Neglected Values of Major Water Engineering Projects: Ecosystem Services, Social Impacts, and Economic Valuation

Abstract

Major water infrastructure projects like dams can provide substantial benefits such as food and drinking water security, hydropower generation, and flood control. But these benefits 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 efficient. In this chapter, we will stress the necessity to make these “neglected values” visible and demonstrate how this can be achieved through economic valuation.