IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/natres/v25y2001i4p313-320.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From insight to action in reservoir management—lessons from Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Peder Hjorth

Abstract

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has now presented its final report on the problems with large dams. Many dam projects were found to be underperforming, especially those built for irrigation purposes. WCD also reports that many projects fail to meet current standards of social equity. A reallocation of costs and benefits is needed, but entrenched interests make this a difficult task. This article identifies shortcomings in large Asian irrigation projects: why the problems emerged, and what could be done to improve the performance of existing projects. The article argues that Asian irrigation agencies take mainly an engineering perspective, focusing on the dam itself. In a large number of cases, it takes over 10 years for the infrastructure to be installed and for the water to be delivered to the fields of the command area. Agencies need to improve their competence in dealing with social and environmental issues. This article argues that social and economic infrastructure is often inadequate; there is a need for an integrated view of the role of agriculture in development. Furthermore, adaptive management practices and water user participation can often be critical elements. To be successful, participation needs to be gender sensitive, and stakeholders at all income levels need to be consulted. To bridge the gulf between rhetoric and action, there is also a need for independent evaluation of dam projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Peder Hjorth, 2001. "From insight to action in reservoir management—lessons from Asia," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(4), pages 313-320, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:25:y:2001:i:4:p:313-320
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2001.tb00772.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2001.tb00772.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2001.tb00772.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isham, Jonathan & Narayan, Deepa & Pritchett, Lant, 1995. "Does Participation Improve Performance? Establishing Causality with Subjective Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(2), pages 175-200, May.
    2. Bandaragoda, Don Jayatissa, 1999. "Institutional change and shared management of water resources in large canal systems: Results of an action research program in Pakistan," IWMI Research Reports 44579, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Dinar, Ariel & Balakrishnan, Trichur K. & Wambia, Joseph, 1998. "Political economy and political risks of institutional reform in the water sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1987, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rhys Andrews & Malcolm J. Beynon, 2019. "Configurational Analysis of Access to Basic Infrastructure Services: Evidence from Turkish Provinces," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(5), pages 1341-1370, December.
    2. Grootaert, Christiaan, 1999. "Social capital, houshold welfare, and poverty in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2148, The World Bank.
    3. Sawada Yasuyuki & Sugawara Shinya & Shoji Masahiro & Shinkai Naoko, 2014. "The Role of Infrastructure in Mitigating Poverty Dynamics: The Case of an Irrigation Project in Sri Lanka," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 1-28, July.
    4. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence James, 1999. "Explaining child malnutrition in developing countries," FCND discussion papers 60, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Federica VIGANO & Andrea SALUSTRI, 2015. "Matching profit and Non-profit Needs: How NPOs and Cooperative Contribute to Growth in Time of Crisis. A Quantitative Approach," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(1), pages 157-178, March.
    6. Monica Das Gupta, 1999. "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite: Exploring the role of governance in fertility decline," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 1-25.
    7. Deribe Assefa Aga & N. Noorderhaven & B. Vallejo, 2018. "Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: The mediating role of psychological ownership," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(5), pages 527-546, September.
    8. Vallino, Elena & Aldahsev,Gani, 2013. "NGOs and participatory conservation in developing countries: why are there inefficiencies?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201318, University of Turin.
    9. Badolo, Felix & Kinda, Somlanare Romuald, 2012. "Climatic shocks and food security in developing countries," MPRA Paper 43006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Giordano, Meredith A. & Samad, Madar & Namara, Regassa E., 2006. "Assessing the outcomes of IWMI’s research and interventions on irrigation management transfer," IWMI Research Reports 44524, International Water Management Institute.
    11. Arman Vardanyan & Lilit Abrahamyan, 2009. "PRSP Participatory Process in Armenian: Lessoned Learned," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 15(4), pages 737-745, February.
    12. Lapeyre, Frédéric,, 2004. "Globalization and structural adjustment as a development tool," ILO Working Papers 993733873402676, International Labour Organization.
    13. Diao, Xinshen & Roe, Terry L., 1998. "The Effect of Sequencing Trade and Water Market Reform on Interest Groups in Irrigated Agriculture: An Intertemporal Economy-Wide Analysis of the Moroccan Case," Bulletins 7519, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    14. Currie, Carolyn, 2006. "A new theory of financial regulation: Predicting, measuring and preventing financial crises," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 48-71, February.
    15. Hjerppe, Reino, 1998. "Social Capital and Economic Growth," Discussion Papers 183, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Hauke Feil, 2021. "The cancer of corruption and World Bank project performance: Is there a connection?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(3), pages 381-397, May.
    17. Gupta, Sanjeev & Kangur, Alvar & Papageorgiou, Chris & Wane, Abdoul, 2014. "Efficiency-Adjusted Public Capital and Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 164-178.
    18. Pranab Bardhan, 2002. "Decentralization of Governance and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 185-205, Fall.
    19. Haddad, Lawrence & Oshaug, Arne, 1998. "How does the human rights perspective help to shape the food and nutrition policy research agenda?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 329-345, October.
    20. Pranab Bardhan, 2019. "Decentralised development," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 235-253, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:25:y:2001:i:4:p:313-320. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1477-8947 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.