The development effectiveness of environmental and social impact assessments in large dam projects : a case study of Mohale Dam.

Abstract

An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is a process that identifies, predicts and evaluates the potential consequences of proposed development projects. This is in order to improve project decisions and mitigate adverse environmental and social impacts. Although ESIA may be an important step towards mitigating the negative environmental and social impacts of development, ESIA is not a technocratic tool free from subjectivities. Instead, it is embedded in a broader political context that is shaped by dominant development ideologies and values. This dissertation explores the ‘development effectiveness’ of ESIAs in large dam projects using the WCD analytical approach. This approach builds on a rights-and-risks based approach to understanding the ‘development effectiveness’ of a large dam project. The concept of ‘development effectiveness’ is however a subjective one (WCD, 2000). As such, the ‘development effectiveness’ of an ESIA must be evaluated by the stakeholders of a project. In this research report this is undertaken by evaluating the experiences of those affected by the construction of Mohale Dam in the Kingdom of Lesotho. In order to evaluate the experiences of those affected by the construction of Mohale Dam, the research conducted a total of 38 in-depth interviews. These in-depth interviews took place with 15 key informants who had expert knowledge in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, ESIAs and the social impacts of large dams. Added to this a total of 23 in-depth interviews were undertaken with households directly affected by the construction of Mohale Dam. A majority of these households were resettled (65%), while the other households (35%) remained in the Project Area but were given monetary compensation. The interviewed households were randomly selected from three directly affected villages, two of which were host villages. The villages were purposefully selected to represent the geographical distribution of affected households. The selected villages comprised Ha Mohale in the Highlands, Ha Nazareth in the Foothills and Ha Thaba Bosiu in the Lowlands. Ha Nazareth and Ha Thaba Bosiu comprised the host villages. These findings show that the Mohale ESIA was not informed by the local context but rather by definitions of development that prioritised money, individualism and single, instead of multiple livelihood strategies. As such the Mohale ESIA ignored the cultural and social context within which the dam was being constructed. This created a situation whereby some of the mitigation measures were culturally and socially inappropriate. Thus the ‘development effectiveness’ of the Mohale ESIA was directly compromised by the outcomes of some of the culturally inappropriate mitigation measures.