coffee and corn plantings. It is a region with a strong military presence where the government, as in other regions of Chiapas, strongly pushes the Program of Certification of Ejidal Rights (Procede) to privatize land. It is also an indigenous region where every day there is ever increasing migration the US, or to nearby cities such as Comitan or San Cristobal de Las Casas, where – without much success – the installation of maquiladoras are being promoted to attract poor people and their cheap labor. But it is also the region where ejidal committees of different ideologies and political parties in more than 40 communities and 5 municipalities have decided to unite to form a “Directive against Dams” in defense of their lands, the jungle and the rivers.

8) Jattza Dam. This dam will be located on the Jatate River, 54 kilometers to the east-southeast of the municipal SEAT of Altamirano and 63 kilometers to the northeast of the Quetzalli Project. The height of the dam will be 235 meters which, within those that make use of the Usumacinta River Basin, will make it the highest hydroelectric project, which will affect the communities of the Las Tazas cañada that is home to Zapatista communities as well as the indigenous organization known as ARIC. Although its social and ecological impact will be overwhelmingly negative, for the designers “it will be compensated by its strategic energy location and its resultant important social impact.”

This dam will have a capacity of 900 megawatts and will produce 1,970 million kilowatts/hour-year, which would supply electrical energy to the north of the state of Chiapas, to the neighboring state of Tabasco and to the Yucatan peninsula. But the benefits to the indigenous populations of the region are not mentioned, only to the big business spelled out in the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), as regional expression of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.  Its artificial lake will take in 29 square kilometers, flooding 2,900 ejidal hectares. It will have a storage capacity of 2,715 million cubic meters. Thus, the benefits of the PPP once again cover up its impact: “it will represent economic flow on the Tzanconeja and Jatate Rivers, as well as supporting fish farming, tourism, and achieving better control of the blockages and flooding.” So, the communities of Romulo Calzada and La Sultana would disappear under flooding.

9) Central Nance Dam. This dam will be located on the Tzaconeja River in the Highlands of Chiapas, 7.5 kilometers to the southeast of the municipality of Altamirano and 2 kilometers to the south of the Zapatista population of Morelia. The dam will take in 440 meters of design area, and be 75 meters high with 380 meters of drop that will be used to conduct water through a 7 kilometer tunnel. It will have a capacity of 480 megawatts to produce 1 billion Kw/h-y. Its reservoir will form an artificial lake that will flood 4 square kilometers of surface, or 400 hectares of ejidal lands, to store 360 million cubic meters of water. Although for its designers this dam “will be another tourist attraction and fish producer” for the neighboring populations it will signify more poverty and expulsion and a benefit of electrical energy that will go to other business regions: “For its convenient location and distance in line transmission, it will permit a reinforcement and resultant increase in the availability of energy potential at peak hours in the states of the southeast and in the Yucatan peninsula. Likewise, together with the projects of the Usumacinta River Basin, it will consolidate proposed programs for the new population centers on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico.”

These four dams alone would signify the creation of artificial lakes that would inundate a total of 737 square kilometers of jungle and ejidos, equivalent to 73,700 hectares of land. This surface area is larger than any of the 88 municipalities of Chiapas, whose surface area is less than these 737 square kilometers of land (of a total of 118). Some of these municipalities could be flooded at once by the volume represented here, as the municipality of Tumbala (705.5 square kilometers) and Frontera Comalapa (717.9 square kilometers); and 22 times the municipality of Tapalapa or of Tzimol (with 32.3 square kilometers each), or 14 times the municipality of La Grandeza (52.2 square kilometers). If we add to these, the 1000 square kilometers (or 100,000 hectares) that would be inundated upon adding the contemplated dams on the Usumacinta River Basin described in the first part of the study, up to 1,737 square kilometers would be flooded, equivalent to leaving under water any of the almost 100 municipalities of Chiapas that have less than that amount of land. For example, all the territory of any of the following large municipalities could remain under water: Comitan, Venustiano Carranza, Altamirano, Palenque, Independencia or La Trinitaria.

The Mexcalapa-Grijalva River Basin

The hydroelectric system of the Grijalva River was constructed between 1959 and 1987, amidst many social conflicts that provoked displaced populations, repression and even jailed or murdered campesinos. This system is integrated with the projects of the great dams of Chiapas such as Belisario Dominguez-La Angostura (900 Mw and 2,025 trillion Kw/h-y); Manuel Moreno Torres-Chicoasen (1,500 Mw and 4,500 trillion Kw/h-y); Netzahualcoyotl-Malpaso (1,080 Mw and 3,000 trillion Kw/h-y) and Angel Albino Corzo-Las Peñitas (420 Mw and 1,450 trillion Kw/h-y).

The entire Mexcalapa-Grijalva Basin stores a total of 37,000 million cubic meters that represent 30% of the flow of water in the coastal plain of Tabasco. It apports a capacity of 3,900 Mw and its average annual production is 11,000 million kilowatts/hour. With the hydroelectric projects that are proposed for this basin, it is expected that the potential be raised by 43% and the production by 41%. In the same way, the large investors and tourists benefit, as they will “support tourism activities, amusements, fish farming and navigation in five excellent reservoirs, on whose shores new populations can be established.”

Now we can look at the proposals of improvements for the dams in this Basin:

10) La Angostura Dam. Located 53 kilometers to the southeast of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, this dam controls almost half of the basin and regulates the flows of normal and overflow waters on the upper Grijalva. “Maintaining within a variation of six meters its storage and maximum levels of operation, in compatibility with the security of other projects, these dams will increase significantly the electrical generation, as each cubic meter available in its valuable reservoir represents one kilowatt/hour in the entire system – along with the guarantee of the installed potential.”

11) Chicoasen Dam. Located 21 kilometers to the north of Tuxtla Gutierrez, at the mouth of the Sumidero Canyon, its operation depends on the La Angostura Dam. The deforestation/erosion of the basin reduces rapidly its generational capacity, for which reason other dams are proposed for control of blockage on the Sabinal, Suchiapa, Santo Domingo and Hondo Rivers. “That is, it is urgent to define the degree and magnitude of blockage of the reservoir, as according to the results obtained, the projects for future works will be facilitated to prolong its usefulness. The study would define the actual depth and the depth at medium term, as well as define if the installation of three turbo-generators (900 Mw) is indicated, as well as the amplification of transformation and transmission systems.” The concession for the amplification of energy generation has been given to a foreign company.

12) Malpaso Dam. Located 115 kilometers southeast of Villahermosa, it was the first work constructed to regulate the Mexcalapa River. Thorough modifications are recommended. “Upon raising the dam by 12 meters, with walls of 1.25:1 upstream (rolled concrete tile) and 1.5:1 downstream (compacted rock), the total storage will increase to 18,000 million cubic meters – similar to the La Angostura project – which would add 1,350 Kw/h-y. Of course the three dikes on the left margin and the bridge-structures of the feedworks will elevate in similar proportions and the substation Malpaso I should be relocated.”

Furthermore, in a port located 19 kilometers to the west-northwest of the dam “a new work will be constructed to handle overflows from the Nanchital-Uxpanapa River, which flows 7 kilometers to the east of Minatitlan with the Coatzacoalcos River to substitute the current drains.” Also “the central station requires an additional 540 Mw, necessitating an amplification of the machine housing by constructing a new hydroelectric center on the left banks, utilizing part of the detour tunnels and the closing of the drainage. If this is indicated, the oscillation wells will be communicated to convert them into equilibrium galleries to augment the productive load.”

13) Las Peñitas Dam. Located 83 kilometers to the southeast of Villahermosa, it has storage of 1,630 million cubic meters. It is the smallest dam on the basin, before the Mexcalapa River arrives to the Tabasco plain, fact that makes it a key point for controlling the possible flooding in an area that could contain ports, highways and industries resulting from the PPP. The construction of new drainage will control and transfer volumes of extra water from the central stations of La Angostura, Chicoasen and Malpaso, outside of the Grijalva River Basin. This would make the auxiliary drainage unnecessary, and it could be converted into a second machine housing to equip the central station with 300 Mw (the port-dike known as El Mico, situated 3 kilometers to the northeast of the dam is also a good alternative). The project refers to the necessity of installing metallic screens 5.5 meters tall on the doors of the service drainage installation. With a total potential of 720 Mw, the production would increase to 1,850 million Kw/h-y.

The study titled “Geological engineering of the hydroelectric Project in Peñitas, Chiapas” was made by Carlos M. Gonzalez Cruz in March of 1989. The CFE summarizes the study as follows: “The geological explorations of the site and the reservoir of the dam located on the lower Grijalva River lasted more than 20 years until its construction; during which time a large body of geological and geothermic experience was accumulated. The aspects analyzed are: the foundation of the wall that corresponds to the alluvial material of the river, the methods used for the dynamic compaction of alluvial material and the placement of an impermeable screen of plastic mortar, as well as the geological conditions for each part of the work.”

14) LV Malpaso 2 Dam. This hydroelectric Project is located on the La Venta River, where it joins with the Negro River. Located 28 kilometers to the southeast of the Malpaso Dam and 75 kilometers to the northeast of Tuxtla Gutierrez, it will be integrated with a gravity wall 230 meters high which will create a reservoir of 3,750 cubic meters of storage within an artificial lake that will flood 51 square kilometers of surface area equivalent to 5,100 hectares. It will have a capacity of 540 Mw and will generate 1,800 million Kw/h-y which, increasing the maximum level of the Malpaso Dam to 200 meters above sea level, will increase the potential of the hydroelectric system of the Grijalva River.

15) Mexcalapa Dam, Tabasco-Chiapas. It would be located 27.5 kilometers downriver from the Peñitas Dam, with a dike 13 kilometers long, and its hydroelectric plant on the extreme east with a capacity of 300 Mw, that would generate 950 million Kw/h-y, to be able to channel only regulated extractions to the Mexcalapa River. Its drainage, which would be in the western wall of the dam, would discharge to the Las Flores River, tributary of the Tonala River. This would reduce the inundations in the coastal plane of Tabasco.

There are other projects not contemplated in the National “Third Millennium Mexico” Project, but ones that have been reported by the indigenous communities of the region since the movements of the CFE that revive old hydroelectric plans and other new ones:

16) Dams on the Cancuc System. Located in the highlands of Chiapas. Among other studies of the CFE, this “geological exploration developed on the Cancuc system, with transference to the Upper Usumacinta-Tacotalpa, Chiapas,” was carried out by Gustavo Arvizu Lara and Moisés Davila Serrano in May of 1987. This publication describes that “in the north-central zone of the state of Chiapas, there is an arrangement of civil works to take integral advantage of the upper part of the Grijalva and Usumacinta basins. The works consist of various dams and tunnels-channels to transfer 34 meters per second (m/s) of water from the second to the first of the mentioned basins. The characteristics of the rocks, in large part biological limestone, dolomite and sedimentary deposits in transitional coastal environments, were determined through the application of geological, seismic and geoelectric studies, carried out through perforations.”

17) Itzantun Dam. Located principally in the municipality of Huitiupan. The investigation of the CFE titled “Geological-geophysical exploration of the conduction tunnel Itzantun-Cuitlahuac, Chiapas” was also carried out by Gustavo Arvizu Lara and Moisés Davila Serrano in December of 1985, “with the goal of obtaining a better use of hydraulic resources in the southeast of the country, indicating the transference of water between the two basins. The arrangement is made up of various small dams, channels and tunnels. In this document the results of two alternative studies for conduction are analyzed; and the geological-structural results are supported by geological investigative methods.” Nonetheless, the battle against the formation of this hydroelectric work began in the ‘70s and has been permanently maintained since then. The population of the municipality of Huitiupan, despite political or religious differences, has united to stop 11,000 hectares of their land from being flooded, including the municipal seat. Currently, the population, tired of harassment, lack of incentives for their farmlands, and a strong governmental campaign that they obtain titles to their lands under “Procede”, is selling their lands, which could eventually lead to the building of the dam if they do not maintain their active resistance. Faced with this difficulty, the National Project “Third Millennium Mexico” proposes the development of storage dams and conduction-transference systems on the Tepate, Pichucalco and Puyacatengo-Teapa Rivers, to the north on the same river, where they could be concentrated and re-routed to a new project on the Tacotalpa-La Sierra River. This complementary dam would be downriver from the Itzantun project, and could generate 660 Mw and 2185 million Kw/h which, along with its enormous artificial lake, would control the upper and middle parts of the Tacotalpa River basin.

18) Caballo Blanco Dam. Inhabitants of the border municipality of Chicomuselo, have denounced the arrival of CFE who is marking lands for the potential Caballo Blanco dam.

Faced with this intromission, the indigenous and campesino communities and organizations of Chiapas, in alliance with other sectors, have the challenge of verifying these projects given the lack of information from governmental authorities. In the same way, they have a challenge to make a balanced study of the ecological, cultural and social impacts of these projects, putting to one side any political differences and looking toward unity and tolerance. Archaeological sites, towns, cultures, histories, jungles and precious woods, as well as a great variety of jungle biodiversity are in great danger of disappearing. In previous bulletins of “Chiapas al Dia” Nos. 285-287 (www.ciepac.org), we have warned of the negative experiences of the hydroelectric dams of the world. After all this, it is difficult to believe that the PPP is a development project for all, but rather for a measured few: the new imperial looting.

Because of this, we desire and imagine a wider resistance that is only just starting and that will not be easy. The battle of the people against the Itzantun and Belisario Dominguez Dams has already been difficult enough. The new resistance will not be only against the payment of unjust fees on electrical energy, but also against the construction of more hydroelectric dams. Today, some rural communities are looking for alternatives to obtain electricity through solar generators, biomass, or with their own electrical energy plants, as is the case in La Realidad with the solidary support of Italian sympathizers. Nonetheless, it still remains pending to explore other sources of community energy that do not damage the environment, nor displace populations, such as wind energy.  The communities do not have the capacity or the will to generate a project such as the Tizayuca in the state of Hidalgo, that costs $70 million USD, where Mexican and Spanish businessmen put themselves at the vanguard with the first Latin American plant to use 30,000 heads of cattle that generate 1,500 daily tons of waste that produce gases that will consequently generate electricity .

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