New River Academy just finished an epic journey from Pucon to the Rio Futalefu in Patagonia and back. I got some great photo opportunities along the way. Here is a slide show with some of my best shots. Enjoy! -David Gorski
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Imagine a river in Patagonia that flows from one natural lake to the next through a forest of huge trees. Between these lakes the river runs down miles of rapids and countless waterfalls. After kayaking many sections of this river, surfing the waves, running the waterfalls and immersing in the culture surrounding the river; I’m happy to say that the Rio Fuy is my favorite whitewater destination. That’s why I’ve taken particular interest in increasing awareness of the hydroelectricity prospects for this river. During my stay at the Rio Fuy last week I met Christian Labrana, a leader in ecotourism on the river. Christian grew up in the local river town, Choshuenco, and he’s been rafting the river since the 1980’s. For the past eight years he has been bringing ecotourism to the Rio Fuy with a rafting and fishing company. An interview with Christian Labrana reveals the potential future for this river in hydroelectricity.
Chile has always been a mining country, 84% of the national product is copper. As these mines are exporting more, they demand more electricity. The easiest way to get this is not through wind power, wave power, or thermal energy; but from rivers like the Fuy. This river may have never been touched by someone with an edge for river enthusiasm if a dam project hadn’t fell through in the 70’s do to lack of funding. Now a hydropower company based in Madrid, Spain called HidroAysen is planning to build an underground power plant and dam on the Rio Fuy. HidroAysen also plans to dam other Patagonia rivers such as the Baker, Futalefu, and Pascua.
Evidence of this project first appeared in the newspaper in 1996 and was presented to the towns surrounding the river in 2003. The plan is to take water from the Upper Fuy near lake Pinhueico and transport it underground to Neltume Lake where a hydropower station will be built at the town of Neltume. Christian claims that only 30% of the population in Neltume supports this project. The water will then run by natural flow from Lake Neltume back into the Rio Fuy. This project will virtually dry all of the Rio Fuy except for a short section at the end, where it runs into lake Panguipulli. This section is to be dammed by the same company. HidroAysen attempts to convince the locals that this project will ultimately improve their lifestyle by benefiting the economy, but locals like Christian have visions of a better economic future in ecotourism. Paved roads are currently being established in the area for the first time. This will lead to more business in ecotourism, and ultimately a better economy. “Our life, life on the river is much better than the other one,” said Christian.
The driving force for the push to dam more rivers in Chile comes from a few different sources. One is the need for power in the growing city of Santiago. This is perhaps the only worthwhile source. Another source is the need for electricity in mines that are being built in the north of Chile. According to the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, many of the pollutants from copper and iron ore in these mines are discharged into the ocean. Also, most of the resources that are taken from these mines are to be exported to Italy and Spain. So this project only benefits Chile in the short term advantages of selling land rights, and hurts Chile’s environment in more ways than one. “They’re never thinking about the future,” said Christian. As for the city of Santiago, the growing need for electricity can be satisfied in less destructive ways. An alternative suggested by Christian is wind power. Chile is also an ideal place for thermal energy and wave power.
My research on the subject of hydropower in Chile always seems to ultimately lead to the same problem, power. Chile, as well as other countries facing similar problems, is being attacked by powerful international agencies who seem to be convinced that globalization is the best thing for our world. The hydropower projects in Chile prove that this idea overlooks places like Patagonia and the Pacific Ocean.
By, David Gorski
Works Cited
Inderscience Publishers. 17 Feb. 2010. http://inderscience.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,1,28;journal,77,87;linkingpublicationresults,1:110851,1
Patagonia Times. 17 Feb. 2010. http://patagoniatimes.cl/index.php/20080721599/News/Environment/CHILE-DAM-CONTROVERSY-AIRED-IN-SPAIN.html
NRA just got back to Pucon from the Rio Fuy. The Fuy is my favorite of all the rivers I’ve paddled in my lifetime so far.There was so much to experience during our stay at the Fuy, I could hardly sleep. This week we are staying in Pucon and running other classic Chilean rivers such as the Palguin. I’ll have more pictures of Pucon up on my next blog.
by, David Gorski
Eric Bartl (NRA sophmore) at the bottom of Salto de Leon on the Rio Fuy (c) David Gorski
Our takeout for the Lower Fuy, the Choschuenco beach in the evening. (c) David GorskiEric Bartl (NRA sophmore) at the bottom of Salto de Leon onthe the Rio Fuy (c) David Gorski
Steven Forster freewheels a drop on the Rio Fuy. (c) David Gorski
Lorenzo Astorga (NRA Spanish teacher) on the Rio Fuy. (c) David Gorski
It’s been raining every day here in Choshuenco by the Rio Fuy. In photo class we were sent out on a photo shoot to capture the grungy side of this wet town. Here’s what I got.
(c) David Gorski
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A view of the Maipo river valley, much of the plant life here depends on the river. (c) David Gorski
My name is David Gorski and I am working on a research project called “Patagonia without Dams.” The goal of this project is to promote awareness of the rising issue of hydro-industrialism in the country of Chile, which I am currently traveling to with New River Academy. Chile is seeing a rapid increase in population in cities such as Santiago. Also, recent climate changes in South America have decreased the average snowpack in the Andes Mountains and therefore decreased the amount of water available for this rising population to use. These two changes are making Chilean rivers increasingly vulnerable to hydro-industrialism.
The Rio Maipo and the Central de Paso
When I set out to research hydro-industrialism on the Rio Maipo, NRA’s first destination, I knew immediately that this river would be under particular stress simply because of its location. The Rio Maipo runs through a steep and constricted canyon area about 45 kilometers east of Santiago. This geological phenomenon creates quality whitewater and a beautiful surrounding wilderness which is very valuable to outdoor enthusiasts and the tourism industry. On the contrary, the natural energy of this river as it races toward the Pacific can easily be converted into power, power on many different levels, power which can easily be abused. An interview with Lorenzo Andrade Astorga, a leader in eco-tourism in the Miapo River Valley, tells the story of the struggle for water and land in the Maipo river valley.
Lorenzo’s family has owned land on the Rio Maipo for eighty years which they now use for a rafting company. They’ve been fighting to protect their valley since the times of communism and Pinoche. In the 1960’s the Rio Yeso, a tributary of the Maipo, was dammed by a Spanish company called Aguas Andinas. This was a time when Spain owned all water rights in Chile. Shortly afterward, the country was freed of communism and gained its water rights with the rule of Pinochet. This eighteen year dictatorship which ended in the early nineties kept the economy up to par but also saw much political violence. Thousands of people were killed through genocide by Pinochet, and Chile didn’t truly become a stable country until about eight years ago.
Ten years ago the Chilean government attempted to build a gas line to Argentina alongside the Rio Maipo. When the Astorga family refused to sell their land for this project, the Chilean government tried to take it by force. “We won” said Lorenzo. When the police came after them, they cut down the bridge that lead to their home on the other side of the river. They tried to come in with a helicopter but the mountainous landscape didn’t offer much space for landing other than a little soccer field which was fearlessly defended by Lorenzo and his family.
After growing up here, Lorenzo graduated from Universidad Andres Bello with a degree in eco-tourism and education. He is now teaching Spanish for New River Academy. When I asked Lorenzo about hydro-electricity on the Maipo, he first described the two different kinds of hydro-electricity. One was created by dams and the other by what’s called a central de paso. The central de paso takes water from a steep river, runs it through underground turbines to create electricity, and puts it back out into the river. It virtually dries the section between the input and output. In the 1960’s a few hydropower plants like this were developed on tributaries of the Maipo which take up limited space.
There is a plan for a central de paso on the Maipo which will dry the entire whitewater section. A Canadian company called AES Gener is attempting to build this and use the electricity for a mine in the north of Chile. Most resources taken from this mine will be exported from Chile. This obviously doesn’t benefit the country and many Chileans such as the Astorga family are fighting against it. They’re trying to declare the Maipo river valley as a national reserve. Recently, they made a petition for this which approximately 200,000 people signed. This reserve would protect the 85% of employment in the Maipo river valley which comes from tourism. Even so, this doesn’t seem to be the main reason that most Chileans want to protect this valley. “We do it for the nature more than anything,” said Lorenzo.
Lorenzo also discussed how Chile is the idealistic geographic location for many alternative, less intrusive sources for electricity. With a chain of active volcanoes running down the spine of the country, there’s tremendous opportunity for thermal electricity plants. Also, with almost 4,000 miles of coastline, Wave Power could easily be used to produce electricity all across Chile. These alternatives should certainly be enough to provide power to the growing country of Chile. Since Chile is now a relatively stable, responsible country; the only true threat is power-hungry agencies from the outside such as AES Gener. The only true threat to Chile’s resources is globalization.
The following is a link to Cascada De Las Animas, an ecotourism agency driven to protect the water of the Rio Maipo.
http://www.cascada.net/index_ing/index
Extensive information on all Chilean rivers will be available soon at www.chilerivers.org
Written by David Gorski
Gap Year students left to right, Katie Kowalski, David Gorski, and Kyle Bisset (c) David Gorski
As a Gap Year leadership project, we had to research prices on a five night stay for five persons with beds and three meals at a hotel. These are the negotiation guidelines we were taught:
• Negotiate price before service
• Must get three bids as a company protocol
• Must meet a budget of 11,000 pesos per person per day (22 dollars)
• Establish a written price with a signature
This task began during our stay at the Siete Tazas. Before we set out to haggle for prices in language we barely spoke, our Spanish teacher Lorenzo gave us a lesson on working with numbers and Spanish phases that may come in handy. After this short crash course, we ran up the hill to talk to a man named Jose about prices on cabins in the area. The conversation we had with him was frightening and awkward at first, but we gradually worked into a rhythm of conversation and discovered that he was quite friendly and honest. He had a cabin available for five people with a kitchen and bathroom for 35,000 pesos a night. We managed to get this price down to 30,000 pesos. Not bad for our first time, we were well below our budget. We had Jose sign on this price and told him that we were off to look at other options.
Soon after this project and an exciting week of running waterfalls high up in the Andes Mountains, we left the Siete Tazas National Park for a beach town called Pichilemu. In Pichilemu we continued this project with a lot more opportunity considering that we were surrounded by hotels and hostles. We went to three different places searching for the best deal. At the first hotel we spoke to a woman named Eva who ultimately gave us a deal just within our budget (11,000 pesos a day) including meals and everything else we asked for. At the second place we met a patient man named Luis who gave us a great deal but only offered breakfast. He was actually able to correct us on a few flaws in our Spanish, which we all got a good laugh out of. Finally, we checked out a set of cabins near the beach. This turned out to be our best deal. It didn’t include meals but they offered us a cabin with a bed for everyone, a kitchen, and Wifi all for well under our budget.
This project was a big step out of our comfort zone, but with that came a valuable lesson in self sufficiency.
The streets of Pichilemu at night (c) David Gorski
Matt Smink (NRA head of school) runs a drop on the Vientidos section of the Rio Claro (c) David Gorski
We’ve just emerged from the wilderness of the Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve which is home to one of the coolest rivers on earth, the Rio Claro. The Rio Claro boasts classic Chilean waterfall runs such as Siete Tazas or Seven Teacups. The Seven Teacups is a series of seven clean waterfalls, each of which lands in a calm pool of clear water. These “teacups” are held up by bumpy, gray basalt rock. The Rio Claro cuts it’s way through multiple canyons like this in the Siete Tazas National Reserve. This includes one of my new favorite whitewater runs, the Vientidos (shown on the right). This section consists of twenty two waterfalls and ends within a short walk’s distance of the place we were staying. I learned a lot about kayaking and photography between the walls of these canyons in the four days I spent here, and I had a lot of great experiences in the surrounding wilderness as well.
A view of the Rio Claro watershed (c) David Gorski
We also spent some time hiking the trails of this national park in the heart of the Andes Mountains. Lorenzo shared much of his knowledge of Chilean wildlife with us, and I was really stoked on the photo opportunities of this area. At one point we were lucky enough to spot a puma cruzing around in the woods, and just a few seconds too slow to capture it on photo/video.
Unlike many great rivers in Chile, fortunately this one is protected from hydroelectricity plans by the National Park. Despite my basic Spanish skills, I could detect an enviromentally conservative instict amongst the Chileans in this area. Everyone was constantly gathered around the river during the day to keep clean and cool in the summer heat, a part of their culture which we quickly adapted. I will remember the time I spent in this wilderness area for the rest of my life and I think Katie, Kyle, Matt, and Lorenzo will too.
Lorenzo Andrez (NRA Spanish teacher) dives into the Rio Claro (c) David Gorski
Lorenzo Andrez (NRA Spanish teacher) shows us the edible bud of a cactus near his home in the Miapo river valley (c) David Gorski
(c) David Gorski
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