65
© The Author(s) 2016
R.F. Hüttl et al. (eds.), Society - Water - Technology, Water Resources
Development and Management, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-18971-0_5
Chapter 5
Neglected Values of Major Water Engineering
Projects: Ecosystem Services, Social Impacts,
and Economic Valuation
Bernd Hansjürgens , Nils Droste , and Klement Tockner
Abstract Major water infrastructure projects like dams can provide substantial
benefi ts such as food and drinking water security, hydropower generation, and fl ood
control. But these benefi ts may come at a (too) high cost of large scale ecological
alterations or adverse social impacts such as involuntary resettlements. If these costs
are neglected, an investment decision will hardly be effi cient. In this chapter, we
will stress the necessity to make these “neglected values” visible and demonstrate
how this can be achieved through economic valuation.
Keywords Major water engineering projects • Dams • Ecosystem services • Social
impacts • Economic valuation • Ecological trade-offs • Distributional impacts •
World Commission on Dams • Benefi ts • Costs
B. Hansjürgens (*)
Department of Economics , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research – UFZ , Permoserstraße 13 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
e-mail: bernd.hansjuergens@ufz.de
N. Droste
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ ,
Permoserstraße 13 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
K. Tockner
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) ,
Müggelseedamm 310 , 12587 Berlin , Germany
Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy , Freie Universität Berlin ,
Altensteinstraße 6 , 14195 Berlin , Germany
e-mail: tockner@ibg-berlin.de
© The Author(s) 2016
R.F. Hüttl et al. (eds.), Society - Water - Technology, Water Resources
Development and Management, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-18971-0_5
Chapter 5
Neglected Values of Major Water Engineering
Projects: Ecosystem Services, Social Impacts,
and Economic Valuation
Bernd Hansjürgens , Nils Droste , and Klement Tockner
Abstract Major water infrastructure projects like dams can provide substantial
benefi ts such as food and drinking water security, hydropower generation, and fl ood
control. But these benefi ts may come at a (too) high cost of large scale ecological
alterations or adverse social impacts such as involuntary resettlements. If these costs
are neglected, an investment decision will hardly be effi cient. In this chapter, we
will stress the necessity to make these “neglected values” visible and demonstrate
how this can be achieved through economic valuation.
Keywords Major water engineering projects • Dams • Ecosystem services • Social
impacts • Economic valuation • Ecological trade-offs • Distributional impacts •
World Commission on Dams • Benefi ts • Costs
B. Hansjürgens (*)
Department of Economics , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental
Research – UFZ , Permoserstraße 13 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
e-mail: bernd.hansjuergens@ufz.de
N. Droste
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ ,
Permoserstraße 13 , 04318 Leipzig , Germany
K. Tockner
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) ,
Müggelseedamm 310 , 12587 Berlin , Germany
Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy , Freie Universität Berlin ,
Altensteinstraße 6 , 14195 Berlin , Germany
e-mail: tockner@ibg-berlin.de