Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin

Edgardo M. Latrubesse (), Eugenio Y. Arima, Thomas Dunne, Edward Park, Victor R. Baker, Fernando M. d’Horta, Charles Wight, Florian Wittmann, Jansen Zuanon, Paul A. Baker, Camila C. Ribas, Richard B. Norgaard, Naziano Filizola, Atif Ansar, Bent Flyvbjerg and Jose C. Stevaux
Additional contact information
Edgardo M. Latrubesse: University of Texas at Austin
Eugenio Y. Arima: University of Texas at Austin
Thomas Dunne: University of California at Santa Barbara, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
Edward Park: University of Texas at Austin
Victor R. Baker: University of Arizona
Fernando M. d’Horta: National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA)
Charles Wight: University of Texas at Austin
Florian Wittmann: Institute of Floodplain Ecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Jansen Zuanon: National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA)
Paul A. Baker: Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment
Camila C. Ribas: National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA)
Richard B. Norgaard: University of California at Berkeley, Energy and Resources Group
Naziano Filizola: Federal University of Amazonas
Atif Ansar: University of Oxford, Saïd Business School
Jose C. Stevaux: State University of Sao Paulo (UNESP-Rio Claro)

Nature, 2017, vol. 546, issue 7658, 363-369

Abstract: Abstract More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin’s floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.

Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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DOI: 10.1038/nature22333

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