Building Dams in Transboundary Basins: Outlook and Trends

Keywords: transboundary river basins, dams, hydropolitics, water conflict and cooperation
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 22

Abstract

The world is entering a new era of dam building. After a slowdown in the latter half of the 20th Century, dams are currently being built at a higher rate. Many of these dams are being build in international river basins. While some of these dams are being built cooperatively, many others are being built in basins where riparian nations hare not entered into international water agreements. The consequences of dams can strain relationships and create tensions between countries, particularly as impacts are felt downstream. This presentation focuses on an inventory of large dams (over 10 Megawatts of capacity) under construction, planned, or proposed in transboundary river basins as of June 2020. It identifies trends in dam development, dams that have been built, dam projects that have been cancelled, and notable dams built in cooperation and/or conflict. The contents of this database are compared to that of the original 2014 transboundary dam database, which identified over 1,400 dams that were proposed, planned, or under construction in transboundary river basins.