In the state of Jalisco, on the outskirts of the city of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, the state government, in the hands of the National Action Party (PAN) is attempting to build the so-called "Arcediano” dam.  There one finds a suspension bridge of the same name which dates back to the XIX century and which will have to be relocated piece by piece at a very high economic cost.  This bridge was constructed in June 1894, supposedly the first bridge in Mexico and the second oldest suspension bridge on the American continent.

This will be the most expensive work by the present state government (6 700 million pesos) in the Oblatos-Huentitan ravine and it is meant to begin functioning in 2007.  Local congress approved the credit needed for its construction.  With the goal of lowering the amount of debt the National Water Commission (CAN) plans to provide for 50% of the sanitation work and 30% of the infrastructure.  The dam is to be built at the conjunction of the Verde and the Santiago rivers.  The main reason for its construction is that the city of Guadalajara is being left without water and it is necessary to provide this water.  It is fitting to note that some sources suggest that leaks in the water distribution networks of Guadalajara account for up to 43% of the missing water.  The World Commission on Dams (CMR), in their final year 2000 report in which they evaluated the reduction of debt of the large dams of the world, signalled that “The distribution of water provisions is also unjust; the poor in the cities use sources that are unreliable and of low quality while paying excessive quantities to the sellers of water.  Urban demands frequently receive priority over the demands of rural areas”. (CMR, p. 161)

The Arcediano system will have a dam that will flood 803 hectares; the dam will have a width of 520 meters and a height of 140 meters and a holding area that is 250 meters long with the capacity to store 404 million cubic meters of water.  In order to construct the Arcediano dam, a village of 170 inhabitants has been displaced in the midst of pressure from the government and other interests related to the dam.  The project represents a juicy business for the building businesses and other economic sectors as they plan areas for parking, restaurants, luxurious aquatic sports areas, etc..  It is with good reason that the CMR noted that, “once the proposed dam project has overcome the preliminary technical feasibility and economic tests and has attracted political interest, the project will acquire a momentum giving it prevelance over other considerations.” (CMR, p. XXXV)

The construction of this dam presents many difficulties and problems which have been criticized from many points of view.  From the point of view of water quality it has been mentioned that the dam will store water for human consumption.  However, more than 300 industries dump their waste into these rivers not to mention the sewage from cities and other states.  There are many studies and analyses regarding this.  Let’s look at just one of these studies.  In the local magazine, “Paralelo 20”, the September  8^th, 2003 edition, an analysis of contamination is given:  “The Center for Technological Research and Assistance and Jalisco State Design (CIATEJ) confirms the presence of heavy metals in the Santiago River.  According to the study made between 1990 and 2000, among other metals, zinc, lead and mercury were found, the latter at extremely  toxic levels.  And as if they weren’t notable, theses from the University of Guadalajara, which also examined the Santiago River, found in 2002, arsenic and pesticides such as DDT and Lindano both of which are supposedly prohibited due to their toxicity.

Researcher Gallardo Valdez found heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, copper, chromium, nickel, mercury, lead and zinc in the river’s sediments.  These metals are neurotoxic, altering the central nervous system of organisms; others are bioaccumulating and with time degrade organs, such as the liver, the pancreas and the kidneys.  For his part, Alfredo Menchaca of the organization, Friends of the Ravine, states that the Arcediano Dam project is expensive and “useless” since there do not exist technologies capable of eliminating the heavy metals of the Santiago River.  Nonetheless, the government says that it is possible to cleanse the river of metals and other toxins in four years, something which appears impossible.  To Elsa Stettner, one of the most active researchers against this project, the Arcediano dam constitutes an “ecocide” of great dimensions.  The CMR arrived at the conclusion that “they have contributed to the deficiencies of economic, social and environmental debt reduction related to dams, having weak regulating frameworks and a lack of sanctions at the national level, in particular in evaluating the options and social and environmental requirements, and the fact that existing regulations are not enforced.” (CMR, p. 198)  Further on, it confirms that “with frequency, Environmental Impact Evaluations (EIE) are seen only as an obstacle which must be overcome in order to get a green light and approval for the project.” (CMR, p. 242)

From the point of view of the economic impact it is argued against the dam that the project intends to be built using loans from undefined sources but its public debt will be almost 7 000 million pesos to be paid in 25 years.  This implies an increase in the costs of basic services, mainly water services.  This becomes relevant in the framework of the process of privatization of water distribution networks in large cities, something which President Vicente Fox has signed onto with the World Bank and which entails the privatization of water sources (wells, rivers, tributaries, dams and ground waters).  Regarding this, the CMR concludes that, “The World Bank began financing large dams in the 1950s, dedicating on average more than 1 000 million dollars annually (…) for the period from 1970 to 1985, this quantity was increased to 2 000 million dollars annually.”  (CMR, p. 177)

One of the proponents of the Arceidano Dam project is the present government secretary, Hector Perez Plazola, who, in 1997, declared the ravine a Protected Natural Area (PNA).  This is another difficulty from the ecological point of view which argues that, in addition to the ravine’s function as an oxygen source for a city with a lot of industrial presence, it is home to countless species such as owls, jaguarundis, armadillos, snakes, ocelots and endemic flora that are in danger of extinction.  Another official and business person interested in the project is the present director of the Water and Sanitation Commission (CEAS), Enrique, Dau Flores, who is accused of being responsible for the terrible explosions that occurred in Guadalajara on April 22^nd, 1992.  When he was the mayor of Guadalajara, and immediately after the terrible explosion in the sewers of one of the city’s neighbourhoods, he sent machines from his building company to remove the rubble while the wounded still lay there.  Curiously the government there was slow in getting an endorsement from the city councils to adapt the inter-municipal systems for drinking water and sewers (Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque and the municipality of Tonala) so that the State Water Commission would be responsible for the work.

Weighing the battle by diverse sectors of civil society, the Environment and Natural Resources Secretary (Semarnat) authorized the Arcediano Dam project at the end of October 2003.  The act of delivering the judgment was lead by Semarnat’s Head Office on Environmental Impact and Risk.  They specified 25 conditions which should be met within the next four years.  These conditions are:

1.       Pay a guaranty to ensure the fulfillment of the conditions, such as insurance of 25 000 pesos per hectare to attend to contingencies.

2.       Meet all of the proposed prevention, protection, control, mitigation, restoration and compensation measures.

3.       Solicite authorization for any unexpected change to the project’s construction materials.

4.       Meet the official standards for water and the environment.

5.       Solve problems related to the disposal and containment of domestic and hazardous wastes that are produced by the project.

6.       Carry out an environmental rehabilitation and restoration program with the endorsement of an academic institution.

7.       Take steps to develop and decree a state protected natural area in the 9 000 hectares around the dam.

8.       Treat animal and plant species that are protected by “NOM 059” in such as way as to guarantee their permanence.

9.       Establish alternatives to avoid runoff  of leachate from the Matatlan dump.

10.   Present studies on soil contamination.

11.   Present an agreement with the Federal Electricity Commission for hydro-electric withdrawals.

12.   Periodically report on the construction of collection and treatment plants.

13.   Present an Environmental Supervision Program for the site.

14.   Store, in an adequate manner, the combustible materials to be used in the work.

15.   Cut down the 1 307 hectares to be inundated (flooded).

16.   Triturate the plant material to improve adjoining soils.

17.   Remove all the felled material from the dam site.

18.   Install bathrooms and confine the wastes generated by workers.

19.   Exhibit authorizations for the use of explosives.

20.   Burns, the use of herbicides and agri-chemicals should be carried out manually.

21.   Deposit wastes in the zone and proceed with their burning.

22.   Once the reservoir is filled, the dam should guarantee a flow of 2 meters cubed per second as a downstream “ecological cost”.

23.   Permanently monitor water quality.

24.   In the operation of the dam, damage to downstream flora and fauna must be avoided.

25.   Create a plan for the eventual abandonment of the dam when it ceases to be useful.

DISOCCUPATION

In the end, the Lara Lara family’s house, which took 40 years to build and which was located at the foot of the Arcendiano bridge, was demolished.  They were one of three families left to be displaced.  In two hours the state government of Jalisco finished with the village of Arcediano.  “My parents lived most of their lives with their small store which they had in this place and which served to provide visitors to the ravine with water and food”, commented Antonio Lara Nuño, the eldest son of the marriage.  Nonetheless, the state government later announced that the Arcediano global project was suspended putting an end to the demolitions.  The three last families living in Arecdiano defended themselves.  The state government was surprised given that the families had already accepted compensation and had signed agreements, according to the government’s Secretary General.  The government blocked the roads and the Lara family put in a complaint to the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (IHRC).  The Jalisco state government demonstrated that it would not allow its intervention.  The Secretary General assured that this institution “has nothing to review in the state” and that the dam is not a question of human rights.  Regarding this, the CMR affirmed that it is a human rights violation when governments build large dams.  In their report it concluded, “(…) the CMR affirms the all too frequent, physical and involuntary displacement and implied coercion and the use of force and in a few cases even murder”. (CMR, p. 105)

Alfonso Valencia, vice-chair of the Jalisco Industrial Chambers Council and ex-president of the Calzado Chamber of Industry, states that the suspension of dam construction is an obstacle to development, adding, “ One should act in favour of development that benefits society (…) things should be made easier to benefit the majorities”.  “In China, for example, there aren’t so many objections, always noting that the benefit is for the people”, he said with all of the ignorance of a business person who would not think of the same 10 million people who have been displaced by force because of the dam on the Yangtze river, in a country where 22 000 dams have been built, half the constructions in the entire world. (CMR, p. 110)

At the end of January 2004, the state government finally contributed 49 million pesos to pay the ejidal landowners for the 67 ejidal hectares that will be affected by the damming.  Now that the government owns the lands and now that the remaining families desisted from the 1575/003 protection which they had obtained to avoid being dislodged until they were paid, it can begin works.  It is estimated that to date, close to 100 million pesos has been paid out in compensation for the houses of Arcediano and that almost 370 hectares have been bought from the nearby ejidos.  So, in April 2004 construction of the Arcediano dam is expected to begin.  Enrique Dau Flores announced, “As soon as we conclude the studies, we will begin the works which, as we have mentioned, will be diversion tunnels for the river and an impermeable holding area to keep the site where the dam and the access roads are to be built dry.”

THE MOVEMENTS

Typical division within the population has manifested itself.  While the inhabitants of the Huentitan el Alto ejido were against the dam, the inhabitants of the Arcediano ejido were in favour of the dam.  Other local organizations have mobilized against the project, among them intellectuals, university members/students, researchers, the Friends of the Ravine, the Lenna Chapala Waterway Foundation, the Inter-union Congress, the Tianguis Cultural, the Pastoral Social, the Arcediano Pro-defense Committee, the Ecologists Collective of Jalisco, the Jalisco Environmental Education Network, Citizens for the Environment, the Citizen’s Network and the Federation of University Students (FEU).

In October 2003 various NGOs carried out a mobilization in the ravine to protest against the Arcediano Dam project.  The organizations presented 20 000 signatures to support their demand that a popular consultation or referedum be carried out.  For his part, businessman, Manuel Villagomez, president of the Lerma-Lake Chapala-Santiago Waterway Foundation advised that “in Jalisco a movement begin to demand the head of Alberto Cardenas Jimenez, for his environmental ignorance (sic), for having made a decision against the people of Jalisco, approving the construction of the dam on the Santiago River, along with Guadalajara, a project which Victor Lichtinger intelligently did not authorize.”

In a press release, the local, elected delegate of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) strongly criticized the ex-governor of Jalisco (representing the PAN), “Cardenas became an ecological criminal when he gave Enrique Dau Flores permission to build a dam on (…) a river that contains metals such as arsenic and lead.  The incidence of cancer in Guadalajara is related to poor water quality.”  Moreover, he signalled that Cardenas “in his infinite ecological, technical and judicial ignorance” permitted the arrival of water that, apart from its doubtful quality, will be expensive due to the fact that it must be pumped up 580 meters in order to reach Guadalajara’s metropolitan zone.”  The CMR concludes that large dams that, “are built for municipal supply and industrial water in general have not fulfilled their established objectives regarding deadlines and water supply in large volumes and their financial recovery and economic debt reduction are deficient.” (CMR, p. 71)

The Global Nature Fund sent a missive in the month of September 2003 to the Director General of the State Water and Sanitation Commission in which it communicated that the ravine was declared an ecological restoration zone by a federal government decree in 1934; that on the 12^th of June, 1997 the Guadalajara Council declared the Oblatos-Huentitan ravine a Protected Natural Area; and, moreover, the Arcediano Dam project does not have the federal authorization of Alberto Cardenas Jimenez, head of the Secretariat for the Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources.  They also noted that the Environmental Impact Study presented for public consultation is useless, “for not having successfully passed the test of technical scientists, the academic sector and of professional engineering and architect colleges.”  Regarding this, the CMR confirms that there has effectively never been consideration of public approval with the participation of those affected. 

The Global Nature Fund added, “Its not just from an ecological perspective but also in its social dimension, there are several doubts with respect to the Arcediano Dam’s viability, “The waters of the Santiago river are highly contaminated (the drainage of residual waters from the municipalities of Tonala, Tlaquepaque and Guadalajara, the sewage from the Silicio Valley and the cities of Ocotlan, Atotonilco, Poncitlan and Arandas, contamination from industrial waters, etc.).  Analyses carried out by the prestigious Montpellier National School for Higher Education in France and the Center for Technological Research and Assistance in the United States, confirm that these waters are not fit for human consumption.”

Hopefully there is still time to find other alternatives.

ONE MORE DAM:  SAN NICOLAS

There is another threat of a dam in Jalisco.  The San Nicolas Dam would have the capacity to store 700 million cubic meters (double that of the Arcediano dam) to supply water from Jalisco to the city of Leon in the state of Guanajuato.  Studies have concluded and the National Water Commission considers that the technical requirements for the construction of the dam exist.  So, while they took a good look at the construction of the Arcediano dam, in the same month of October 2003, officials from CAN, the governments of Guanajuato and Jalisco and some municipal presidents from the municipalities that would be affected, met to analyse the San Nicolas project.  Nearby one also finds the “El Cajon” hydro-electric dam in the state of Nayarit which will have an investment of 800 million dollars, making it the second largest dam in the country.  The “El Cajon” dam should be finished in six years.

AND THIS IS ALSO HAPPENING IN CHILE

In Chile the indigenous communities lost their battle of struggle and resistance which they began in 1996 when the last indigenous women in resistance ended up selling their lands under significant pressure from the government and from a powerful Spanish transnational.  This was a big setback for the indigenous movement, the anti-dams movement and for the world’s environment.  In November 2003, it was announced that the ENDESA company would flood more than 3 500 hectares of land belonging to indigenous communities, affecting the biodiversity of the Alto Bio-Bio in the southern Chile and finishing off Pewenche cemeteries, history and culture in order to build the Ralco dam.  This dam will have an investment of 570 million dollars and will represent 8% of the Central Inter-connected Electrical System of Chile.

This was achieved despite denunciations from indigenous groups, environmental groups, criticism from diverse social sectors, the spokesperson on Indigenous Issues for the United Nations, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (CIDH), Amnesty International (AI) and the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH).  To do this, the government dismissed two indigenous directors who were opposed to the project and who held positions with the National Indigenous Development Corporation (CONADI), the governmental entity for dealing with ethnic issues and who defended the Indigenous Law of 1993 that would impede the ability to build the dam without the acceptance of the owners.  Under such pressures, the director of the National Environment Corporation (CONAMA) also resigned in opposition to the destruction of the ecological system of the Bio-Bio waterway as planned by ENDESA.

On the other hand, the Chilean government refused to ratify Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), imprisoning many of the Mapuche leaders for participating in movements and struggles in defense of the land.  It established the use of “faceless witnesses” in the process against the indigenous to facilitate their being accused mainly of being “terrorists”.  Congress denied for a second time the constitutional recognition of the first peoples living in Chile.  The government, businesses, the conservative media, large landowners, forestry companies and financial groups related to the external capital, celebrated the project.  The central argument is that “the dam will help the country to count on energy, the energy base will be more modern and that these plans cannot be detained for the “special” interests of indigenous communities”.

The Ralco hydro-electric dam project managed to isolate indigenous peoples from the decision.  It is with reason that the CMR concluded that, “Large dams have resulted in serious impacts on the lives, means of subsistence, culture and the spiritual existence of indigenous and tribal groups, for reasons of structural injustice, cultural dissonance, discrimination and political marginalization.  They have disproportionately suffered the negative impacts of large dams and moreover, they are often excluded from the distribution of benefits”. (CMR, p. 112)

OTHER STRUGGLES OF RESISTANCE:  YES IT’S POSSIBLE

In June 2003, environmentalists and those affected by dams celebrated the fact that aluminum companies that consume a lot of electricity cancelled the Santa Isabel hydro-electric dam project on the Araguaia river in the Brazilian Amazon.  This dam, which was intended to begin operation in 2009, would have cost 800 million dollars, it would have flooded a 240 km² area putting at risk the river dolphins and turtles, threatening 20 fish species which are only found in the Araguaia, flooding 140 archeological sites, creating serious problems for the humid ecosystems and displacing 6 800 people.  For more than two years, Brazilian and international activists wrote to the directors of the companies and sent thousands of faxes in protest against the project.  However, there are still challenges to the anti-dam movement in the world.  Other projects along the same river and the Estreito dam on the Tocantins river are threatening to be built.  Recently, Luis Pinguelli Rosa, president of the state Eletrobras company, stated in the presence of 1 200 people affected by dams in the national congress of the Movement against Dams in Brazil (MAB in Portuguese), that dams have serious impacts on families and that from now on plans for constructing new dams will be discussed with the MAB.

The people who were in resistance to the Itzantun dam in the municipality of Huitiupan in Chiapas achieved victory after 15 years of struggle.  The campesinos and indigenous peoples managed to achieve the complete cancellation of this project that would have flooded more than 11 000 hectares of land.

In their report, the CMR concludes, “Conflicts created against dams have increased in the last two decades due in large part to the social and environmental impacts of the dams (…)” (CMR, p. XXXV).  At the heart of the discussion of large dams is the development model which is put forth (production being the reason and priority); and the logic of capital (profit for profit’s sake).  But there are other alternatives.  Another world is possible.

Sources: www.mural.com/animación/jalisco/arcediano; Global Nature Fund; the University of  Guadalajara, the University Center for Economic Administrative Sciences, the Division of Business Management, the Department of Market Technology and International Business, the project: “An exploration into the environmental problems caused by industry located in the Salto Jalisco industrial corridor and their effects on people”, the Life Institute A.C., Humberto Palso Delgadillo, Research Professor in the Department of Market Technology and International Business, Science Ph.D. with the National Polytechnic Institute, February 2003; the World Dams Commission, Year 2000 Final Report, www.dams.org; the magazine, “Paralelo 20”, September 8, 2003 edition, El Informador, 10/28/2003; the Reformed Information Service Group, October 27, 2003; www.mural.com/comunidad/articulo/306908/ and articulo/344549/ .

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