Waterfalls, Hydroprojects, and Volcanos
Tomorrow, we’re heading to our jungle lodge on the Rio Napo in the Ecuadorian rainforest. We’ll be in a bit of an Internet blackout zone for the next 6 days so until then enjoy some pics from our time in Baeza and the cloud forest. We visited two dam sites: the 50MW Quijos-Papallacta Project and the 1500MW Coca Codo Sinclair Project. The latter has been heavily criticized by environmentalists as exemplary of the type of poorly planned, excessively expensive dam project that is so common to hydro schemes in the developing world. Of course, the project will also dewater the majestic San Rafael Falls, so there is an aesthetic argument to be made as well. Even the comparatively smaller Quijos-Papallacta project got the attention of many students who had never really appreciated how environmentally disruptive dams are, even “smaller” so-called “run-of-river dams.” This project involves tunneling a diversion through geologically unstable mountain, capturing the inflows of two rivers, and then piping that flow through penstocks into a turbine several kilometers downstrea. The price tag of $120M (likely to be closer to $150M when expected cost overruns are counted) runs on the expensive side on a per MW basis. Guess who is financing and building both projects? Answer: The Chinese.
![In the cloud forest while visiting the Quijos-Papallacta dam project In the cloud forest while visiting the Quijos-Papallacta dam project photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image40.jpeg)
![Joe in the clouds Joe in the clouds photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image41.jpeg)
![Matt Terry of the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute Matt Terry of the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image42.jpeg)
![The confluence of the Papallacta and Quijos rivers The confluence of the Papallacta and Quijos rivers photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image43.jpeg)
![In the Papallacta hot springs In the Papallacta hot springs photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image44.jpeg)
![More hot springs More hot springs photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image45.jpeg)
![Hot springs photo Hot springs photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image46.jpeg)
![The group at San Rafael Falls The group at San Rafael Falls photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image47.jpeg)
![San Rafael Falls Ecuador San Rafael Falls (Cascada San Rafael) Ecuador Photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image48.jpeg)
![Posing in front of San Rafael Falls Posing in front of San Rafael Falls photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image49.jpeg)
![Ash plume from Volcan Reventador Ash plume from Volcan Reventador photo](https://sustainsummer.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image50.jpeg)