This paper analyses the performative, consumptive and productive uses and meanings of water in and of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), a large dam with reservoir on the Narmada river, located at the border of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh States, India. The main focus of the paper is how water is...

In recent months, relations between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Somalia have deteriorated significantly. Previously separate disputes have become intertwined: namely the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over the use of Nile waters and the disagreement between Ethiopia and Somalia regarding the...

Traditional interventions for mitigating flood risk and increasing water security continue to focus mainly on large-scale engineering solutions despite a growing body of evidence showing that large-scale water infrastructure investments can incur large cost overruns and produce significant,...

Phytoplankton are sensitive to changes in river ecosystems. However, the spatial impacts of dams on phytoplankton communities have not been well documented, and the relationships between environmental drivers and phytoplankton communities in different types of river reaches need to be further...

Dam failures that cause significant adverse downstream impacts continue to occur globally. Hence, effective, adequately resourced dam safety regulation is critical for the safety of dams and downstream communities. This paper explores options for regulatory funding and resourcing according to a...

In recent decades, India's environment has been severely compromised by riverine pollution combined with large-scale dams and exacerbated by diversion for irrigation. Most prominent among the rivers so affected has been the Ganges and its tributaries in northern India, which for Hindus include...

We estimate the effect of large dams on malaria incidence in India between 1975 and 1995. We combine instrumental variables approach with a panel model with unobserved common factors allowing us to fully capture the endogeneity of dam location and unobserved time-varying heterogeneity. Dams...

The law and policy of salmon protection and restoration are complex, and matters surrounding salmon implicate topics as varied as Indian treaty fishing rights, dam management and removal, international treaties, predator con­trol, and climate change. Pacific Salmon Law and the Environment...

We present the results of a contingent valuation study aimed at estimating the monetary value of environmental and cultural/heritage injuries caused by the Fundão (tailings) Dam failure in Brazil in 2015. While the valuation literature considering mining-related externalities is considerable,...

The construction of large dams is one of the most costly and controversial forms of public infrastructure investment in developing countries, but little is known about their impact. This paper studies the productivity and distributional effects of large dams in India. To account for endogenous...

We use satellite, hydrology, and census data from 1990 to 2014 to examine the distributional impacts of dams on cropland productivity and economic development in China. We exploit a county’s river gradient and elevation to deal with the endogeneity of dam location. We find that an additional...

As a nation with highly variable and limited availability of water resources, Zimbabwe relies on a vast and aging water infrastructure stock that requires prompt rehabilitation to better support the water, food, and energy sectors. The country has limited water resources, with much of its area...

The Klamath River, draining some 12,000 square miles in southern Oregon and northern California, was once the third largest salmon stream on the West Coast, the life force of Native Americans. The river runs 263 miles from headwaters in Oregon and flows through the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean...

The Nile as a transboundary river attracts worldwide attention. 85% of the river originates in Ethiopia. However, Ethiopia has historically been excluded from using this resource for development purposes. Since 2011, Ethiopia has been building a dam on the Blue Nile. However, downstream...

In the 21st century Ghana has seen the revival and construction of dam projects which had previously been stalled for decades as a result of financing constraints and socio-environmental concerns. What has enabled Ghana’s contemporary dam-building revival? What are the risks and benefits? This...

India’s premier development cooperation scheme in Africa, the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Cooperation Scheme-Lines of Credit (IDEAS-LoCs), has launched the country as a dam builder on the continent. This paper examines the first decade of the Lines of Credit (LoC) between 2004...

This study examines the impact of two hydropower dam reservoirs, Amerti and Neshe, on the adjacent rural household food insecurity in the Abay Chome district, northwestern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional method was employed to collect data from 485 households (268 affected and 217 non-affected...

Multi-reservoir system operation is a challenging and complex task, because of the curse of uncertainties, nonlinearities, dimensionalities and conflicts among the various contradictory objectives. Contemporaneous optimization of such competing objectives needs improving the capability of...

In this era of ever-changing international relations , the balance of geo-politics is crucial , especially when it comes to the relations between neighboring countries which get or are strained as a result of chronic or intermittent conflicts persisting between the two states. As a result of...

The growing impact of climate change on the design and operations of dams and the inherent complexity of dam projects (often multi-purpose) require the capacity to adopt increasingly strict global standards and to mainstream resilience and low-carbon considerations in water infrastructure in...

This learning note is the second of a 4-note-series developed by the Water Global Practice (GP) Climate Change Team to highlight successful examples of water operations that support climate change-related activities andprovide useful lessons and recommendations for project design

Large-scale flooding is becoming increasingly common due to prolonged and intensive rainfall caused by climate change. Communities have mitigated this risk by building flood protection, though it is unclear whether residents are aware of these public works or the protection they confer. We...

[enter Abstract BodGovernment plays an important role as a well-being capital provider through policies, strategies, or even direct provision to local residents to improve their livelihoods. Pak Mun Dam is one of the most controversial dams in Thailand, and government intervention is needed to...

Climate change is considered as one of the pressing environmental issues in the world today, which influences several sectors in the economy, including agriculture. This study analyzes the perception of farmers on the impacts of climate change in Malinao Dam community situated in Pilar, Bohol....

Large dams were central to policy making in Ghana and the rest of Africa in the early postcolonial period as part of the quest for development, framed in terms of the socioeconomic and cultural modernisation that pertained in advanced industrialised countries. Ghana has constructed three large...

Using the 2003 initial impoundment of the world's largest hydroelectric dam as a natural experiment, we assess how rural households with varying endowments adapt differently to the dam-induced water scarcity in the downstream area. In response to a 13\% reduction in rice yields, those who are...

China has become an increasingly important financier of energy infrastructure development in the Global South, especially hydropower projects. Despite an increase in investigations on Chinese models of infrastructure financing in these regions, there is a lack of empirical research on the...

The paper assesses social impacts of a mega-dam project (Merowe Dam in Sudan) as perceived by host and affected communities (i.e., upstream, downstream, and relocated residents), which is not commonly seen in the literature. Primary survey and interviews were conducted with 300 residents,...

This paper assesses the economic benefits of 57 World Bank Group-sponsored hydropower dam plant investments. Hydropower dams are among the main sources for producing electricity and the largest renewable source for power generation throughout the world. Hydropower dams are often a lower-cost...

Small dams play an important role in the provision of many kinds of benefits, such as drinking and irrigation water supply, flood control, small/mini hydropower generation, fishing, and so on. They are particularly important in rural and agricultural areas. Agriculture remains an engine of rural...

This study aims to assess the net benefit of the kaptai dam on the Karnafuli river in Kaptai, Chittagong,Bangladesh. Kaptai Dam, the only hydroelectricity power source in Bangladesh, provides only 5%electricity demand of Bangladesh. The Dam is located on the Karnafuli River at Kaptai in...