Site of first proposed dam on Pascua River. Photo by Gary Hughes / International Rivers (www.internationalrivers.org)

The Chilean government today approved a $7 billion project to construct five large dams in the country’s pristine Aysén region, despite heavy opposition from environmentalists and the general public, who say the approval process has been flawed due to problems with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and conflicts of interest on the part of several members of the government-appointed commission responsible for reviewing the project.

International and Chilean environmental groups have waged a five-year battle against the dams, which would be constructed in a largely roadless part of Patagonia considered one of the country’s last great wilderness areas. A poll conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs in April 2011 showed that more than 61 percent of Chileans oppose the project.

Under threat are two of Chile’s wildest rivers, the Pascua and the Baker, as well as at least 5,600 hectares (nearly 14,000 acres) of forest, river valleys, and farmland that would be flooded as a result of the dams. HidroAysén plans to build a total of five dams: three on the Pascua and two on the Baker. Portions of the spectacular Laguna San Rafael National Park would be among the areas flooded.

Opponents are now calling on Chilean President Sebastian Piñera to overturn the approval of the dams. Failing that, they plan to continue to fight the project as it enters its next stage, the EIA for 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) of transmission lines that would be needed to transport the electricity from Patagonia to the national capital, Santiago.

Construction of the transmission lines would involve creating the world’s longest clearcut, destroying massive stands of virgin rainforest, including large areas of habitat for the endangered Southern Huemul deer, a national symbol (fewer than 1,000 animals are estimated to survive in the wild). The transmission lines would cross national parks and other protected areas in a geologically unstable region that is prone to earthquakes and home to numerous active volcanoes. The project would also involve the relocation of about three dozen families and would have negative impacts on others who make their living through tourism and farming.

“They should advocate for the citizens, but it seems that what really matters here is drawing foreign investment,” said Bernardo Lopez, the mayor of the Aysén community of Tortel, which depends largely on tourism, told the Associated Press.

The wild Baker Rivers. Photo by Jorge Uzon / International Rivers (www.internationalrivers.org).

Chile imports nearly all its fossil fuels and relies heavily on hydropower for electricity, creating a difficult situation in a country whose booming economy is based largely on energy-intensive mining. Within 12 years, the dams are expected to generate 2.75 gigawatts, equal to almost a third of central Chile’s current energy capacity. HidroAysén has promised the Aysén region an array of boons, from reduced energy costs to employment and educational opportunities to infrastructure such as airports and seaports.

Still, residents aren’t convinced. “Here we don’t need all this energy that they are going to generate,” Gloria Hernandez, an adviser to the Catholic Church in Aysén, told Bloomberg News. “They are going to deliver it to the mining companies in the north.”

Opposition in the city of Coyhaique, the capital of Aysén, were so widespread that the Chilean government sent in special police forces in anticipation of today’s vote. Spokesmen for Patagonia sin Represas (Patagonia, Free of Dams), the alliance of Chilean and international organizations spearheading the campaign against the dams, called the expanded police presence an overreaction designed to paint the opponents as “terroristic,” according to an article in the Chilean English-language daily, The Santiago Times.

Following the vote this afternoon, demonstrations spread throughout Chile, from Patagonia in the south to the Atacama Desert in the north. In Santiago’s Plaza Italia, protesters chanted, “Piñera, entiende, Patagonia no se vende (Piñera, understand, Patagonia is not for sale)” and “No a HidroAysén, sí a la vida (No to Hidroaysén, yes to life).” Dozens of protesters were detained by police, and metro stations near La Moneda, the presidential palace, and the University of Chile were closed or had limited access.