Environmental Approaches during Planning and Construction Stages of Hydropower Projects in Mexico

María Antonieta Gómez-Balandra; María del Pilar Saldaña-Fabela; Rosa Dina Llerandi-Juárez

doi:10.4236/jep.2015.610106

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JEP> Vol.6 No.10, October 2015

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Environmental Approaches during Planning and Construction Stages of Hydropower Projects in Mexico

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DOI: 10.4236/jep.2015.610106 3,624 Downloads 4,195 Views Citations

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María Antonieta Gómez-Balandra^1*, María del Pilar Saldaña-Fabela¹, Rosa Dina Llerandi-Juárez²

Affiliation(s)

¹Hydrobiology and Environmental Assessment Department, Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Morelos, Mexico.
²Hydrobiology and Environmental Assessment Department, Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Morelos, Mexico.

ABSTRACT

During the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure (EIA) for hydropower projects, apart from the compliance with environmental standards and regulations, important environmental and ecosystem changes are foreseen from planning and construction stages. In Mexico, the EIA and environmental standards are being systematically applied and fulfilled at planning and construction stages for hydropower projects. These are mainly related to control air emissions, solid and hazardous wastes, water discharges and deal with protected species. In addition, due to land use changes, forestry compensation procedures have already been established. To comply with project approval conditions, an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) is carried out during construction; it includes mitigation measures, standards, regulations and approval conditions resulting of project review and in some cases requests from the public audience. Monitoring is carried out in the area of influence that is in the works and where it is expected that natural processes are modified. However, indicators to track these changes are minimal. This paper analyzes the regulatory and organizational frameworks to address environmental management during the planning and construction of hydropower facilities in Mexico and gives recommendations to expand the scope of the supervision and management of ecosystem changes.

KEYWORDS

Environment, Hydro, Project, Requirement, Mexico

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Cite this paper

Gómez-Balandra, M. , Saldaña-Fabela, M. and Llerandi-Juárez, R. (2015) Environmental Approaches during Planning and Construction Stages of Hydropower Projects in Mexico. Journal of Environmental Protection, 6, 1186-1195. doi: 10.4236/jep.2015.610106.

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