Dam planning and construction is notoriously difficult. It is highly complex, involving a multitude of social, environmental, economic and technological questions that often become politicised in the process; negative impacts are often concentrated on small, vulnerable groups within society, while the benefits are typically spread in a much more diffuse pattern; it requires changing riverine ecosystems, often irreversibly so; and it takes a very long time, with often harsh consequences if mistakes are made. These challenges have generated decades of debate around dams and development, yet it is not clear how dam planning and management can be improved. To address this question, the present study used Q methodology to analyse the views of social and environmental researchers on dams in Latin America on the principles that should guide dam development. The Q analysis rendered three idealised viewpoints: The first suggested that defending the rights of vulnerable people should be the main priority, as a counterbalance to the natural bias towards economically and politically powerful actors within the political economy of dam construction. The second implied adoption of a holistic and scientific vision towards dam decision-making and a focus of efforts on perfecting formal procedures and participatory processes to build better dams in the future. The third called into question the need for dams altogether and concentrated attention on invisible and overlooked aspects of dam decision-making, particularly past injustices, and the rights of indigenous communities to determine their own model of development. Each viewpoint represents an alternative vision for future dam planning and clarifies the choices available to policy-makers and development actors. Moreover, viewpoints give insights into the motivations of those who seek to inform debates on dams and development. While they were identified in the context of dam-decision making, our findings may also be relevant to other fields of sustainable development.
Handled by Fabrice Renaud, University of Glasgow School of Interdisciplinary Sciences, UK.
The planning, construction, operation and management of dams present complex challenges that epitomise large development projects more generally. Dams are large engineering structures that are costly and slow to build and require intensive planning across many different agencies and areas of expertise. Both during construction and subsequent operation, dams lie at the heart of extensive networks of infrastructure, for example supply networks of electricity or water. They shape the movements of energy, materials, goods and people (Larkin
Dams can provide various services, such as water storage for urban water supply and irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, flood regulation, reservoir fisheries and recreation. Concern about climate change has fuelled interest in hydropower dams, which may cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel alternatives and can be operated so as to deliver electric energy at peak demand times, unlike solar and wind energies (Erlewein
Yet, dams have a long history of controversy, arising from the considerable social and environmental impacts that may result from their construction and operation. Dams with large reservoirs present particular challenges of resettlement and safeguarding of cultural heritage in newly inundated areas (Hay et al.
Dams can also present a safety risk (Huber et al.
These challenges have generated considerable ongoing debate about the benefits and costs of large dams, dam planning and management, as well as ways to address negative impacts (Schulz and Adams
The WCD’s report marked a hiatus in the funding of large dam projects in the developing world. It undoubtedly heightened global awareness of the social and environmental impacts of dams, and its recommendations were selectively taken up (Schulz and Adams
The twenty-first century expansion of dam construction has focused attention on the methods and processes used to plan, design and operate them. These have evolved, especially where governments and dam engineering companies have adopted the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP,
This paper addresses contemporary thinking among social and environmental researchers with knowledge of dam planning, design, construction and operation of projects and their impacts. We explore what such observers see as priorities for dam design, construction and operation in dam planning. We do this through a case study of the views of such researchers in one of the major dam building regions of the world, Latin America. As in Africa and Asia, Latin America is currently witnessing a resurgence in interest in dams as a source of renewable energy (Athayde et al.
The views of expert observers of dam projects and the debates that swirl about them both reflect and help shape public debate and the views of future generations of dam specialists via teaching in higher education (Le Heron et al.
To investigate the ideas of Latin American dam researchers about dam decision-making, we employed Q methodology, a quali-quantitative method that is suitable to explore subjective views on a given topic (Brown
For the present study, a set of 42 statements was derived from the recommendations about best practices for dam decision-making made by the World Commission on Dams (WCD
The WCD produced 26 guidelines for good practice and 33 associated policy principles, among other, broader recommendations (WCD
Study participants were recruited and interviewed in person at a specialist conference on water management held in Chile in 2019. This was a pragmatic yet powerful strategy to reach a reasonably sized set of knowledgeable experts within a relatively short time-frame (Sandbrook et al.
The conference was attended by more than 250 researchers, practitioners and stakeholders from 15 countries, the vast majority from Latin America. Of these, 21 people with experience of research on dams agreed to participate in the present study, ranging from very senior experts with up to 50 years of professional experience to junior researchers in their mid-20s who attended to present their first major piece of research on dams. They included political ecologists, critical social scientists and interdisciplinary researchers from the Latin American region who specialise in water issues. Typical research interests were inequalities and injustices caused by dam projects, social and environmental impacts of dams, public participation in dam planning, or dam disaster risk management. About half of participants were Brazilian, reflecting Brazil’s importance as a major dam builder in the region, as well as the fact that two special sessions on hydropower dams were organised by Brazilian researchers who thus outnumbered even dam researchers from Chile at the conference. The sample included 8 female and 13 male respondents.
Study participants were interviewed individually in Spanish or Portuguese and asked to rank all WCD-inspired statements about improving dam decision-making according to their personal priorities and opinions, based on their experience with the subject matter. In most cases, responses were informed by respondents’ own previous research, conducted in several Latin American countries. A set of 42 laminated cards was prepared, each with one statement. The interview opened with an initial process of familiarisation with the set of statements, in which respondents expressed their agreement, disagreement or mixed views on each of the 42 cards (but cards were not edited or changed as a result of this process). Respondents were then asked to rank all 42 cards by sorting them into a preconfigured distribution grid (see Fig. Response grid for Q sorting exercise
The grid forced the choice of two top priorities for improving dam decision-making, placed in the + 4 column, three relatively less important priorities under the + 3 column and so on, with statements placed under -4 given the least priority. Crucially, these values only represent relative importance, meaning that respondents do not necessarily disagree with statements with negative values. Positive, negative and mixed views about statements were recorded for each respondent, with the majority agreeing with a relatively large number of statements. Following the completion of the ranking exercise, respondents were asked to reflect on their choices as well as explain their views on individual statements, this way gathering qualitative information beyond the quantitative information captured in the Q sorts.
Each study participant produced one specific configuration of preferences (Q sort) of the statements which reflected their views of current priorities for improving dam decision-making. The resulting 21 individual Q sorts were intercorrelated and subjected to a factor analysis using the PQMethod software package (version 2.35, 2014).
Each of the three extracted factors represents one viewpoint on improving dam decision-making, defined by the way statements were prioritised in the Q sorting exercise. This information is captured in Table
The Q sorts of 11 respondents were significantly associated with this factor, eight of them exclusively so; it explains 21% of the study variance. Top priorities within this factor were the central importance of social dimensions in dam planning as well as the need to ensure recognition for the rights of those affected by dam projects (1, 12). The majority of statements in the top three categories were about the importance of ensuring participation of vulnerable stakeholder groups, including women and indigenous peoples (3, 4, 5, 6, 8). Factor 1 is the only factor that gives high importance to additional support for women (3). One researcher who placed this recommendation in the highest category argued that women are much more aware of the non-monetary impacts of dam construction than men, e.g. on the sense of community that is lost through resettlement or the ecological changes that may impact fishing and small-scale agriculture, making them their primary source of information when visiting communities for research on dam impacts. Another researcher highlighted the need to provide childcare or transport to public hearings to give women the opportunity to participate in dam decision-making processes. A third researcher suggested that patriarchal governance was a major problem in many indigenous communities, similar to the rest of society. Another statement ranked higher in Factor 1 was about maintaining fisheries (30), which one respondent justified with a concern for the subsistence livelihoods of vulnerable rural populations, as well as the social, cultural and economic importance of fishing.
The two statements ranked lowest in Factor 1 were related to the importance of economic and financial factors in dam decision-making (15, 37). Their low ranks were often accompanied by a comment that the main criterion used in dam decision-making in Latin America
Many respondents seemed disillusioned with current regulations and formal procedures for dam planning and design and lacked trust in the capacity of independent institutions to improve dam decision-making (34, 36, 42). One respondent gave very low priority to the principle of making dam-affected people the first beneficiaries (33), arguing that problems of corruption (in this instance in Brazil) would stifle any attempts at realising this idea. Explaining their scepticism about enforcing existing legislation to fight corruption (36) and even suggesting that this may encourage further corruption, a respondent used the expression “hecha la ley, hecha la trampa”, which roughly translates to “every law has its loophole”. Another Brazilian respondent suggested that environmental licensing processes had been significantly weakened under the new Bolsonaro government and that enforcement would thus offer little improvement over the current situation. The same respondent placed comparatively less importance on the involvement of independent institutions (34, 42), suggesting that while in principle this was desirable, they would be incapable of countering the political and economic clout of entrepreneurs and government. Similarly, a senior researcher cited power asymmetries as a principal concern that would invalidate any formal routes towards ‘fixing’ dam decision-making. While it was generally considered important to address existing social issues with dams, one researcher suggested that this should not delay the construction of better new dams, recognising that in principle, dams may provide benefits to society, if only more attention was given to vulnerable people in the process.
The Q sorts of five respondents were significantly associated with Factor 2, three of them exclusively so; it explains 13% of the study variance. The two top priorities within this factor were the need to make negatively affected people the first beneficiaries of dams (33) and to conduct comprehensive ecological studies early on in the dam planning process (25) so that negative environmental impacts could be understood and mitigated as well as possible. Justifying the choice of statement 25 as the first priority, one respondent suggested that “the environment took thousands of years to develop, society did not”. The same respondent further suggested that it was easier to address social impacts than environmental impacts, stating that in principle, “money can buy everything”. Nevertheless, by also ranking statement 33 as a top priority, Factor 2 expressed strong care for dam-affected people as well, seeing them as the only stakeholder group that could legitimately expect differential treatment, as further corroborated by the relatively high importance attributed to considering the risks to different stakeholder groups (2). These rankings may have also captured a preference for dealing with traditional, ‘scientifically measurable’ impacts first (such as numbers of houses flooded, etc.), as opposed to more complex social issues of indigenous rights or gender inequality.
Overall, respondents associated with Factor 2 may have had more faith in the possibility of getting the process right than those who scored highly on the other factors. For example, enforcing existing legislation was given the second-highest importance (36). One respondent justified this choice with the case of the Brumadinho mine tailings dam failure in Brazil in 2019 (Freitas et al.
One respondent described this holistic vision on dam decision-making as “a careful balancing act”, in which neither entrepreneurs, women, nor indigenous peoples should have special rights and in which giving women additional support (3) would violate the principle of gender equality. Similarly, indigenous peoples were considered as important stakeholders, but only if on an equal footing with non-indigenous people, reflected in the low ranking of the importance of the principle of right of free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples (8) in Factor 2. One respondent suggested that giving additional rights to indigenous peoples would expose them to additional risks of manipulation by outside actors such as foreign NGOs due to their lack of information and specialist expertise on dams.
Interestingly, one respondent suggested that including people in participatory processes based on whether their rights had been affected, one of the core tenets of WCD demonstrated the lack of a holistic vision. In their opinion, such a focus on rights would prevent participation from potentially useful outsiders, such as the social and environmental researchers of the kind interviewed for this study, since they would not normally be affected by dam construction. While a holistic approach to planning was popular with most, if not all study participants, only Factor 2 translated this into a rejection of statements that were taken to unduly benefit individual stakeholder groups. The second statement placed in the lowest category was about the need to resolve outstanding issues with existing dams before new dams are developed (32), which was perceived as unfair on well-intentioned dam constructors of the present, who should not be held back by the failures of their predecessors. Rather the merit of each dam project was to be considered on a case by case basis. This suggests that relatively speaking, Factor 2 reflects the most optimistic outlook on the possibility for good dams and that the focus on environmental impacts, dam-affected people and a holistic vision for planning and management should be understood as a ‘scientific’ recipe or pathway towards such ‘good dams’.
The Q sorts of six respondents were significantly associated with this factor, five of them exclusively so; it explains 10% of the study variance. The two top priorities within this factor were the provision of sufficient information to all stakeholder groups (5), a consensus statement (see next section), and resolving outstanding social issues within dam-affected communities before building new dams (32). Further statements given relatively higher importance than in the other factors are also retrospective in nature, e.g. focusing on improving existing infrastructure (16), monitoring the impacts of existing dams (21) and improving operating rules of existing dams (23, 24). One respondent justified the focus on monitoring existing dams by citing cases where dam builders had strategically applied for (more easily obtainable) licenses for small hydropower dams, and then silently expanded their capacity over the longer term, continuously increasing environmental and social impacts as well.
Factor 3 also ranks the possibility of decommissioning dams (22) higher than factors 2 and 1, as well as the idea of having a national policy to maintain some rivers free-flowing (26). Both these statements contrast an idealised undammed past with a possibly dammed future, with one Paraguayan respondent commenting that “the demolition of Itaipu would be an icon for an alternative model of development”. The same respondent only agreed to participate in the study under the condition that their general objection to the construction of new dams would be registered, since these represented a failed model of “development by accumulation”, with humanity having taken a wrong turn 15,000 years ago with the invention of agriculture (said tongue-in-cheek). Similarly, the relatively higher importance given to the rights of indigenous peoples (8) as opposed to women (3) and vulnerable stakeholder groups in general (6), could be construed as idealising a past in which these peoples lived undisturbed by dams, with one respondent calling them “allies for sustainability”.
Factor 3 is the only factor to strongly prioritise the impacts of dams on public health (19), which are placed in the second-highest category. One respondent explained that they felt that dam impacts on public health lacked visibility in public debate and should, therefore, receive additional attention. In this sense, the overall theme behind Factor 3 is a fight for recognition for the ‘forgotten’ issues of dam construction, encompassing both invisible problems and wrongs of the past. This also combines well with the high priority given to the provision of sufficient information to stakeholders (5), which may go some way towards achieving this recognition.
Interestingly, there is a relatively high correlation between Factor 3 and Factor 1, as both give relatively high importance to information (5), the rights of indigenous peoples (8) and recognising the rights of the dam-affected (1). As in Factor 1, Q sorts of Factor 3 demonstrated high scepticism about financial incentives for dam developers (37) and considering economic and financial factors (15), which were placed in the lowest and second-lowest categories respectively.
Unique to Factor 3, however, is the very low priority given to the completion of risk assessments to ensure the inclusion of all stakeholders in dam decision-making (2). This was placed in the lowest category, in stark contrast to the high ranking given to the issue of the rights of affected people. In fact, all but one respondent whose Q sorts were used to assemble Factor 3 registered their disagreement with this recommendation even before beginning the Q sorting exercise. One respondent suggested that a focus on risks would be “undemocratic”, and that dam decision-making should rather focus on ways to ensure effective societal oversight. Another respondent simply commented that it would be “insufficient” to focus on risks for identifying appropriate stakeholders, despite their particular research focus on dam hazards. However, considering overall response patterns within this viewpoint, one may also hypothesise that a retrospective focus on affected rights chimed much better with this group of respondents than the forward-looking focus on risks: it is easier to establish that rights have been affected when a dam has already been built, and the language of risks seems more appropriate for the evaluation of as yet un-built dams, although admittedly neither focus applies exclusively to the past or the future.
Further evidence for this interpretation might be that a relatively large number of statements with a focus on dam planning (as opposed to management and operation) were ranked lower in Factor 3 than in Factors 1 and 2 (6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 30, 31, 35). For example, statement 10 (“Development needs should be identified and all options considered, before a dam is planned and built”) is ranked much lower in Factor 3, perhaps because it does not preclude the construction of a dam, if identified as the best option. One respondent justified disagreement with this statement based on their experience working with indigenous dam-affected communities in Chile. They suggested that such wording is implicitly biased towards the worldview of non-indigenous outsiders seeking to ‘bring development’ to indigenous peoples, whereas indigenous communities may have a completely different understanding of the meaning of the concept of development and should keep their right to autonomous decision-making. An almost fatalist attitude became apparent in a comment made by one respondent who scored highly on Factor 3, after completion of the Q sorting exercise. They suggested that all statements failed to take into account that strategic dam planning de facto takes places among a tiny group of specialists, who may take joint decisions for 200 dams at a time, completely removed from the participatory and research-based spirit of planning that is common to WCD’s recommendations. Overall, it seems fair to suggest that the viewpoint captured by Factor 3 appears as the most sceptical about the future of dams, informed by failures of the past.
Several consensus statements were mentioned in the preceding sections; consensus statements are those that attained a relatively similar ranking across all factors. An example is the necessity of conducting cultural heritage impact assessments (9), which was given strong, but not foremost importance in all three factors. Several respondents commented that “it hurts” not giving it the top priority, reflecting the forced choice nature of the Q methodological set-up. Several respondents further explained that cultural heritage should include the tangible and intangible heritage of the continent’s indigenous peoples, with one suggesting that its insufficient consideration may be a contributing factor to elevated suicide rates e.g. among Canadian indigenous peoples (see also Leenaars
The assessment of net greenhouse gas emissions of dam projects (11) was generally considered a positive, but not a priority. Similarly, most respondents did not consider life cycle assessments of dams to be a priority (17), but did not strongly disagree with the proposition either. Many had moderate doubts about the feasibility of such life cycle assessments though, with one respondent commenting that it would be like “demanding a life cycle assessment for a pyramid” or that it would be “muita bola de cristal” (i.e. “it would require clairvoyance”). “There are dams that will exist until the end of the universe” commented another researcher.
Several statements were ranked low by many respondents. Transboundary issues between countries (39) were generally not considered a top priority, perhaps because dams with transboundary impacts are less common in Latin America than in other world regions (see e.g. Li et al.
Most respondents also gave low priority to resolving dam conflicts via the judicial system (40), either because of a lack of trust or because they felt that this would be a strategy of last resort that should not be prioritised over more constructive and positive approaches that could prevent conflicts.
Few respondents gave priority to the idea of financial incentives for compliance with norms and regulations (37), despite this logic being the main driver behind measures such as Payments for Ecosystem Services. Only one respondent commented that it was “good to reward those who do the right thing”.
Ensuring stakeholder access to information (5) was given very high priority by all respondents, possibly reflecting the fact that all interviewees were researchers, whose work is all about generating information. One respondent whose Q sort was strongly associated with Factors 1 and 2 suggested that bad communication and misinformation was the most common obstacle to effective stakeholder participation and that this statement (5) could serve as an all-encompassing “umbrella concept” that would support all other positive recommendations. Yet, understandings of the role of information may have differed, as information may be interpreted as a vehicle for uncovering past wrongs, overlooked negative impacts and alternative visions for development (Factor 3); for ensuring that the best possible procedure for dam construction is followed (Factor 2); or for the empowerment of vulnerable stakeholder groups against the uncaring forces inherent to the political economy of dam construction (Factor 1). One respondent illustrated this last viewpoint well by giving the example of royalties paid to municipalities affected by the construction of the Itaipu Dam: “as pessoas nem sabem o que são os ‘royalties’” (“people don’t even know what ‘royalties’ are”), using an English term for this particular benefit-sharing mechanism, and as a result, dam-affected people do not participate in decision-making about their potentially beneficial use.
Q methodology is an abductive research method (Watts and Stenner
Factor 2 demonstrates a certain belief in universalism, suggesting that if only the rules of dam decision-making could be perfected, dams will have good effects. It suggests that all stakeholders should be treated equally (except those affected negatively by a dam who should receive preferential treatment). If that is not currently the case, it should be striven for. As noted above, this way of thinking may explain why a respondent might reject the idea of selective free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples. In contrast to this belief in the possibility of universally appropriate procedures, implicit in the very idea of a ‘World Commission on Dams’ (WCD
The discussion about differential rights and support for various stakeholder groups within society also implicitly relates to ideological debates about identity politics and the need (or not) to distinguish between different social groups in political decision-making. Some researchers might be more open to the idea of giving additional support to certain disadvantaged people affected by dams (e.g. women and indigenous peoples), although the debate on identity politics and political ideologies is far from resolved (see, e.g. Fukuyama
On a more existential level, different viewpoints on dam planning, such as the three factors identified in this study, may reflect different levels of optimism or pessimism regarding the possibility of good dams vs. the likelihood of bad dams. This clearly distinguishes Factors 2 and 3, but may also explain differences between Factors 1 and 3, despite the overall critical stance on dam decision-making that they show. The anti-dam vs. pro-dam dimension of the debate, that was used, e.g. to guide the selection of commissioners for the World Commission on Dams (Schulz and Adams
Differences between viewpoints also reflect different positions on time. Thus, Factor 3 is clearly backward-looking, whereas Factors 1 and 2 emphasise proactive engagement to improve future dam decision-making procedures. While all respond to the question: “what needs to be done?” the difference in vision and outlook is obvious, as proposed responses tackle different stages of the dam life cycle. Particularly the difference between fixing the dam planning process and fixing badly built dams is striking. Attending to distinct temporalities may often be an entry point into exploring difference (Laurie and Baillie Smith
However, it is also possible that the emphasis on different parts of the planning cycle simply acts as a disguise for preferences for or against the construction of new dams. This interpretation is suggested by the way in which dam industry representatives have in the past described the WCD’s specific guidelines on addressing existing dams as “highly unrealistic” compared to industry-formulated guidelines (Gagnon et al.
The question of the balance to be struck between the consideration of development project impacts on people and on the non-human environment is central to thinking about dam construction. Respondents whose Q sorts were used to assemble Factor 1 tended to rate people first (which they often mentioned themselves to explain their overall response patterns) and sometimes considered ecological issues such as impacts on fish and fishing only in terms of their social and cultural importance. In contrast, a respondent whose Q sort was strongly associated with Factor 3 suggested that despite its social and cultural importance, the impacts of fishing should be evaluated critically on a case by case basis, and where it harms the natural environment, it should be discouraged. Factor 2 gave relatively higher importance to environmental factors, although not at the expense of humans altogether. In this sense, our findings may relate to debates about ecocentrism vs. anthropocentrism in environmental management (e.g. Kortenkamp and Moore
Yet, previous research on human values has shown that concern for the environment often goes along with concern for social issues and people (Kortenkamp and Moore
While only one respondent rated financial incentives for dam developers favourably, questions of political economy nevertheless had a significant impact on response patterns. Some respondents thought that the good design of participatory processes could eventually overcome the pressures of a political economy heavily stacked in favour of dam developers (Factor 2), whereas others were less convinced and instead sought to maximise support to the victims of a strongly unequal power distribution either to benefit from dams that would inevitably be built (Factor 1) or to fight back and resist against a failed model of development (Factor 3).
Many political ecologists and critical social scientists reject capitalism or the application of capitalist logics to environmental governance (e.g. Corson et al.
As expressed in the name given to Factor 2, some respondents may have preferred an approach to dam decision-making that might give stronger preference to (natural) scientific methods, measuring direct and tangible impacts on people and the environment and mitigating them ‘rationally’. In this sense, differences in viewpoints may be related to different disciplinary backgrounds, and the ‘two cultures problem’ between the natural and social sciences more broadly, which may translate into different methodological preferences, among others (Adams
Some have argued that familiarity with dams may impact one’s attitudes towards them (Sousa et al
Indeed many respondents commented on the disjointed nature of ranking individual statements, when what was needed was an integrative vision that would combine social, environmental, economic and technological considerations. In response, many advocated social–ecological systems thinking (see, e.g. Roquetti et al.
In this study, we have sought to explore the views of social and environmental researchers on dam planning, construction and management in Latin America. While there is a shared understanding that improvements are necessary, priorities for improvements differ. Using Q methodological techniques and a set of policy recommendations inspired by those originally made by the World Commission on Dams (WCD
Our presentation of three different factors represents one conceptual lens to understand different viewpoints within dam planning and construction from a social and environmental perspective, but evidently, they simplify the debate, and other configurations are conceivable. Our analysis suggests that researchers may differ with regards to: (1) their preferences for designing universally applicable rules vs. attending to the local particularities of individual dams and different social groups; (2) their optimism vs. pessimism about the possibility of improving decision-making procedures; (3) their outlook on time, i.e. whether tackling failures of the past should take precedence over improving procedures for designing future dams or not; (4) how impacts on people vs. impacts on the non-human environment should be handled; (5) whether they prefer to use or to critique/reject economic logics in dam planning and assessment; and (6) whether they apply social scientific or scientific methods in assessing dam projects.
Thus, 20 years after the World Commission on Dams made recommendations for the improvement of dam decision-making, there is no consensus on how to move forward, even if overall, these recommendations still resonate with today’s social and environmental dam research community. Beyond dam planning, the identified viewpoints may also represent more general visions for sustainable development, capturing alternative choices that can be made in the field. In this sense, our study shines a light on the motivations of those who seek to inform sustainable development debates and outlines potential pathways forward.
The authors would like to thank the participants of this study for generously sharing their time and insights on dam decision-making. Further thanks are due to the organisers of the Xth International Meeting of the WATERLAT-GOBACIT network at the University of Concepción, Chile, for logistical support, Patricia Concha Galaz for help in implementing this study, and Chris Sandbrook and Annette Green for methodological advice. This work was funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, Economic and Social Research Council, UK, as part of the FutureDAMS project (grant no. ES/P011373/1).
See Tables Rotated factor matrix; Q sorts in bold indicate a defining sort; values above 0.38 indicate significance level of Q sort Loadings Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 1 0.5227 0.2020 0.4633 2 0.2931 0.0133 3 0.0327 0.2833 4 0.2780 0.3055 5 0.2088 0.1106 6 − 0.0552 0.1081 7 0.2050 0.3677 0.2447 8 0.6069 0.5838 0.1111 9 0.2681 0.1562 10 0.2217 0.1548 11 0.2726 0.2252 12 0.2918 − 0.0451 0.3408 13 0.1447 0.0383 14 − 0.1044 − 0.0951 15 − 0.0366 0.2046 16 0.5212 0.4295 0.0627 17 0.2665 − 0.0897 18 − 0.0919 − 0.0491 19 − 0.3129 0.2718 20 − 0.0835 0.1692 21 − 0.0467 − 0.0118 Factor arrays with z-scores for the three factors Statement Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Rank Z-score Rank Z-score Rank Z-score 1 A recognition of rights affected should be the basis for the inclusion of stakeholders in dam decision-making 4 1.66 − − 3 1.17 2 An assessment of risks should determine the inclusion of stakeholders in dam decision-making − − 3 Women should be given additional support to participate in dam decision-making − 3 − 1.91 -3 − 1.29 4 Indigenous groups should receive additional support to participate in dam decision-making 2 1.01 − 1 0.74 6 Vulnerable stakeholder groups should be given legal support to participate in dam decision-making 1 0.70 1 0.60 7 Dam planning should integrate all relevant stakeholder groups via negotiated agreements at key decision points 0 0.23 0 0.17 8 Dams should only be built with the free, prior and informed consent of affected indigenous peoples 3 1.37 − − 3 1.20 − 10 Development needs should be identified and all options considered, before a dam is planned and built 2 0.86 2 0.96 − − − − − − − − 12 Social aspects should be given primary significance in assessing dams and alternative options 0 0.13 − 1 − 0.18 13 Environmental aspects should be given primary significance in assessing dams and alternative options − 1 -0.38 − 2 − 0.63 14 Technical aspects should be given primary significance in assessing dams and alternative options − − − − − 15 Economic and financial factors should be given primary significance in assessing dams and alternative options − 4 -2.40 − − − 3 -1.93 16 Improving existing water systems should be prioritised in the assessment of options − 1 -0.48 − 2 − 0.55 − − − − 18 Dam planning should always include an analysis of direct and indirect distributional impacts 1 0.56 2 0.78 − − 19 All dam projects should be assessed for their public health impacts 1 0.46 0 − 0.16 − − − 21 The impacts of existing dams should be monitored and reviewed periodically − − 1 0.28 2 0.88 22 Dams should be decommissioned if they no longer provide sufficient benefits − 3 − 1.23 − 2 − 0.70 0 − 0.02 − − − − 24 Operating rules of existing dams should be improved to address social concerns -2 − 0.83 − 1 − 0.52 − 1 − 0.07 25 River ecosystems should be fully understood before any dam or development planning begins 2 0.89 2 0.95 26 There should be a national policy to maintain selected rivers with high ecological value in their natural state − − − − 28 Large dams should release environmental flows to maintain downstream ecosystems 0 0.02 0 0.14 29 Large dams should release environmental flows to maintain downstream livelihoods 0 − 0.15 0 0.03 30 Dam planning should ensure that fisheries will be maintained − 32 Outstanding social issues within dam-affected communities should be resolved before new dams are built − 33 Negatively affected people should be the first beneficiaries of dam projects via benefit-sharing mechanisms 0 0.09 1 0.41 34 An independent review of constructors’ and financers’ compliance with laws and regulations should be mandatory in all dam projects − − 1 0.26 2 0.87 35 All dam projects should include a budget for compliance costs 0 0.09 1 0.21 − − 36 Existing legislation should be enforced consistently to combat corruption − − 3 1.33 2 1.02 37 There should be financial incentives for dam proponents who respect laws and regulations − 4 − 2.43 − − − 4 − 2.80 − − − − − − − − − 40 Conflicts around dams should be resolved by the judicial system − 3 − 1.00 − − − 2 − 0.74 − 42 Conflicts around dams should be resolved by independent institutions − − 0 0.12 1 0.28 Distinguishing statements are marked in bold (**significance level of
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