©EAWAG, last update 8.3.2001, Eliane Scharmin, back to top
Dams and Reservoirs
worldwide
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| Iron Gate I reservoir (Romania) |
The controversies about large-scale projects, such as river damming, often lead to political tension and social problems. Our approach is to generate tools, which allow to model scenarios, and their implications in a transparent and adaptive way, which form the base for an open, transparent and participative decision making process and dialogue with governments, other responsible stakeholders, planers and NGOs. Such an approach forms also the base for estimating the true costs of river damming. The tool-oriented approach is also very important for international waters in respect to transboundary water management. Resolving the conflicts related to dams has a world-wide dimension: the World Commission on Dams recently presented their final report, containing a set of guidelines, which could be used to establish an international recognised "good practice code". Dam building in developing and transitional countries is a matter of concern for Switzerland as Swiss planning and engineering companies are often directly involved in dam building activities and the Swiss government is indirectly involved through export risk guarantees.
Seminar for Doctoral Students at ETH Zurich: Sustainable Management of International Rivers. A case-study of the Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey.