Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules
New dams impact downstream ecosystems and water infrastructure; without cooperative and adaptive management, negative impacts can manifest. In large complex transboundary river basins without well codified operating rules and extensive historical data, it can be difficult to assess the benefits of c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115754 |
| _version_ | 1855528860352774144 |
|---|---|
| author | Gonzalez, J. M. Matrosov, E. S. Obuobie, E. Mul, M. Pettinotti, L. Gebrechorkos, S. H. Sheffield, J. Bottacin-Busolin, A. Dalton, J. Smith, Mark Harou, Julien J. |
| author_browse | Bottacin-Busolin, A. Dalton, J. Gebrechorkos, S. H. Gonzalez, J. M. Harou, Julien J. Matrosov, E. S. Mul, M. Obuobie, E. Pettinotti, L. Sheffield, J. Smith, Mark |
| author_facet | Gonzalez, J. M. Matrosov, E. S. Obuobie, E. Mul, M. Pettinotti, L. Gebrechorkos, S. H. Sheffield, J. Bottacin-Busolin, A. Dalton, J. Smith, Mark Harou, Julien J. |
| author_sort | Gonzalez, J. M. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | New dams impact downstream ecosystems and water infrastructure; without cooperative and adaptive management, negative impacts can manifest. In large complex transboundary river basins without well codified operating rules and extensive historical data, it can be difficult to assess the benefits of cooperating, in particular in relation to new dams. This constitutes a barrier to harmonious development of river basins and could contribute to water conflict. This study proposes a generalised framework to assess the benefits of cooperation on the management of new dams in water resource systems that do not have formal sharing arrangements. Benefits are estimated via multi-criteria comparison of historical reservoir operations (usually relatively uncooperative) vs. adopting new cooperative rules which would achieve the best results for riparian countries as evaluated by a water resources simulator and its performance metrics. The approach is applied to the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam (PMD), which is being built in Ghana in the Volta river basin. The PMD could impact downstream ecosystems and infrastructure in Ghana and could itself be impacted by how the existing upstream Bagre Dam is managed in Burkina Faso. Results show that with cooperation Ghana and Burkina Faso could both increase energy production although some ecosystem services loss would need to be mitigated. The study confirms that cooperative rules achieve higher overall benefits compared to seeking benefits only for individual dams or countries. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace115754 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| publisherStr | Frontiers Media |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1157542025-12-02T10:59:51Z Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules Gonzalez, J. M. Matrosov, E. S. Obuobie, E. Mul, M. Pettinotti, L. Gebrechorkos, S. H. Sheffield, J. Bottacin-Busolin, A. Dalton, J. Smith, Mark Harou, Julien J. dams international waters water systems international cooperation infrastructure river basins reservoir operation water policies hydropower ecosystem services environmental flows irrigation simulation models New dams impact downstream ecosystems and water infrastructure; without cooperative and adaptive management, negative impacts can manifest. In large complex transboundary river basins without well codified operating rules and extensive historical data, it can be difficult to assess the benefits of cooperating, in particular in relation to new dams. This constitutes a barrier to harmonious development of river basins and could contribute to water conflict. This study proposes a generalised framework to assess the benefits of cooperation on the management of new dams in water resource systems that do not have formal sharing arrangements. Benefits are estimated via multi-criteria comparison of historical reservoir operations (usually relatively uncooperative) vs. adopting new cooperative rules which would achieve the best results for riparian countries as evaluated by a water resources simulator and its performance metrics. The approach is applied to the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam (PMD), which is being built in Ghana in the Volta river basin. The PMD could impact downstream ecosystems and infrastructure in Ghana and could itself be impacted by how the existing upstream Bagre Dam is managed in Burkina Faso. Results show that with cooperation Ghana and Burkina Faso could both increase energy production although some ecosystem services loss would need to be mitigated. The study confirms that cooperative rules achieve higher overall benefits compared to seeking benefits only for individual dams or countries. 2021-05-07 2021-10-31T19:39:57Z 2021-10-31T19:39:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115754 en Open Access Frontiers Media Gonzalez, J. M.; Matrosov, E. S.; Obuobie, E.; Mul, M.; Pettinotti, L.; Gebrechorkos, S. H.; Sheffield, J.; Bottacin-Busolin, A.; Dalton, J.; Smith, D. Mark; Harou, J. J. 2021. Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 9:596612. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.596612] |
| spellingShingle | dams international waters water systems international cooperation infrastructure river basins reservoir operation water policies hydropower ecosystem services environmental flows irrigation simulation models Gonzalez, J. M. Matrosov, E. S. Obuobie, E. Mul, M. Pettinotti, L. Gebrechorkos, S. H. Sheffield, J. Bottacin-Busolin, A. Dalton, J. Smith, Mark Harou, Julien J. Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title | Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title_full | Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title_short | Quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| title_sort | quantifying cooperation benefits for new dams in transboundary water systems without formal operating rules |
| topic | dams international waters water systems international cooperation infrastructure river basins reservoir operation water policies hydropower ecosystem services environmental flows irrigation simulation models |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115754 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gonzalezjm quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT matrosoves quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT obuobiee quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT mulm quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT pettinottil quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT gebrechorkossh quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT sheffieldj quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT bottacinbusolina quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT daltonj quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT smithmark quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules AT haroujulienj quantifyingcooperationbenefitsfornewdamsintransboundarywatersystemswithoutformaloperatingrules |