hidden
Image Database Export Citations

Menu:

Lost in Development's Shadow: The Downstream Human Consequences of Dams

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Richter, Brian D.
dc.contributor.author Postel, Sandra
dc.contributor.author Revenga, Carmen
dc.contributor.author Scudder, Thayer
dc.contributor.author Lehner, Bernhard
dc.contributor.author Churchill, Allegra
dc.contributor.author Chow, Morgan
dc.date.accessioned 2010-12-21T20:20:15Z
dc.date.available 2010-12-21T20:20:15Z
dc.date.issued 2010 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/6634
dc.description.abstract "The World Commission on Dams (WCD) report documented a number of social and environmental problems observed in dam development projects. The WCD gave particular emphasis to the challenges of properly resettling populations physically displaced by dams, and estimated the total number of people directly displaced at 40-80 million. Less attention has been given, however, to populations living downstream of dams whose livelihoods have been affected by dam-induced alterations of river flows. By substantially changing natural flow patterns and blocking movements of fish and other animals, large dams can severely disrupt natural riverine production systems – especially fisheries, flood-recession agriculture and dry-season grazing. We offer here the first global estimate of the number of river-dependent people potentially affected by dam-induced changes in river flows and other ecosystem conditions. Our conservative estimate of 472 million river-dependent people living downstream of large dams along impacted river reaches lends urgency to the need for more comprehensive assessments of dam costs and benefits, as well as to the social inequities between dam beneficiaries and those potentially disadvantaged by dam projects. We conclude with three key steps in dam development processes that could substantially alleviate the damaging downstream impacts of dams." en_US
dc.language English en_US
dc.subject dams en_US
dc.subject rivers en_US
dc.subject poverty alleviation en_US
dc.subject fisheries en_US
dc.subject flood management en_US
dc.subject agriculture en_US
dc.subject food supply en_US
dc.subject water resources en_US
dc.subject environmental services en_US
dc.title Lost in Development's Shadow: The Downstream Human Consequences of Dams en_US
dc.type Journal Article en_US
dc.type.published published en_US
dc.type.methodology Case Study en_US
dc.subject.sector Water Resource & Irrigation en_US
dc.identifier.citationjournal Water Alternatives en_US
dc.identifier.citationvolume 3 en_US
dc.identifier.citationpages 14-42 en_US
dc.identifier.citationnumber 2 en_US


Files in this item

Files Size Format View
Lost in Develop ... w The Downstream Human.pdf 1.253Mb PDF View/Open

This item appears in the following document type(s)

Show simple item record