The beautiful (and currently undammed) expanse of the Baker River. Photo: Conservacion Patagonica
After a hard-fought battle with literal “power”-house HidroAysén, the Chilean people and environmentalists around the world are celebrating a huge victory. The Chilean government has cancelled the five-damn power project that threatened to put two dams on Patagonia’s free-flowing Baker River, and three on the regions similarly free-flowing Pascua. Patagonia Sin Represas (Patagonia Without Dams) and International Rivers led the eight year struggle against the Spanish-Chilean joint venture.
President Michelle Bachelet’s cabinet rejected a enormous $8 billion hydroelectric project in the region of Aysen, about 1,300 kilometers south of the Chilean capital, specifically citing its adverse impact on the environment. The Committee of Ministers — that included the ministers of agriculture, economy, energy, environment, health and mining — unanimously voted to accept 35 official complaints. The joint venture between Spanish power company Endesa Chile (51-percent stake) and Chile’s Colbun (49-percent) now has 30 days to challenge the decision in the Environmental Court of Valdivia in southern Chile, the next step being an appeal to the nation’s Supreme Court.
In case you haven’t been privy to the back-and-forth, a quick project breakdown: HidroAysén would supposedly generate 2,750 megawatts of electricity, increasing Chile’s currently installed capacity to 17,500 megawatts; in order to do this, a 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) transmission line would be constructed from Aysen to major population and mining centers in central Chile. How would they generate the power? By damming the Baker and Pasuca rivers.
Unfortunately, this would mean flooding 15,000 acres of virgin land in Patagonia, effectively eliminating the ecotourism-drawing whitewater rapids and waterfalls. And, additionally, the endangered Southern Huemul deer — of which there are fewer than 1,000 — would be even further threatened.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, having recently served as executive producer for the documentary film DamNation, joined in the praise, hailing the aggressive turnaround: “from everyone from Doug Tompkins, who took out hard-hitting, full-page ads in the Santiago papers to the gauchos who rode their horses to Coyhaique to protest the project. I’ve been fighting unnecessary dams for 20 years and this is a good day.” Board member Kristine Tompkins (wife to The North Face founder and aforementioned Doug Tompkins, who has also been engaged in conservation efforts in Chile over the past two decades), called the decision “an historic victory, against all odds, in the fight to protect Chile’s wild rivers. This is a win for David over Goliath that will serve as inspiration for all those engaged in similar, difficult efforts all across the globe. Congratulations to the Chilean activists who have worked so hard.”
Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia put their full weight behind the cause. Photo: Patagonia
