Interdependence in Water Resource Development in the Ganges : An Economic Analysis
It is often argued that the true benefits of water resource development in international river basins are undermined by a lack of consideration of interdependence in water resource planning. Yet it has not been adequately recognized in the water re...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
IWA Publishing
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/03/26048699/interdependence-water-resource-development-ganges-economic-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24121 |
| Summary: | It is often argued that the true
benefits of water resource development in international
river basins are undermined by a lack of consideration of
interdependence in water resource planning. Yet it has not
been adequately recognized in the water resources planning
literature that overestimation of interdependence may also
contribute to lack of progress in cooperation in many
systems. This paper examines the nature and degree of
economic interdependence in new and existing water storage
projects in the Ganges River basin based on analysis
conducted using the Ganges Economic Optimization Model. We
find that constructing large dams on the upstream
tributaries of the Ganges would have much more limited
effects on controlling downstream floods than is thought and
that the benefits of low-flow augmentation delivered by
storage infrastructures are currently low. A better
understanding of actual and prospective effects of
interdependence not only changes the calculus of the
benefits and costs of different scenarios of infrastructure
development, but might also allow riparian countries to move
closer to benefit sharing positions that are mutually acceptable. |
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