Crosscheck Survey Review
Terms of Reference for Reviewers
Updated 18 April 2000

1. Objectives of Review

• To ensure a wider diversity of information sources accessed.
• To invite divergent perspectives on areas of contention or dispute in the questionnaire being reviewed.
• To validate or verify quantitative data input.
• To provide an overall qualitative assurance of the data contained in the questionnaire.

2. Scope of Work

For purposes of review, focus on areas for which you have a competitive advantage in terms of information sources (ie. to which the original contributor is unlikely to have access). In addition, focus on potential areas of dispute or contention regarding the performance, impacts or decision-making aspects of the dam project. We are not asking for a comprehensive filling out of all fields in the questionnaire but rather your assistance in reviewing the KEY data fields and filling these in where they are blank.

2.1 Data Collection Procedure

Two data collection questionnaires have been developed by the Secretariat for the dams in the crosscheck survey. These crosscheck survey sheets consist of a main and a supplementary questionnaire primarily focused on questions that will yield:

a) predicted versus actual measures of benefits, costs and impacts of dams
b) descriptive parameters mainly related to decision-making of dams.

Consistency of results will be increased because the standardised data-collection questionnaire sheets will be employed for all dams. However, it is likely that not all data will be available for all dams.

2.2 Data Sources

The approach for developing the data records for the cross-check dams will include research of published reports and secondary data sources available in the public domain.

• dam operators and utilities
• key government departments responsible for the project (e.g. Ministry / Department of Irrigation / Power of State or National government; or appropriate river basin development authority)
• local institutions/universities that may have conducted research on the dam
• local NGO's/networks working on dams at the state / national level
• NGO's/networks with a regional and/or international focus on dams issues
• industrial/engineering firms with international experience and involvement in dams (with permission of the host country)
• multilateral and bilateral agencies for data on large dams available with them
• international professional associations (ICOLD, ICID, IHA, IEA) with access to data.

NB: All sources accessed must be referenced at the end of the questionnaire under each relevant category provided where data was input. A data source matrix, including the suggested sources above, must be filled in by all reviewers and submitted together with the questionnaires.

3. Submissions

Reviews must be submitted to the WCD Secretariat in South Africa marked, Att: Christopher Clarke, Crosscheck Survey Review by no later than 15 May 2000. The questionnaires can be submitted in the following formats:

1. Electronically, by filling in the MS Excel spreadsheet of the main questionnaire and the MS Word document of the supplementary questionnaire and e-mailing as attachments to cclarke@dams.org (preferred).

2. By faxing a legible copy of both questionnaires reviewed, filled in for each dam to the WCD Secretariat at +27 21 426-0036.

BACKGROUND INFO

4. Context and Mandate of the World Commission on Dams

4.1 The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was established to address central issues of the controversy with respect to decision-making about large dams and their effectiveness in sustainable development. The Commission's overarching goals are:

• To review the development effectiveness of dams and assess alternatives for water resources and energy development
• To develop internationally acceptable standards, guidelines and criteria for decision making in the planning, design, construction, monitoring, operation and decommissioning of dams.

4.2 The WCD work programme is composed of four sets of activities that will generate the comprehensive base of shared knowledge needed to produce these three major outputs:

• 8-10 in-depth case studies of specific dams in the river basins in which they are located
• A crosscheck survey of 150 dams world-wide
• 17 thematic reviews of cross-cutting issues that are at the core of the dams' debate
• Solicited and submitted inputs from interested individuals and organisations

5. Background to the Crosscheck Survey

5.1 Objectives

As an integral part of the work programme, a crosscheck survey of approximately 150 large dams will be conducted. The sample of 150 will be constructed from focal and non-focal dams in the river basins of the WCD case studies, from dams that have been previously analysed in other studies or for which data is available in existing databases, and from complementary dams that contribute to the overall diversity of the sample.

The analysis of this sample will seek to generate broader patterns and trends relating to the performance (e.g. the extent to which dams in the sample that have achieved their project objectives) and decision-making aspects (e.g. the percentage of projects for which certain criteria and guidelines were required and conducted) of dams. The crosscheck survey results will, however, only be illustrative of past experience rather than representative of all of the large dams that have been built world-wide.

5.2 Selection & Analysis

A variety of dams of different types (e.g. storage, run-of-river); ages (e. dams from the 1930's through the 1990's), functions (e.g. water supply, irrigation, power, flood management, recreation and other); ownership structures (e.g. public, corporate and private); and regional locations will be included in the crosscheck survey. Each dam will have a date record with time series dimensions where feasible. Analysis will be performed on the full set and on sub-sets of 150+ dams in the sample.

The crosscheck survey is not intended to provide conclusions on the acceptability of individual projects. Rather, the conclusions will be of two kinds. First, patterns or frequencies across the sample for performance issues such as projected versus actual electricity generated, projected versus actual increases in agricultural production, projected versus actual costs, etc., will be identified. Second, trends over time such as the percentage change in projects undergoing environmental impact assessments as part of the project cycle and whether they were part of part of a river basin master plan will be derived.