Construction of Gibe III Dam continues in spite controversy

Last Updated 14 years ago by Kenya Engineer

Construction of the Gibe III dam continues even after a new report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature indicating that the dam poses a threat to the Lake Turkana.

The lake has now been listed as a World Heritage site in danger after an assessment by the nature of threats to the environment, wildlife and people’s livelihood.

The dam set for completion next year has been under a lot of environmental controversy with fears that the dam in Ethiopia will greatly affect the heritage of the world’s largest population of Nile crocodiles and hippos.

The 243m high roller-compacted concrete dam with an associated hydroelectric power plant on the Omo River in Ethiopia which will become the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa with a power output of about 1870 Megawatt (MW).The dam is part of the Gibe cascade, a series of dams including the existing Gibe I dam (184 MW) and Gibe II power station (420 MW) as well as the planned Gibe IV (1472 MW) and Gibe V (560 MW) dams. Kenya one of the countries set to benefit of the power from the dam.

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