Global Warming Effects

Global Warming Effects

2013 – A Year of Change

2013 – A Year of Change

Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project

Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project is a 1,450 Megawatt run-of-the-river hydropower project on the Indus River in Pakistan. About 1,600 cubic meter per second of water is diverted from the Indus River near the town of Ghazi about 7 km downstream of Tarbela Dam (3,478 MW). It then runs through a 100 metre wide and 9 metre deep open power channel down to the village of Barotha where the power complex is located. In the reach from Ghazi to Barotha, the Indus River inclines by 76 meters over a distance of 63 km. After passing through the powerhouse, the water is returned to the Indus. In addition to these main works, transmission lines stretch 340 km.

The World Bank classed it “A” for adequate attention to environmental and social issues. The project took about 10 years and $2.2 billion to complete. The Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project is a major run-of-river power project designed to meet the acute power shortage in Pakistan. The feasibility report was prepared during the first tenure of [benazir bhuto]’s administration and the Government of Pakistan entered into an agreement for the financing and construction of the project on 7th March 1996. The main project elements include a barrage located on the Indus River, a power channel (designed to divert water from the barrage) and a power complex. Alternative locations for these elements were evaluated based on technical, economic, environmental and social constraints by an interdisciplinary project team and reviewed by an external environmental and resettlement panel.

Initial assessment of five barrage sites identified by the project consultants resulted in two options being selected for detailed evaluation. The preferred option has less storage capacity than the main alternative, but was preferable in terms of environmental impact. The most economical alignment for the power channel would have necessitated resettlement of an estimated 40,000 people. Moving the alignment to less densely populated areas, although technically more complex and financially less attractive, reduced the resettlement requirement to approximately 900 people. Additional modifications further reduced the impact on archaeological sites and graveyards.

Five power complex sites were initially studied, and three remained for detailed evaluation. Topographical factors determined the preferred option, as the environmental implications were broadly similar in each case. Sub-elements of the power complex, such as access roads, head pond capacity and embankments, were chosen based on environmental and technical considerations. Finally, four alternative alignments were evaluated for the 500 kV transmission line connections to the main grid station. The selected routes had minimal environmental and socio-cultural impacts. Detailed design focused on choosing alignment and tower locations with minimal impacts on dwellings, agricultural land and archaeological sites.

Dont Waste Water

Developing local water supplies such as recycled water is necessary because imported water continues to be more restricted due to environmental mitigation, legal rulings, and periods of dry weather and low snowpack,” McDaniel said in an email.

The need for more local water was highlighted last summer during a DWP public outreach campaign over a planned rate-hike request. For now, a number of DWP water recycling projects are on hold while the utility awaits the appointment of a ratepayer advocate by the City Council.

DWP’s goal is to boost water recycling so that it accounts for 8 percent of the city’s water supply by 2035, and it intends to release plans this spring to realize that goal, McDaniel said.

A decade ago, the department’s plans to purify wastewater from Donald C. Tillman Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys and reintroduce it to the water supply through spreading grounds in Sun Valley were killed after a public outcry. Critics dubbed the plan “toilet to tap.”

In the last few years, DWP has been cautious in reintroducing the concept of “advanced water treatment.”

Wastewater currently treated at the Tillman plant is used to irrigate nearby golf courses and a Japanese garden on site, and to fill Lake Balboa. Most of the treated water, however, flows into the Los Angeles River.

“We have the possibility today to make pristine distilled water from mountain water or from raw sewage,” said John Mays, a city environmental engineer who oversees construction at the plant. “It’s just being wasted.”