In about-face, Uganda to consider contentious hydro project near famed Murchison Falls
Uganda will approve a feasibility study into building a hydro power station near the awe-inspiring Murchison Falls, the tourism ministry said Friday, three months after vowing to scrap the project. The about-face has infuriated tourism operators who fear the 360-megawatt project on the Victoria Nile ...
Asia's twin curse: Dams and droughts
A proliferation of upstream dams is beginning to impose costs across much of Asia.
New Mekong dam in Laos opens to protests from villagers in Thailand
The first hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River began commercial operations in Laos on Tuesday amid protests from villagers in Thailand who say the Xayaburi Dam and several others in the works will destroy their livelihoods. The 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi Dam's debut coincides with parts ...
Australia to build and upgrade dams in drought-stricken New South Wales
Australia will invest 1 billion Australian dollars ($678.70 million) to revamp water infrastructure in rural and regional communities in the drought-stricken New South Wales. The federal and the New South Wales governments will spend A$650 million to upgrade the Wyangala Dam in the state's central ...
Damming the Mekong basin to environmental hell
As droughts become more frequent and severe, China's dam network gives it increasing leverage over downriver countries.
Brazil's authorities will investigate miner Vale SA over possible corruption in misleading officials about the safety of its dam that burst and killed hundreds, a spokeswoman for the Mines and Energy Ministry said on Friday. If found to have violated Brazil's 2013 anti-corruption law, Vale ...
Vale loses license to operate key Brazil dam after disaster that left hundreds dead or missing
Brazilian mining giant Vale on Wednesday lost its license to operate the Lanjeiras dam, vital to its biggest mine in southeastern Minas Gerais state, the firm said. The decision comes two weeks after another dam storing mining waste collapsed in the village of Brumadinho — ...
Deadly Brazilian dam burst likely due to liquefaction, like previous disaster
The collapse of a Brazilian dam controlled by miner Vale a week ago likely happened because parts of the structure, made of sand and dried mud, dissolved into liquid, a state regulator said in an interview, similar to what caused another deadly mining disaster ...
Deadly Brazil dam collapse raises fears of environmental woes from metal-laced slurry
Nearly a week after a dam storing mining waste collapsed in southeast Brazil, the human cost is clear, with nearly 350 killed or missing, but the environmental impact is still being evaluated. Authorities fear the mineral-laced slurry released by the collapse could eventually pollute the ...
Another dam owned by Vale bursts at Brazil mine; 200 missing
Brazilian rescuers were searching for some 200 missing people after a tailings dam burst on Friday at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA, the second major dam disaster involving the company in just over three years. Seven bodies had been recovered by nightfall, ...
At least 19 dead, more than 3,000 in need of rescue after Laos dam collapse: report
Nineteen people have been confirmed dead and more than 3,000 need to be rescued after a dam collapsed in a remote part of land-locked Laos, local media reported Wednesday. The Vientiane Times, citing district governor Bounhom Phommasane, said about 19 people have been "found dead," ...
Campaigners say hydropower dam plan threatens Europe's last wild rivers
Plans to build about 3,000 hydropower plants in the Balkans in the next few years endanger Europe's last wild rivers and some of the most important biodiversity hot spots on the continent, campaigners say. Stretching from Slovenia to Albania, critics say the hydropower boom threatens ...
