Iraq has already completed a number of water development projects along the Tigris River (compare map): the Mosul Dam, with a reservoir capacity of 11 billion m3, was completed in the late 1980s; it is blamed for the largescale destruction of the unique Mesopotamian marshland eco-system. Other important projects include the 10-billion-m3 Sennacherib Dam currently under construction and the Sammarra Barrage, which protects the capital Baghdad against flooding.

The Turkish government exploits the upper reaches of the Tigris River as an integral part of its Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). The GAP regional development project (www.gap. gov.tr) covers about ten percent of the national territory or 9.7 percent of the Turkish population (census 2000) and seeks to improve irrigation, power generation, agriculture, urban and rural infrastructure, forestry, health and education.

As far as water resource management is concerned, GAP envisages the construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants and irrigation schemes. Costs total US $ 32 billion, with 36 % flowing into energy projects and 34 % into agricultural projects. The Ilisu Dam with its hydropower plant is the centrepiece of the GAP, being situated close to the historical town of Hasankeyf and the village of Ilisu, 65 km from the Syrian border.

Plans for the dam project date back to the 1970s. To produce a planned amount of 3,800 GWh of energy per year, a 135-metre-high dam needs to be constructed, impounding the Tigris River over a length of 136 km and thus creating a reservoir with a storage volume of 10.4 billion m3. The large storage capacity is necessary to compensate the highly variable seasonal and annual flow fluctuations of the Tigris River.

The Ilisu Dam is designed to meet the (daily and seasonal) peak energy demand. Another dam, the Cizre, is to be constructed 45 km downstream to better regulate the flow regime as well as provide water for the irrigation of 121,000 ha of arid land.Cluster of negative consequences feared Currently (also as part of GAP) twelve irrigation projects are in operation or under construction in the Tigris Basin, of which eleven are upstream of Ilisu.

According to the authors of a report entitled “A Review Of The Hydrologic And Geomorphic Impacts Of The Proposed Ilisu Dam” (http://www2.weed-online.org/uploads/PWA_ Ilisu_Report.pdf), which was commissioned by several NGOs, these irrigation projects extending over a total area of 637,000 ha will significantly reduce the flow of the river before reaching Ilisu. The totality of environmental impacts expected by independent experts are summarised in the Independent Review Of The Environmental Impacts Assessment Report (EIAR) 2005 on the future Ilisu Dam (Turkey) of the renowned Eawag (www.eawag.ch).

The paper is intended as a critical review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Reports that were drafted in 2001 and 2005 by differently composed Ilisu Environment Groups on behalf of the power plant operators (Ilisu Consortium). Since the Ilisu plans were developed before 1993, the Turkish government does not envisage any environmental impact assessment for this project!

The Swiss experts are in particular concerned about the significant hydrological implications for the Tigris River, including a drastically reduced water flow towards Syria and Iraq, heavy sedimentation in the impoundment area, resulting in a subsequent degradation of the river bed and a lowering of the groundwater table, eutrophication in the reservoir – even if the nutrient inflow were reduced by building wastewater treatment plants in the Tigris watershed –, and a depletion of oxygen during the summer with negative impacts on aquatic organisms further downstream.

Eawag experts criticise that EIAR (2005), though briefly mentioning many critical parameters, fails to provide a reliable impact assessment. They generally complain that much of the information provided to them had been vague, incomplete, or contradictory. In view of the seriousInterenvironmental consequences to be expected, the Swiss experts strongly recommend to extend investigation efforts beyond the Turkish border – a proposal that is thoroughly justified, considering how crisis-stricken the region is.

The international NGO Campaign on Export Credit Agencies ECA WATCH has investigated a possible link between the Ilisu project and the political situation in Southeast Turkey and its implications: some 54,000 people (there is controversy over this figure), most of them Kurds, will be facing forced displacement to the already overcrowded cities of Diyarbakir and Batman. Is Ilisu a part of a Turkish military strategy that seeks to “put out” the flare-up of fights against PKK since spring 2006 by flooding the pullback zones of the latter? Last but not least, at international level there is also fear of the destruction of more than 200 ancient sites of famous Mesopotamia, including those in the city of Hasankeyf, which has been permanently settled over the last 11,000 years.

Export liability: a peg for Ilisu opponents

In addition to its suspected human rights, (supraregional) environment and world cultural heritage impact, the dam project also became internationally known for the Ilisu Consortium’s efforts to obtain export liability from other states. To be eligible for export credit funding, however, such a project has to meet all ecological requirements in keeping with World Bank and OECD standards. The latter, being acknowledged by hydropower project supporters and opponents, also served the Ilisu Consortium as a basis for commissioning the Environmental Impact Assessment Reports.

When the project was found to be noncompliant with these standards, several European countries, including Great Britain in 2002, pulled out. The ball is now in the courts of Switzerland, Germany and Austria, where several companies are hoping to land lucrative contracts in the € 1.1 billion project. Austria takes the lead, with the prospect of hydropower specialist Andritz VA Tech Hydro winning a € 240 million contract out of the € 550 million budget allocated for electromechanical equipment.

Also Alstom, Züblin, Stucky and Temelsu have voiced their interest in operating as suppliers. So, apart from a potential impact on wildlife and vegetation, WWF Austria has recently given much attention to the debate on export liability. The environmental organisation thereby exerts pressure on the Ministry of Finance, presided over by former Environment Minister Wilhelm Molterer, on the domestic export credit agency Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB), and eventually also on Austrian taxpayers. The controversial standpoints were once more fiercely debated in two simultaneous pressconferences held in Vienna shortly before Christmas.

The (pro-dam) press event in the Turkish Embassy unintentionally led to a concealment of arguments that would have supported the Ilisu Dam project. On the one hand, a Kurd from Hasankeyf made a somewhat “dubious” appearance by enthusiastically defending the Ilisu Dam yet failing to back up his view with convincing arguments.

On the other hand, it was repeatedly argued that Ilisu would in fact help to protect the cultural heritage as many historic monuments would be shifted to a newly established archeological park, for whose erection more than US $ 90 million had already been raised. 80 % of all historical monuments in the region were not affected by the project anyway, it was argued. Does Ilisu boost infrastructure and future opportunities?

Important aspects such as structural development and energy supply, which deserve as much attention, were largely ignored. As a matter of fact, Southeast Turkey is still poorly developed and lacks a modern infrastructure. Alexander Schwab, Ilisu project leader at Andritz VA Tech Hydro, expects that plant construction and operation will result in a combined economic benefit of € 300 million for the entire region.

Another € 170 million could be channelled into this poverty-stricken region of Turkey through the construction of roads, railway lines, bridges and new housing settlements. “The construction of the Ilisu Dam will provide around 4,000 people with a job for five to seven years,” says Schwab. He assumes that this as well as follow-up contracts for local companies along with the respective wages and salaries will lead to a significant improvement of the living conditions of the Kurdish population, which may also help to defuse the regional conflict.

In terms of energy consumption, Turkey is still better off than many Central European countries. According to Andritz VA Tech Hydro, the per-capita consumption of energy in Turkey currently amounts to merely 20 % of that of Austria. This will without doubt change as the country develops and living standards increase.. Alexander Schwab estimates that energy consumption will increase by 6.4 to 7.9 % annually.

“Ilisu will help restore the balance between fossil fuel power plants and hydropower plants – the latter currently account for 25 % but their number is decreasing –, and this will also raise chances of meeting the Kyoto targets.” The Ilisu Dam is supposed to cover 3 % of the country’s overall electricity demand (Ilisu Consortium’s website http://www.ilisu-wasserkraftwerk.com).

Since both parties are eager to summon their protégés from the region, it is difficult for Austria to get a clear idea of public acceptance for this large-scale project in Greater Hasankeyf and the entire region. According to ECA WATCH and WWF Austria sources, the percentage of dam opponents in the region currrently amounts to over 80 percent. As a matter of fact, Ankara is still determined to proceed with the Ilisu project. After the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Erdogan in September 2006, plans are to complete the project by 2012/13.

Yet decisions on state liability for export credit guarantees are still pending. According to the Austrian Ministry of Finance, a promise of liability has been made, but the latter will not be converted into a liability guarantee unless there is full evidence of compliance with all World Bank and OECD standards. Experts from the domestic export credit agency OeKB* say that from an ecological, social and cultural viewpoint these standards are currently not fulfilled and that about forty criteria are still under evaluation.

Once the evaluation process is concluded, they say, Ilisu will be the most thoroughly assessed application ever! According to one OeKB spokesman, a novelty in this respect is that the entire evaluation process is supervised by an independent committee of experts. What is also new is that after the evaluation process the criteria that have led to the granting or denial of a liability guarantee will be promulgated.
(Source: aqua press Int. 1/2007, Mag. Christof Hahn)

Contact & Information:

WWF Österreich
DI Ulrich Eichelmann
E-Mail: ulrich.eichelmann@wwf.at
Internet: www.wwf.at

Andritz VA Tech Hydro
DI Alexander Schwab
alexander.schwab@vatech-hydro.at

Ilisu-Homepage:
www.ilisu-wasserkraftwerk.com

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG/OeKB
Tel.: +43 (0)1 531 27-0
Internet: www.oekb.at