World Bank Safeguards Workshop Sarajevo, March 2010
CASE STUDY 1
URLANDIA: Hydropower and Agricultural Development Project
Project Description
WB has been asked to finance construction of a dam for hydropower and irrigation in the
Urlan Mountains, on the Pristinus River, along with associated infrastructure. The
dam will be used for electricity generation and will also supply water for irrigation
downstream of the dam site on the central plains of Urlandia. The dam will also serve a
flood control function, retaining flood water from snow melt in the Lunar Mountains
during the early spring and releasing it throughout the summer and fall for hydropower
and irrigation.
Component 1: Construction of dam with hydropower plant and associated
infrastructure:
The main element of the project is a rock fill dam 30 m high with an asphaltic core. The
reservoir volume will be 18 million m3 (reservoir lake of 150 hectares). The dam will
be constructed of locally sourced materials. The plant will have a power station with
four turbines (200 megawatt capacity) and a spillway with gates. The turbine room will
be excavated inside the mountain. Other infrastructure elements are: a 2 lane, 3 km
access road connecting the dam site to the Trans-Urlandia highway, a control / service
building and switchyard. and a 100km transmission line to Kampala and Owen Falls
with two substations
Component 2: Construction of overhead transmission lines (OHTL).
Two 220 kV OHTL will be constructed to evacuate power from the hydropower plant.
One line will go northwards across the Lunar Mountains to an existing substation at the
border from which it will feed into a regional power scheme. Eighty percent of the
electricity generated from the hydropower plant will be exported in this way. The WBfinanced project aims to assist the Government to find a private investor to design, build
and operate this northern transmission line.
The second transmission line will carry the remaining 20% of the electricity to the
central Urlandia plains to provide power for irrigation and processing plants for
expansion of the agricultural export industry. This transmission line will be financed by
the Government of Urlandia as its main contribution to the project.
In parallel with the dam construction, the Government will implement a program to
develop irrigated agriculture in central Urlandia. This program, which will be jointly
financed by the Government, the International Fund for Agricultural Development
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(IFAD) and the Japanese government (JICA). The objective is to convert about 250,000
ha of semi-arid, sparsely populated steppe land into a highly productive agricultural area
of large scale commercial farms producing cotton, flowers and high-value garden
vegetables for export. Success of the program depends on regulated water supply from
the Lunar Mountain dam.
Site Description
The Pristinus River originates from dozens of small tributaries and springs in the Lunar
Mountains, in the northwestern corner of Urlandia. The river flows southwards across
the broad steppe of central Urlandia, until it reaches the southern border and enters the
neighboring country of Wasabia (the world’s number one exporter of very hot radishes).
After crossing through the eastern part of Wasabia the Pristina empties into the
Mediterranean Sea, where it forms the Emerald Delta, an internationally significant
wetland registered under the RAMSAR convention.
Environment and nature aspects
The mountains at and around the dam site are largely undeveloped. Native evergreen and
broadleaf forests cover the lower elevations and alpine meadows and glaciers are found at
higher elevations, above the treeline. The high peaks of the northern Lunar Mountains
have been declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as they are home to a number of and
rare plant and animal species including the endemic Curly-Headed Mountain Goat and
the Lunar Ice Flower. In the lower elevations much of the forest has been degraded
through unregulated logging, forest fires and clearing for small scale agriculture and
grazing, but there remain several large tracts of pristine forest particularly on the steeper
slopes. The Government is presently considering a local private investor’s proposal to
build a 5-star international ski resort in the Lunar mountains. The viability of this
investment depends on the availability of electricity from the Lunar Mountain dam (to be
taken from the northern OHTL).
The Pristinus River Canyon, which is located 1 km downstream of the proposed dam
site, is a National Reserve and is a recognized Important Bird Area. It is believed to be
one of three remaining nesting areas Europe for the Great Crested Dipper, a bird which
feeds mainly on native trout in the river rapids. The Pristinus River is also well known
for the annual migration of Leopard Eels from the Mediterranean to their spawning
grounds in the small streams high up in the Lunar Mountains.
Social aspects
The Lunar Mountains are sparsely populated, and are losing population due to
outmigration. About two dozen small villages with a total population of about 6,000 are
scattered through the mountains, including seven villages (with an aggregate population
of 1,900) that fall within the proposed inundation area of the Lunar Mountain dam.
Residents of these mountain villages live mainly from sheep herding, taking the flocks
from winter pastures in the river valleys to summer pastures at higher elevations. The
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area is famous for its local endemic breed of Urlan sheep whose wool is considered to be
unique for its fine texture, fiber length and ivory color. Most of the wool production is
sold by the villagers to itinerate traders, and is eventually used to make luxury shawls,
scarves and long underwear for the European market. Preliminary plans call for
relocation of the seven villages that would be subject to inundation to the sparsely
populated cotton-growing region of the semi-arid Django Plateau. Some residents of
Rustic Village, which is located 1 km upstream of the proposed dam site within the
inundation area, also earn income as tour guides or run small inns or “Bed and
Breakfast” establishments catering to tourists who come to see the famous Dawn Caves,
with their cave drawings believed to date back to the Cro Magnon period. The entrance
to the Dawn Caves also lies just below the proposed high water line for the reservoir.
Along the Pristinus River downstream of the proposed dam there are three towns (Upper
Town, Middle Town and Lower Town, populations 6,000, 9,000 and 15,000
respectively). There are also numerous small villages (populations ranging from 200800) . The main economic activities in these towns and villages are fishing and small
scale recession agriculture (i.e., planting on land which is flooded during the early Spring
when rivers are high with snow melt, but which are uncovered as the flood waters recede
by early summer).
Institutional Aspects:
The project will be implemented by the Provincial Water Management Agency of North
Urlandia Province (dam construction and operation) the State-owned Urlandia Electricity
Company (hydropower plant and southern OHTL) and the Ministry of Economic
Development (northern OHTL). Up to now the PWMA has only implemented projects
for construction of run-of-the-river hydropower plants and dams for domestic water
supply.
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