Ecologistas en Accion join themselves to all the people that reject the construction and increase of new dams in the International Day, against the Great Dams, that will be celebrated the 14th of March. This claiming day tries to show the new projects that are proposed in the hydrological planning in Spain and the enormous environmental and social impacts of the great dams for the benefit of the construction companies, energy multinational companies and irrigation businessmen.

The International Day against the Great Dams arose in one of the countries that have the major dams at worldwide level, Brazil, where more than one million people have been displaced because of these infrastructures and have been flooded more than 18,400 miles. In this country they condemn that, in spite of the strong impacts that this supposes, it continued driving the construction of great dams, mostly hydroelectric. But not only in Brazil, concerning all Latin America, Africa and Asia are starting up great infrastructures. In Turkey, where the World Water Forum will took place and the social response in an Alternative Water Forum, are working on several transfers and on nearly 2,000 dams. In this country it is expected to build the great reservoir of Ilisu that would flood a great valley of Tigris River where several archaeological remains of the Mesopotamian culture and where diverse Kurd populations are located. By now it has been slowed down because the international funds to carry it out have been denied.

In an international scope different networks in defence of rivers and against the great dams denounce that the unique beneficiaries are the construction companies and the energy multinationals, as well as of the proprietors of extensive surfaces for irrigation. Through these infrastructures they privatize the water that dams up, the energy that it is produced and the valley that is flooded.

In Spain more than 1,000 great dams regulate the great majority of our rivers and there are 20 in construction. The great hydraulic infrastructures have affected more than 20% of our protected natural spaces, and are responsible for the destruction of numerous areas of a great natural value, fertile lowlands, singular landscapes, remains of great archaeological and cultural historical value, and by all means great amount of towns.

Indeed, the construction of dams in our country has supposed the expulsion of a great number of citizens of its houses, that have been forced to emigrate, when their towns were flooded by the waters of the great dams. In fact, in our country, there are more than a half thousand of towns under the dam waters.

In spite of it, the Ministry of Environment continues promoting the policy of the concrete in different areas of the State, and several great dams continue in construction, like the increase of Yesa, the dams of Itoiz, Irueña, Castrovido, Enciso, Arenoso, Alcolea, Breña II, Melonares, etc., some of which, in the middle of the 21st century, also supposed the destruction of towns. In addition, some autonomic government, like the one of Extremadura or Madrid, tries to construct great dams. Extremadura, in consideration to the delirious project of the transfer of the middle Tajo, asks for taking up again other projects not less hilarious as those of the dams of Monteagudo or the increase of Rosarito. Madrid wants to do one in Sierra Norte and another one in Colmenar de Oreja. In both cases, contravening the Water Framework Directive and making abstraction of the critical environmental and hydrological impacts as to what would give rise.

Now, more than ever, the necessity and the benefits that these works are justified with are questioned. They have not been able to stop the water shortage in periods of drought, rather on the contrary, the dams have served to feed the unstoppable demand of water by the town-planning depredation and the extensive areas of new intensive irrigation where is not sustainable. Therefore, from Ecologistas en Acción we reject the construction of dams and its increase along with the management of water for a rational and sustainable use, that respects the environment and allows to cover the supplying needs of a majority of the population and not other lucrative purposes of a business minority. For this reason, in the process of discussion of the hydrological planning now putted into action in Spain, we demanded not more dams or transfers in all the river basins.