| Environment


of transboundary cooperation and timely sharing of reservoir operations data only exacerbated the downstream flood management challenges in Ghana. A similar case in point is in the upper Indus basin between India (upstream) and Pakistan (downstream) where the downstream Mangla Dam of Pakistan on the Jhelum River is often forced to spill large amounts of water due to unexpected transboundary release from India. As seen from these recent historical events, there appears to be an increasing trend, albeit unverified, where hydropower dams appear ‘flood-inducing’ in many places. At the same time, global sustainability strategies aimed at decarbonising the energy sector are driving international calls for an annual expansion in hydropower capacity at a rate of 2% (IHA, 2022). In a changing climate where precipitation patterns are becoming more variable and extreme and reservoirs are constantly losing storage due to sedimentation, it is therefore timely to re-examine hydropower dams of the developing world and ask if they are making some of the regions more flood prone. Since more than one-third of the global population lives within 50km of major hydropower dams (Fan et al., 2022), understanding the dynamics between hydropower expansion and flood risks is timely not only for planning future hydropower projects but also for policy making to protect downstream communities from potential flood hazards and catastrophic loss of life.


Holistic approach Ultimately, the future of hydropower must involve


a holistic approach that addresses its dual roles in energy production and flood control. By


References


Abass, K., Dumedah, G., Frempong, F., 2022. Understanding the physical and human contexts of fluvial floods in rural Ghana. International Journal of River Basin Management, 20(2), pp.141-152. https://doi.org/10.108 0/15715124.2019.1653310


Fan, P., Cho, M.S., Lin, Z., Ouyang, Z., Qi, J., Chen, J., Moran, E.F., 2022. Recently constructed hydropower dams were associated with reduced economic production, population, and greenness in nearby areas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(8), p.e2108038119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2108038119


Gale, E.L., Saunders, M.A., 2013. The 2011 Thailand flood: climate causes and return periods. Weather, 68(9), pp.233-237, https://doi. org/10.1002/wea.2133


IEA., 2020. Key World Energy Statistics 2020, IEA, Paris, Retrieved January 11, 2025 from https://www.iea.org/reports/key-world-energy- statistics-2020, Licence: CC BY 4.0


International Hydropower Association (IHA)., 2022. Hydropower Status Report 2022, Retrieved January 11, 2025 from https://www. hydropower.org/publications/2022-hydropower-status-report


Kundu, B. S., Mothikumar, K. E., 1995. Mapping and management of flood-affected areas through remote sensing a case study of Sirsa district, Haryana, Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 23(3), pp. 139–146, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02995701


Lehner, B., C. Reidy Liermann, C. Revenga, C. Vörösmarty, B. Fekete, P. Crouzet, P. Döll, M. Endejan, K. Frenken, J. Magome, C. Nilsson, J.C. Robertson, R. Rodel, N. Sindorf, D. Wisser. 2011. High-resolution mapping of the world’s reservoirs and dams for sustainable river-flow management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9 (9): pp 494- 502, https://doi.org/10.1890/100125


Loc, H.H., Emadzadeh, A., Park, E., Nontikansak, P. and Deo, R.C., 2023. The Great 2011 Thailand flood disaster revisited: Could it have been mitigated by different dam operations based on better weather forecasts?. Environmental research, 216, p.114493, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114493


Poaponsakorn, N., Meethom, P. and Pantakua, K., 2014. The impact of the 2011 floods, and flood management on Thai households. In Resilience and recovery in Asian disasters: Community ties, market mechanisms, and governance, Tokyo: Springer Japan, pp. 75-104, https://doi. org/10.1007/978-4-431-55022-8_5


Pramanick, N., Acharyya, R., Mukherjee, S., Mukherjee, S., Pal, I., Mitra, D., Mukhopadhyay, A., 2022. SAR based flood risk analysis: A case study Kerala flood 2018, Advances in Space Research, 69(4), pp. 1915–1929, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ASR.2021.07.003.


Sudheer, K. P., Bhallamudi, S. M., Narasimhan, B., Thomas, J., Bindhu, V. M., Vema, V., Kurian, C.,2019. Role of dams on the floods of August 2018 in Periyar River Basin, Kerala, Current Science, 116, pp. 780-794, https:// doi.org/10.18520/cs/v116/i5/780-794.


Suresh, S. F. Hossain, S. Minocha, P. Das, S. Khan, H. Lee, K. Andreadis, Perry Oddo., 2024. Satellite-based Tracking of Reservoir Operations for Flood Management during the 2018 Extreme Weather Event in Kerala, India, Remote Sensing of the Environment, vol. 307, 114149, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114149


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combining robust policy frameworks, technological innovations, and interdisciplinary research, the sustainable management of hydropower dams should be explored, ensuring they continue to benefit communities, while minimising flood risks in downstream regions and ecosystems. If hydropower dams are causing more floods downstream than mitigating them in many developing regions of the world, then the price of development may become too much to pay for access to energy. We call for a paradigm shift in hydropower planning and management, emphasising the integration of adaptive flood risk mitigation into energy production strategies while also adapting to anticipated changes in climate and land cover with a robust sedimentation management strategy during the dam’s service lifespan.


Above: Figure 2. Growth of total hydropower generated (TWh) from 1975 to 2018 by region (IEA 2020). Developed countries such as those that are part of OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) have experienced slower growth, especially in the past decade


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Total hydropower generated (TWh)


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