The Stream, August 11: Major Dams Still Planned For Brazil’s Tapajós River

The Global Rundown

After regulators cancelled permits for a massive dam in Brazil’s Tapajós River Basin last week, indigenous communities are calling attention to four other major dams still planned for the region. Activists and their families who oppose hydropower dams in Honduras continue to face death threats. A pilot project in California will pay landowners to capture stormwater in order to recharge aquifers. Accelerations in the rate of global sea level rise should be detectable within the next 10 years, according to scientists. Desertification and droughts in Africa will be the focus of an international conference in Namibia next week.

“I live every day with the fear of raids on my home where my children sleep. (But) for me, defending my land is about defending my children’s future.” –Ana Mirian Romero, an environmental activist in Honduras and the winner of the 2016 Front Line Defenders Award, on the dangerous nature of her work opposing the Los Encinos hydropower plant. More than 100 activists in Honduras were murdered between 2010 and 2015, according to Global Witness. (Reuters)

By The Numbers

4 dams Number still planned for construction in Brazil’s Tapajós River Basin, despite a decision by Brazil’s environment agency last week to cancel development permits for the 8,000-megawatt São Luiz do Tapajós hydropower project there. The dams are opposed by indigenous groups in the region whose land would be flooded, as well as international organizations and celebrities. Guardian

$9,500 to $11,750 Proposed amount of annual payments to landowners in California’s Pajaro Valley for capturing stormwater runoff to help recharge groundwater. The payments are part of a pilot project that will begin in October. News Deeply

Science, Studies, And Reports

A faster rate of global sea level rise should be detectable by satellites within the next decade, according to scientists writing in the journal Scientific Reports. While researchers believe the rate of sea level rise has already been accelerating, a volcanic eruption in the early 1990s likely masked this increase in satellite data, the study found. Guardian

On The Radar

A major conference kicking off next week in Namibia will address desertification and drought response across the African continent. The growing risk of droughts was illustrated this year after a strong El Niño destroyed harvests and left more than 32 million people facing food insecurity in southern Africa. Inter Press Service