The Future Of Large Dams

by Scudder, Thayer

• ISBN13: 9781844071555
• ISBN10: 1844071553
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-30
• Publisher: Earthscan / James & James

Summary

* "The author is the undisputed world leader in this subject. The treatment is authoritative and magisterial" --Robert Goodland * The definitive work on large dams--the world's single most controversial, divisive and expensive development issue--essential reading * Unmatched coverage of all aspects of large dams and development including economics, politics, environmental risk, energy, agriculture, and human displacement and resettlement Viewed by some as symbols of progress and a necessary evil and by others as inherently flawed and destructive of ecosystems and societies, large dams remain the most contentious development issue on earth. Building on the work of the now defunct World Commission on Dams, Thayer Scudder, the world's leading authority on large dams, weighs in on the debate with unprecedented authority. Armed with a vast array of case studies and statistical data from Asia, including China and India, North America, Africa, and Latin America, Scudder charts the "middle way" forward by examining all aspects of the costs, benefits, and risks to ecosystems, societies and economies of large dam development projects. Employing the World Commission on Dams' Seven Strategic Priorities, Scudder analyzes the structure of the decision-making process for water resource and energy development and the planning, implementation, and governance of assets when a large dam is selected as the best development option. He also assesses state-of-the-art procedures for addressing environmental, institutional, political, and social issues and tackles the highly contentious issue of dam-induced resettlement, illuminated by a statistical analysis of 50 cases.

Author Biography

Thayer Scudder is Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology and former Commissioner of the World Commission on Dams.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	viii
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	ix
Foreword	xiii
Acknowledgements	xv
The Large Dams Dispute and the Future of Large Dams	1	(30)
Introduction	1	(2)
Organization	3	(2)
The large dams dispute	5	(8)
My expertise and current position on large dams	13	(5)
Categories of project-affected people analysed	18	(2)
Focus on resettlement	20	(11)
Theories of the Resettlement Process	31	(25)
Introduction	31	(1)
The dynamics of the resettlement process and the four-stage framework	32	(12)
Cernea's impoverishment risks and reconstruction model	44	(3)
Combining and broadening the two analytical frameworks	47	(7)
Summary	54	(2)
A Comparative Survey of Dam-induced Resettlement in 50 Cases, with the Statistical Assistance of John Gay	56	(31)
Introduction	56	(1)
Introducing the 50 dam survey	57	(1)
Data sources and biases	58	(2)
Dam location and date of completion	60	(1)
Characteristics of resettling communities	61	(1)
Resettlement outcomes	61	(1)
Why failure? Why success?	62	(23)
Conclusion	85	(2)
How River Basin Communities Can Benefit From Resettlement	87	(51)
Introduction	87	(1)
Involving resettlers	88	(2)
Income generation and raising living standards	90	(1)
Economic development opportunities	91	(31)
Avoiding involuntary resettlement	122	(1)
Funding resettlement	123	(3)
Selection of sites and resettling units	126	(3)
Compensation	129	(5)
Cultural continuity and change	134	(2)
The issue of reparations	136	(2)
Sri Lanka's Mahaweli Development Project	138	(50)
Introduction	138	(2)
The project area and its inhabitants	140	(1)
My involvement in the Mahaweli Project	141	(2)
Evaluation of the Mahaweli Development Project over time	143	(18)
Benefits achieved: 1997--2001	161	(2)
Assessing Mahaweli as a settlement scheme	163	(22)
Major lessons learned	185	(3)
Further Case Studies	188	(23)
Introduction	188	(1)
The Kariba Case Study	188	(5)
India's Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP)	193	(6)
Botswana's Southern Okavango Integrated Water Development Project and Hydro-Quebec's Grande Baleine Project	199	(12)
Addressing Downstream and Upper Catchments: Environmental and Social Impacts	211	(32)
Introduction	211	(2)
The importance of natural flood regimes for riverine communities and for development purposes	213	(8)
The impact of dams on natural flood regimes and associated economies	221	(10)
Environmental flows	231	(7)
Upstream users and catchment protection	238	(3)
Summary	241	(2)
Institutional Arrangements	243	(49)
Introduction	243	(1)
Hydropolitics and the political factor	243	(1)
Project authorities	244	(9)
The private sector: Engineering firms	253	(2)
Other private sector firms	255	(4)
Local institutions and local leaders	259	(7)
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)	266	(4)
The World Bank Group and other donors	270	(15)
Financial institutions	285	(3)
Universities, non-profit research-oriented institutions and NGOs	288	(3)
Conclusions	291	(1)
The Future of Large Dams and the Way Forward	292	(34)
Introduction	292	(1)
The future of large dams	292	(7)
The way forward: Implementing the Seven Strategic Priorities	299	(27)
Notes	326	(13)
References	339	(35)
Index	374