Dam Construction Is Set to Destroy the 'Mother of all Rivers'

AlterNet / By Aviva Imhof - Apr 15 '11

A series of dams proposed along the Mekong River threaten 41 fish species with extinction and puts the livelihoods of nearly half a million people at risk. Details here.

The Red River Valley Could be Headed for its Second-Worst Flooding in a-Century-&-a-Half - The Gov't. of Manitoba

In its latest flood bulletin, the Government of Manitoba states, "While the upper level of the forecast range has been reduced slightly, it still remains somewhat above 2,009 levels for all points on the Red River. 2009 was the second-largest flood in the past 150 years."

While cooler-than-normal temperatures will blunt the severity of the flooding, it will also make it last longer than it otherwise would, the Government adds.

A swollen stream spills into Boggy Creek, just above Lake of the Prairies (on the Assiniboine River system) in western Manitoba.

PUBLISHER'S COMMENT: It's only mid-April. Yet,  already two people have died and hundreds more have been displaced in flood-related incidents. Scores of roads have been washed out and many homes and businesses are isolated by the floodwaters. Ranchers report conditions hazardous for their livestock. At least three personal care homes have been evacuated. At least one boil-water advisory has been ordered. The main CN rail line was damaged for a time and trains re-routed. In neighboring Saskatchewan, flooding closed the Trans Canada Highway east of Regina and there are fears for the safety of drinking water. 

Just how much longer can the "powers that be" ignore the role that climate change is surely playing in these catastrophic events? One would think the increase in the frequency and severity of these occurrences are now plain for all to see. In a saner world, it surely ought to be more than enough to prompt a response in the form of regulations to control greenhouse gas emissions. 

On the contrary, here in Manitoba, we are seeing:

• Exploration for oil, a non-renewable, unsustainble, climate-change-producing resource, at an all-time high.
• Massive excavation and earth-movinig in preparation for "Centreport," a misguided megaproject to turn Winnipeg into a "hub" for just about any mode of transport you can imagine, connecting the city with the rest of the continent, including Mexico and Nunavut! It's promoters call it "world-class." I call it Greenhouse-Gas City!"
• A massive expansion of the Winnipeg airport, to accomodate many more jetliners, among the worst contributors to the climate change crisis. 
• Rather than take measures which attack the root-causes of climate change, massive machines break up ice jams, dig deeper trenches and higher dikes, producing more harmful emissions in the process.
• Meanwhile, greenhouse gases in this province are, like most other places, on the rise. Yet we are apparently supposed to believe this government is, somehow,"green!!!!" l.p. 

Please also read: "Prairie Flooding Delays Seeding Two Weeks So Far."