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Dams and Development E-Paper Contents

p. -1 of 74 BACK | NEXT Home Page of Dams and Development Foreword I. Why an e-paper on dams and development? II. Assessing options III. Participatory processes IV. Social impacts V. Environmental impacts VI. Benefit distribution VII. Dam safety and sustainability VIII. Existing projects IX. Improving governance X. What other organizations say XI. ADB, Dams, and Development XII. References Contact Us

International Energy Agency - optimizing regional benefits

The IEA Hydropower Agreement Technical Report on 'Effective of Mitigation Measures' includes a table of measures to optimize regional benefits of hydropower - (Annex III Sub task 6, p92)

• Developing equity-sharing partnership solutions with local and regional institutions. These institutions may become part-owners of the power plant, ensuring direct profits for the region and a voice in the operating decisions.
• Creating an environmental mitigation and enhancement fund, jointly managed by the power plant owners and the local and/or regional institutions.
• Hiring a liaison officer to serve as the link between local communities and the hydropower project.
• Setting up a regional economic development committee between the power plant and the local / regional economic stakeholders (businesses, labor unions, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, etc.) to inform, consult and discuss collaboration possibilities.
• Splitting construction contracts, in order to allow smaller regional companies to bid.
• Encouraging large construction contracts to use local businesses to supply part of the services and/or equipment.
• Preferential hiring of local workers, directly for the construction work and/or for the ancillary services (road maintenance, catering, security, etc.) and indirectly through sub-suppliers.
• Providing training for local workers in order to improve their competence and chances of employment
• The design and implementation of river basin management plans that take into account the water needs of concerned stakeholders, in the reservoir area and downstream.
• Long-term efforts to develop and sustain reservoir fisheries and drawdown agriculture, as well as associated infrastructure and commercial and public services.
• In certain cases, new reservoirs can support such new activities as recreational navigation, sport, fishing or tourism.
• To ensure that project-affected people actually become beneficiaries of new development schemes, training and technical assistance are required, as is the protection of the entry of project-affected people during the early years of such schemes.

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