The Tapajós River basin, the fifth largest watershed in the Brazilian Amazon, boasts vast pristine forests, unobstructed rivers as well as rich and diverse flora and fauna. But it also has hydroelectric potential, supports significant agricultural production—mainly soy—and is capable of becoming a major river-transport link to the Atlantic coast and export markets. These latter attributes explain why the Tapajós basin is becoming the next major focus of Brazilian infrastructure spending, a development that delights hydropower and agricultural-export advocates but worries those concerned with Amazon-rainforest conservation. Work already has begun on two Tapajós basin hydroelectric dams—the 300-megawatt Colíder Dam and the 1,820 megawatt Teles Pires dam, both of which are on the Teles Pires River. Government plans call... [Log in to read more]