IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg/v46y2015i5p1080-1105.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The People and their River, the World Bank and its Dam: Revisiting the Xe Bang Fai River in Laos

Author

Listed:
  • Ian G. Baird
  • Bruce P. Shoemaker
  • Kanokwan Manorom

Abstract

type="main"> Sustained criticism in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in a decline of World Bank funding for large hydropower dams. The Bank subsequently participated in the World Commission on Dams process, which set higher global standards for hydropower dams. In 2005, the World Bank agreed to support the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project (NT2) in Laos, and in 2010 NT2 began diverting water from the Theun River into the Xe Bang Fai River. The World Bank has promoted NT2 as a successful model of poverty alleviation, justifying support for other large dams. Assessing actual impacts and associated mitigation and compensation is thus timely. This article presents qualitative field research from early 2014 about the downstream impacts of NT2 in the Xe Bang Fai River basin and a description and analysis of efforts to compensate for losses. The authors consider the situation with the assistance of baseline data collected in 2001, before project approval. Findings suggest that NT2 has had a significant negative impact, including on the livelihoods of large numbers of people dependent on the river's resources. Many of those impacted view compensation and mitigation efforts as having failed to adequately address their losses. Further independent investigation and documentation are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian G. Baird & Bruce P. Shoemaker & Kanokwan Manorom, 2015. "The People and their River, the World Bank and its Dam: Revisiting the Xe Bang Fai River in Laos," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(5), pages 1080-1105, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:46:y:2015:i:5:p:1080-1105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/dech.12186
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mirumachi, Naho & Torriti, Jacopo, 2012. "The use of public participation and economic appraisal for public involvement in large-scale hydropower projects: Case study of the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 125-132.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Phouvong Phami & Jianhua He & Dianfeng Liu & Su Ding & Patrik Silva & Chun Li & Zhijiao Qin, 2020. "Exploring the Determinants of Food Security in the Areas of the Nam Theun2 Hydropower Project in Khammuan, Laos," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, January.
    2. D’Souza Amabel & Brenda Parlee, 2020. "Fishing Livelihoods and Diversifications in the Mekong River Basin in the Context of the Pak Mun Dam, Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Güneş Murat Tezcür & Rebecca Schiel & Bruce M. Wilson, 2021. "The Effectiveness of Harnessing Human Rights: The Struggle over the Ilısu Dam in Turkey," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(6), pages 1343-1369, November.
    4. Diana Suhardiman & Jonathan Rigg, 2021. "Aspirations undone: hydropower and the (re) shaping of livelihood pathways in Northern Laos," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 963-973, December.
    5. Barnaby Joseph Dye, 2020. "Continuity or Change in the Infrastructure Turn? Reform of the Technicians’ Realm in a World Bank Dam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(3), pages 627-651, July.
    6. Mayeda, A.M. & Boyd, A.D., 2020. "Factors influencing public perceptions of hydropower projects: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Annys, Sofie & Van Passel, Steven & Dessein, Joost & Adgo, Enyew & Nyssen, Jan, 2020. "From fast-track implementation to livelihood deterioration: The dam-based Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project in Northwest Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    8. Andrea Schapper & Christine Unrau & Sarah Killoh, 2020. "Social mobilization against large hydroelectric dams: A comparison of Ethiopia, Brazil, and Panama," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 413-423, March.
    9. Kirchherr, Julian & Matthews, Nathanial & Charles, Katrina J. & Walton, Matthew J., 2017. "“Learning it the Hard Way”: Social safeguards norms in Chinese-led dam projects in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 529-539.
    10. Kirchherr, Julian & Ahrenshop, Mats-Philip & Charles, Katrina, 2019. "Resettlement lies: Suggestive evidence from 29 large dam projects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 208-219.
    11. Oulavanh Keovilignavong & Diana Suhardiman, 2018. "Characterizing private investments and implications for poverty reduction and natural resource management in Laos," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 341-359, March.
    12. Ana Paula Coelho Clauberg & Renato de Mello & Flávio José Simioni & Simone Sehnem, 2021. "System for assessing the sustainability conditions of small hydro plants by fuzzy logic," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 300-317, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McCauley, Darren & Pettigrew, Kerry, 2023. "Building a just transition in asia-pacific: Four strategies for reducing fossil fuel dependence and investing in clean energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Yu, Bing & Xu, Linyu, 2016. "Review of ecological compensation in hydropower development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 729-738.
    3. Fadzilah Majid Cooke & Johan Nordensvard & Gusni Bin Saat & Frauke Urban & Giuseppina Siciliano, 2017. "The Limits of Social Protection: The Case of Hydropower Dams and Indigenous Peoples' Land," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 437-450, September.
    4. Frauke Urban & Johan Nordensvard & Giuseppina Siciliano & Bingqin Li, 2015. "Chinese Overseas Hydropower Dams and Social Sustainability: The Bui Dam in Ghana and the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 573-589, September.
    5. A. S. Puryaev, 2018. "Non-economic Characteristics for the Accounting in Projects’ Appraisal," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 177-187.
    6. Siciliano, Giuseppina & Urban, Frauke & Kim, Sour & Dara Lonn, Pich, 2015. "Hydropower, social priorities and the rural–urban development divide: The case of large dams in Cambodia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 273-285.
    7. Kyophilavong, Phouphet & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Kim, Byoungki & OH, Jeong-Soo, 2017. "A note on the electricity-growth nexus in Lao PDR," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1251-1260.
    8. Jenkins, Kirsten & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & McCauley, Darren, 2018. "Humanizing sociotechnical transitions through energy justice: An ethical framework for global transformative change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 66-74.
    9. Rana Pratap Singh & Hans Peter Nachtnebel & Nadejda Komendantova, 2020. "Deployment of Hydropower in Nepal: Multiple Stakeholders’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Sarrica, Mauro & Biddau, Fulvio & Brondi, Sonia & Cottone, Paolo & Mazzara, Bruno M., 2018. "A multi-scale examination of public discourse on energy sustainability in Italy: Empirical evidence and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 444-454.
    11. Andrea K. Chareunsy, 2015. "Is there a Pareto solution to the misaligned incentives and competing objectives of water grabbing in the Lao PDR?," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 29(2), pages 85-96, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:46:y:2015:i:5:p:1080-1105. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0012-155X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.