The Muğla Province of southwest of Turkey is much beloved for many reasons – its scenic beauty, historic sites and archaeological ruins, and the many, many attractions of its Turquoise Coast. The area including Köycegiz, Sarigerme, Marmaris, Göcek and Dalyan is particularly well reputed for its natural glory. Unfortunately, the pristine sanctity of this magnificent green cathedral is no longer sacrosanct, as on 13 December 2009, Akfen Energy, a Turkish company, began preparations to dam – some would say destroy – the Yuvarlakçay River, as a major step toward construction of a hydroelectric dam.

However, this plan now faces strong opposition from the ‘Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay,’ a growing consortium of local residents, businesses, organisations and municipalities calling for a stop to the project and new long-term safeguards for the riverbed.

(If you don’t care to read any further, but are willing to show support for the Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay, please sign this online petition and/or donate to their cause and help spread the word.)

A Living River

Locals and visitors alike revere the Yuvarlakçay River as one of the loveliest and cleanest waterways in the region. From a cool mountain-fed spring that emerges beneath a monumental plane tree, the river presently pumps water sufficient to support the local wildlife and nature, as well as the fields of six villages, before emptying into Lake Köycegiz. A large body of water that many years ago formed a natural harbour, Lake Köyceğiz is now connected to the Mediterranean Sea at Iztuzu Beach by the famous reed-bed delta of Dalyan, an important protected wildlife sanctuary contiguous with the town of Dalyan, the Carian cliff tombs and the ruins of Kaunos.

The Yuvarlakçay River supports a great deal of life, both along its banks and in the wider area. Its course is lined with ancient plane trees (some officially recognized since 2003 as monumental), sandal trees, amber trees and gum trees, as well as special dragonflies (59% of the Turkish population lives in the east of Muğla province) that already appear on IUCN’s Red List, otters, chameleons, kingfishers, Dahl’s whip snakes, inverted tulips, black tulips and so much more.

Unfair Trade

For the proposed Yuvarlakçay River power plant to be built, a number of things must happen. First, a 60-metre-wide and 2.5-kilometre-long road must be cleared. To that end, in late December, loggers felled between 800 and 900 trees, including 10 of the 32 registered monumental plane trees (some more than 300 years old and only eight of which were reportedly approved for removal) and about 850 red pines.

Later, should the dam ever be built, the people part of the Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay see a sad end to their nature-rich area, one that will leave it as dry as other areas of Turkey. Of the remaining monumental plane trees, some will be lost beneath the water of the lake created by the dam and yet others further downstream face the prospect of reduced water supply.

Water availability in general is a huge concern. The current flow rate – about 3500 litres per second – barely meets the natural and manmade needs of the present watershed. The proposed plant will take 3100 litres per second, leaving the remaining 400 litres per second for irrigation and drinking water in the villages, as well as ‘natural’ flow through the riverbed. Opposition representatives claim that irrigation alone currently amounts to 400 litres per second, enough to stop water from reaching Lake Köyceğiz in the summer months.

All of this must be tolerated in exchange for a plant expected to produce only 3.4 megawatts of energy annually and less than 10 kilometres from Turkey’s fifth-largest dam. Fresh in people’s minds too are the lessons learned from construction of the Akkopru dam on the Dalaman River, finished just two years ago. Sacrificed to the project were an entire village with historic houses that had no protected status and an ancient Roman bridge at least 1000 years old. This dam was projected to generate enough electricity for both Muğla and its neighbouring Antalya provinces. Now, two years later, the artificial lake has not yet filled due to water loss through underground caves and rivers. This is not a problem new to Turkey, imperfect prevention of which involves extensive concrete sheeting covering the lake’s embankments. As the Yuvarlakçay riverbed is geologically no different, the project runs precisely the same risks.

Another concern is the nature of the lease. Akfen has secured rights for 48 years to all water usage from the river. The cost? Just 17,000 Turkish lira (approximately US$11,500) per year. The exact construction costs – and, in fact, the exact terms – of the project have not yet been made public. Without access to the plans or reports, it is difficult to develop a more complete understanding of anything, which is of grave concern to everyone impacted by the plant’s construction.

A Hasty Mobilisation

Despite Akfen’s claims that all affected villagers were consulted and had accepted the project, community mobilisation in protest happened quickly once the locals first got wind of what was transpiring, actions in support of statements made by villagers and environmentalists that they had no knowledge of the project. Peaceful protests continue and have attracted more and more attention, including, as of 10 January, that of several Turkish members of parliament, who visited the spring of the Yuvarlakçay River to learn more about the situation.

At present, 500 people (representing a total of about 2500) of Pinar village have filed a lawsuit to stop the project, placing their fate in the hands of the volunteer lawyers of the Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay.

How You Can Help

Like the lawyers, everyone working in support of the opposition effort is doing so on a voluntary basis. The Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay needs financial support and increased visibility. To help bring this about, Kaunos Tours, the whl.travel local connection in Dalyan, has started a campaign to raise money for the court case, estimated to be around 25.000 Turkish lira (about US$17,000).

“Kaunos Tours thinks the Yuvarlakçay is very important for this area, and not only for tourist tour reasons, but actually more for the ecological balance,” commented Sonja Grau, on behalf of the Kaunos team. “Taking the water away will make this whole area out of balance and over the long-term Lake Köycegiz will become a saltwater lake and the reed beds of Dalyan will dry out. If you are against this hydroelectric power plant project you can help, even from a distance.”

There are many ways to help:

• Sign the online petition to Save the Yuvarlakçay River. (Note that once you sign the petition, a donation page appears. This has nothing to do with the Yuvarlakçay campaign. If you do not wish to donate, close the tab and you’re done.)
• Follow and share the latest developments via:
  • the Yuvarlakçay website
  • the Facebook cause page
  • the Facebook Group
  • the Flickr photostream
  • Twitter: @yuvarlakcay
• Make a donation. Contact destek@yuvarlakcay.org for details.

“We all hope that making noise will help to stop THIS and other hydroelectric power plants projects in Turkey,” continued Grau. “This country is so lucky with the amount of hours of sunlight and wind, the government should think more the green way.”

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 11:51 pm and is filed under the following categories: