Until he says stop, I'll just keep posting Ron Canter's sleuthing on the dam question. He found the site which lays out the whole project.

Ron writes:

Here is the Proyecto Binacional Boca del Cerro homepage.

I just about dropped my teeth when I opened it, especially when I saw the map. All the project info is right there, and it is unbelievable. It's like China's Three Gorges Dam transplanted to Mexico. There is only one dam, a "small" one 130 meters (430 feet) high. For comparison, the Three Gorges Dam is 185 meters high.

It will flood the Usu' all the way upstream to beyond El Cayo, 80 km upriver. The side valleys between El Retiro and Boca will be completely flooded, so much so that two dams (Diques #1 and #2) will be needed to prevent the water from spilling out east of Tenosique and west near the Chinikiha site. The entire side canyon of the Rio Chancala will be flooded. Salto Busilha will be deep underwater. Any future attempts to dive the rapids of the Usu' for artifacts will be deep sea diving.

An added surprise was their plan to divert water from the Usu' through a 30 km canal, the Canal de Derivacion (sic) de Balancan, north into the Rio Chumpan and hence Laguna de Terminos. The canal will be a combined hydro and ship canal. The wild swampland of the Chumpan will be torn up to cut a navigable channel at least 60 km long.

They also have the nerve to prattle on about the benefits to wildlife, the forest, and the local tourist economy. "Pomposity writ in concrete" for sure.

Count me in.
Ron

The whole text of the Boca del Cerro site is below, in English.

Boca del Cerro Binational Project - Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco and Guatemala)

The Usumacinta river's basin -Chiapas highlands and Lacandon jungle- in the Mexican southeastern region, and El Quiche, Verapaz y El Peten, in the western and northern areas of Guatemala, represent a binational region requiring priority activities and large-scale construction works due to its strategical resources and potential richness: water, energy, jungle, forests.

Today, the unrestricted deforestation, the resulting soil erosion (mainly in the Mexican area), the new agriculture and cattle raising lands, the over-exploiting of precious wood, the increasing populational sites, and the non-existence of adequate employment, colonization and urbanization programs, are dangerously affecting the natural equilibrium of ecology and human settlements in the area.

It is imperative to establish common development planning for a coordinated and efficient utilization of the Usumacinta river and its main affluents (Lacantun, Ixcan, Xactbal, Chixoy, and La Pasion) to promote, improve, and execute an broad-perspective, long-extent, and high-scale program with which the prevailing problems in those jungle regions can be solved definitely. Due its position it would be unavoidable to plan and to construct high-revenue and high-participation works, which can satisfy the demand for basic services in both sides of the frontier: water, food, housing, health, sewerage, roads, energy, employment, and education. Those techno-social works must offer also enough guarantees to investors in order to develop industrial settlements, trade activation, and higher agricultural production; according to the following actions:

1. Widening and strengthening binational (Mexico-Guatemala) cooperative agreements. These actions would extent the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) reach to Central America nations.

2. Utilizing in a rational and complete way the rich natural resources of that river basin, in order to provide a sufficient and high-quality infrastructure which would optimize the function and objectives of each project, in addition it would allow productive investments for an adequate regional progress.

3. Supplying social and economical benefits which can raise the standard of living for all the population. The population would have access to the regional richness, its use, and sharing from the beginning of the project works starting point by their direct actions and aiding the construction.

The Boca del Cerro Project has a strong priority based on the seven multi-purpose principal projects to be developed in Mexico (Boca del Cerro, Quetzalli, Huixtan I, Huixtan II, Jattza, Nance and Salto de Agua), which would provide energy with 9 520 power-generating megawatts, and 33-billion kilowatt-hours production (equivalent to 27% and 20% of Mexican electric capacity and generation, respectively).

Boca del Cerro, requirements:

a) The firm commitment of cooperation between the Mexican and the Guatemala governments to promoting in the financial world the proposed hydraulic base: maximum water elevation, 125 meters above sea level, which according to the planning and programming conceptions would supply optimum benefits to both nations.

b) Provide all investments for the project works, electromechanical constructions, and installations -the main land compensations would remain in Mexico; 65% of future water reservoir inflows will come from the Guatemala affluents. The benefits supplied by the electric energy generation would be covered by the standards and rulings of the Tratado Internacional de Límites y Aguas, and under a special agreement to be established.

c) Based on its important total volume (63.5-billion cubic meters), each reservoir meter would correspond to 150 million kilowatt-hours. This would equal to a 250 000 fuel-oil barrels saving per year. These considerations support the optimal dam height for the optimum surface to be flooded. This basic project's characteristic must consider the technical restrictions, and the allowable social compensations.

d) The reservoir capacity would guarantee a reliable functioning and the most useful life. These conditions would be extended after the regulation, control, and utilization of the five main Usumacinta affluents.

According to these concepts, the Boca del Cerro Project, would be located 9.5 kilometers southwest from Tenosique, Tabasco. It would have a 130 meters-high dam creating an artificial lake formed by the 19 550-million cubic meters reservoir. The dam generating power of electricity would be 4 200 megawatts for a 17 400 million kilowatt-hours production (the 67% of hydropower in Mexico, it can save 29 million of fuel-oil barrels).

The project would allow Mexican and Guatemalan countries start a strong industrial, commercial, and touristic development, with all social and economic benefits -employment, housing, agriculture and cattle raising, navigation, roads, environmental and ecology protection-

Also, it would set the basis for a future electric interconnection of Central America and Colombia with the Mexican national electricity network.
Country Maximum water level Flooded area Stored volume meters above sea level square kilometers million cubic meters
México 125 425 13850
Guatemala 125 300 5700
Total 250 725 19550

The reservoir area for Guatemala is 42% approximately. In Mexico, the large surface to be flooded has deforestation. The Boca del Cerro Project may allow an effective conservation and regeneration of jungle resources with the raising of freatic levels, and increasing the aquifer storage. Also, it may improve the floods control. The binational project would contribute to the natural cycle restitution, would create new population centers around the lake (which would have all basic services), and offer a great number of employment opportunities in agricultural and cattle raising industries, pisciculture, and tourism. The high pressure on the ecology and natural resources would be diminished.

The joining of Boca del Cerro Project systems with the Balancan diverting canal, would give a decisive impulse. That canal would transfer the Usumacinta river flow quantities to Laguna de Terminos, and would permit the generation 1 250 million kilowatt-hours in a additional hydropower plant (low-head). This system is to be complemented by other dam, Salto de Agua, which would control Tulija river floods. Northern and eastern regions of Tabasco, and the southwest of Campeche, would receive a great economic improvement. All of this -in conjunction with a complete sewerage and navigation plan- would allow the reclaiming of over one million hectares of lands apt for agriculture and cattle raising. Also, it would create large aquaculture areas.

Likewise, from the reservoir's right side, it is possible the construction of a big river-canal, with several branches for divert abundant water volumes for irrigation of large surfaces in Yucatan peninsula. These constructions will give a better future for the area's populatin, and may conform an important system for the ecological equilibrium recovering. The river-canal (a hydroway) may be also a powerful pisciculture producer, and would attract the establishing of industries, factories, and trade centers on its riversides. Those manufacturing plants and commercial sites would create employment aimed to reactivate the interstate economy, and the processed items export.

It is of very important to fully utilize the hidroelectric potential of Ixcan, Xactbal, Chixoy, and La Pasion rivers, and to coordinate activities with the Guatemala government. With the construction of large multi-purpose projects on those affluent streams, our Guatemala neighbour could satisfy its energy demand on medium and long-term basis, with an important fuels savings. Besides, that nation would export surpuls energy to other Central America countries. The hydropower plants may widen and consolidate the regional electric interconnection programs along with the northern area of South America. The result would be an impressive internationally integrated progress.

The Boca del Cerro Project may be the most transcendental infra-structure system to be shared by Mexico and Guatemala, being an essential joint effort towards a true progress era in the Usumacinta river basin. The high-scale project would allow the two nations to access the XXI century with the best possibilities for full development.

The estimated investments would be 50 000 million Mexican pesos (5-billion U.S. dollars) to be placed on a six-year term. It would guarantee profitable investments returns from foreign financial organizations and private national firms, within the most positive national agreements signed by Mexico and Guatemala governments.

In the current years, Mexico and the other Hispanic-American nations must be conscious of their necessary new actions for having a best future in the world, based on a powerful planning for the oncoming Third Millenium.

e) The land compensations in both frontier sides must be evaluated with positive interests. In all those actions, the archaeological ruins in Yaxchilan, Chiapas -on the left riverside- have special importance; based on the proposed alternative, they would be moved 40 meters upward on the same site, and Piedras Negras, Guatemala -on the right riverside- would require fixing its elevation new value.