Ecuador's Highest Waterfall Disappears; Associated Erosion Destroys 3 Oil Pipelines, Threatens Dam

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The collapse of the San Rafael waterfall on Feb. 2 and the accelerated regressive erosion that began to occur on the riverbed and edges of the Coca River have turned into a huge problem for the Ecuadoran government. The San Rafael waterfall, the highest in Ecuador, is located in Cayambe Coca National Park, between the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos. When the 150-meter (500-foot) falls disappeared, experts consulted by Mongabay warned of the enormous risk this phenomenon posed, especially to the oil pipelines that pass through the area, a national highway, a nearby human settlement, and the catchment dam of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.

On April 7 and 8, three pipelines ruptured due to landslides along the river and spilled nearly 57,000 liters (15,000 gallons) of oil into the river, affecting downstream Indigenous Kichwa villages and communities. The communities have complained of a lack of “effective and timely reparation” to address the threat. More than two months ago they sued the government and the oil companies. Only after the oil spill occurred did the government, led by the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources, begin to rigorously monitor the erosion. In a press conference on July 9, Minister René Ortiz acknowledged that they “started monitoring more frequently after the fortuitous incident of April 7.”

The Ecuadoran government and several geologists insist the fast-creeping collapse of the riverbed is a natural phenomenon, despite the fact that other experts consulted by Mongabay say the erosion process could have been accelerated due to the sediment retention at the Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) dam. Either way, the erosion is progressing rapidly and is putting at risk the entire upstream area of the now-disappeared San Rafael waterfall.

EDIT

According to official information from the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources, by April 24 the erosion had already advanced 1.7 km (1.1 mi). Despite this, a day before, Coca Codo Sinclair issued a statement where the vice minister of electricity and renewable energies, Luis Vintimilla, said they had “almost 100% confidence that the hydroelectric power station was not at imminent risk, not even in the medium or long-term.” Months later, however, the reality is different, and the energy minister, René Ortiz, acknowledged on July 9 that the CCS catchment dam could be in danger. “We are taking preventive measures before this infrastructure [CCS] is at risk,” Ortiz said. Gonzalo Uquillas, the general manager of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec), said that “the risk of CCS being affected still exists and that is why it’s essential that we take precautions. The fundamental variable is the speed of the regressive erosion process, which will tell us how much time we have to intervene.”

EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/ecuador-races-for-emergency-infrastructure-as-rivers-collapse-threatens-dam/

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