Dams, Hydropower and Infrastructure

This is a Key Question Category and contains key questions related to hydropower, dams and other built infrastructure.

Key Questions in this category include:

• How can consultation and cooperation among stakeholders and development partners be better facilitated/managed/fostered?
• How can government be dis/incentivized to offer an inclusive planning process?
• How can increasing urban water demand be balanced between the needs of the urban population and industry?
• How can mutual trust amongst riparians be nurtured? What actions erode that trust?
• How can packages or options that link issues creatively or build on possible technology innovations be employed to create non-zero sum choices within negotiations that include water resources?
• How do issues of equity and development impact the identification of stakeholders in cases involving hydropower or other revenue generating water infrastructure?
• How do national policies influence water use at the local level?
• How does asymmetry of power influence water negotiations and how can the negative effects be mitigated?
• To what extent can international actors and movements from civil society influence water management? How and when is this beneficial/detrimental and how can these effects be supported/mitigated?
• What approaches are most beneficial for rapidly growing cities in the developing world to link water management to sustainable urban growth strategy?
• What calculations and considerations should be investigated by countries looking to harness additional hydropower? Which potential outcomes should be investigated or identified?
• What considerations can be given to incorporating collaborative adaptive management (CAM)? What efforts have the parties made to review and adjust a solution or decision over time in light of changing conditions?
• What effective mechanisms can downstream riparians use to protect their water related interests/rights?
• What kinds of water treaties or agreements between countries can provide sufficient structure and stability to ensure enforceability but also be flexible and adaptable given future uncertainties?
• What mechanisms beyond simple allocation can be incorporated into transboundary water agreements to add value and facilitate resolution?
• What role can agricultural subsidies play in finding solutions to complex water management problems?
• What role(s) can hydropower play in a nation's energy strategy?
• What roles can desalination play in a country's national water policy and what energy ecological and water quality considerations ought to go into making such a decision?
• What types of benefit sharing models can be used to make desalination more economically feasible and beneficial in water-scarce regions?
• Where does the benefit “flow” from a hydropower project and how does that affect implementation and sustainability of the project?

"Dams, Hydropower and Infrastructure" is not in the list of possible values (Balancing Industries and Sectors, Influence, Leadership and Power, Desalination, Hydropower - Dams - Infrastructure, Transboundary Water Issues, Integration across Sectors, Power and Politics, Technological Innovation, Urban Water Systems and Water Treatment) for this property.