Fisherman, Ivory Coast

Lake Kossou, which covers 580 square miles (1.500 square kilometers) in the center of the Ivory Coast, is an artificial water impoundment conceived to regulate the Bandama River’s flow and, more precisely, to produce electricity. The flooding of the area, between 1969 and 1971, displaced 75.000 people who were moved elsewhere. In theory, hydroelectric dams that capture renewable kinetic energy of flowing water are non-polluting. However, they cause important upheavals in the environment: rivers are diverted, crops and forests are inundated, wildlife habitats are disturbed and displaced persons gain little from their relocation in the long run. The dams block the silt upstream and deprive of it the valley downstream. Excessively large reservoirs can be a threat if earthquakes occur and the risks of conflict in cross-border basins should be taken into account. The negative consequences are better known and experts now recommend building reasonably sized dam reservoirs as opposed to the current enormous proportions of certain dams.