Damming the rivers of the Amazon Basin 1

Damming the rivers of the Amazon Basin 1 Edgardo M. Latrubesse , Eugenio Y. Arima, Thomas Dunne, Edward Park, Victor R. Baker, Fernando M. d’Horta, 2 Charles Wight, Florian Wittmann, Jansen Zuanon, Paul A. Baker, Camila C. Ribas, Richard B. Norgaard, Naziano 3 Filizola, Atif Ansar, Bent Flyvbjerg, and Jose C. Stevaux 4 5 1 University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography and the Environment, USA 6 2 Earth Observatory of Singapore and Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 7 3 University of California at Santa Barbara, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, USA 8 4 University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, USA 9 5 National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Brazil 10 6 Institute of Floodplain Ecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany 11 7 Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment, USA; Yachay Tech, Geological Sciences, Ecuador 12 8 University of California at Berkeley, Energy and Resources Group, USA 13 9 Federal University of Amazonas, Department of Geography, Brazil 14 10 University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, UK 15 11 State University of Sao Paulo (UNESP-Rio Claro), Department of Applied Geology, Brazil 16 17 Summary 18 More than 100 hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam 19 constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of built and proposed dams, if 20 constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will impact the Amazon basin’s floodplains, 21 estuary, and sediment plume. By introducing a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index (DEVI) we quantify the current 22 and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for 23 collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-field impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to 24 assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers. 25