Gia Lai 30-4 Co Ltd proposes building two hydropower dams on a stream passing through Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve. Around 25 hectares of forest would be cleared to make room for the two hydropower projects with a combined electricity generation capacity of 40 MW.

Nguyen An, director of Gia Lai 30-4 Co Ltd, says in Tuoi Tre that the company has made the proposal as it sees the potential and that whether the plan goes through or not depends on the provincial government’s decision.

The company argues that positives would outweigh negatives. With an investment of around VND1.2 trillion, the projects would generate annual revenue of an estimated VND160 billion, create jobs for 60 people and pay around VND25 billion in taxes annually when they are operational.

Trinh Viet Ty, director of Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, throws his weight behind the two projects, saying the site proposed by the company has no residents and holds huge potential for hydropower generation. He even says a road that would be built across the forest would facilitate forest protection and ecotourism development.

Nonetheless, no one is certain about the positive aspects pointed out by Ty. But for sure, there would be one thing happening: 25 hectares of forest to disappear.

Dr. Le Anh Tuan from Can Tho University’s Research Institute for Climate Change is quoted by Vietnamnet as saying the function of regulating water in Central Highlands forests has been reduced in recent years. If hydropower damming-triggered deforestation continues, the region’s water resources would be greatly jeopardized. The news site also quotes Dr. Dao Trong Tu from the Center for Sustainable Development of Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation as saying hydropower reservoirs are partly responsible for drought in the Central Highlands.

But the mere economic math would do considerable harm to the forest and the ecology, which would take hundreds of years to remedy. Besides, the establishment of a protection corridor for a forest like Kon Chu Rang would be tough, Dr. Cao Thi Ly from Tay Nguyen University says in Giao Thong newspaper.

A representative of Gia Lai Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism says in Tuoi Tre that the planned location of the two hydropower projects is in the strictly protected zone and that the department does not back them. The Department of Construction has the same view, saying the proposed site is highly vulnerable.

Such reactions have forced Gia Lai 30-4 to rethink the projects and say it would conduct a new  survey to see whether it could minimize negative impact on the forest in the nature reserve. 

Also in the Central Highlands region, the Drang Phok hydropower project is planned at Yok Don National Park in Daklak Province. Regardless of great concern about its impact on the forest, ecosystem and local communities, it will be developed this year.

Back to the projects in Kon Chu Rang, Gia Lai 30-4 has withdrawn its initial survey, but Nguyen An tells Nguoi Lao Dong that the company has yet to drop its investment plan. The company will ask its consultant to further study possible environment impact. The company would only give up when the government of Gia Lai Province disapproves its new plan, he says.

The plan to construct two hydropower projects in Kon Chu Rang has yet to be decided but many negative impacts have been witnessed in many operational hydropower projects, such as flash floods triggered by sudden water discharges from dams, and drought.

Hydropower projects should be carefully considered, especially at a time when climate change is taking a heavy toll on many parts of the country, including the Central Highlands.

Source: SaigonTimes.