14 September 1999
WCD Appeals for Input from Irrigation Community

Granada, Spain - Experiences with the world's 45 000 large dams and the contentious issues surrounding future dam development took centre stage today at the International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage in Granada, Spain. In his address to the Congress, Professor Kader Asmal, Chair of the World Commission on Dams, appealed to delegates to move beyond the polarised debate that has emerged over the costs, benefits, and impacts of dams and to focus on lessons for the future. These lessons can be drawn from both success and failure but must recognise that values and priorities of societies change over time.

Established just over a year ago by representatives of governments, NGOs, civil society, and the private sector, the Commission is undertaking the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effectiveness of dams as a development tool. The 12 commissioners representing both pro- and anti-dam perspectives are committed to bridging divisions that lie at the heart of current controversies over sustainable development.

In his address to ICID's 17th Congress, Professor Asmal, who served as South Africa's Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry for five years before becoming Minister of Education in June, urged delegates to join global efforts to bring together all parties to the dams debate. As populations grow and the world becomes more urbanised and industrialised, the pressure for increased water supplies is intensifying. In many countries, dams have been the immediate response to meeting this demand. Yet, the social and environmental costs are now coming under scrutiny. Professor Asmal noted that, "a business-as-usual approach is not tenable. New mechanisms and processes for dialogue are needed in an increasingly interdependent world."

In the subsequent discussions at the Congress, delegates raised a number of pressing concerns that need to be reflected in the debate and the work of the WCD. These included the importance of dams for irrigation and food security, flood control, and water supply for growing populations. These and other issues have been articulated in the ICID position paper on dams, to be formally adopted by member countries. Aly Shady, President of ICID concluded the workshop by emphasising the view of many delegates that large dams remain an important means to ensure food security and poverty alleviation, particularly in developing countries. In thanking ICID members for their input to the Commission's work, Achim Steiner, Secretary General of the WCD, assured delegates that the position paper will be carefully reviewed in the context of the WCDs overall work programme.

Background to the WCD Process

Dams are a central, flashpoint issue in the sustainable management of our finite water resources. Those resources are subject to increasingly competitive demands as global population growth exacerbates tensions over the water needed to produce energy and to ensure food security. The potential for regional conflict over water resources is very real.Dams can provide hydropower, irrigation, and flood control. These are developmental benefits, but there are also costs in human, environmental and economic terms. The public debate on large dams has been characterised by the increasingly adversarial tone adopted by dam advocates and opponents. The breakdown in constructive dialogue between interested parties in the dams debate has had ramifications in areas ranging from the achievement of civil society consensus on sustainable development, to the availability of financing for dams and their alternatives.

In April 1997, the IUCN-The World Conservation Union and the World Bank brokered an unusual summit of un-likeminded persons in Gland, Switzerland. Representatives of pro- and anti-dam interest groups, many of whom had never met before, achieved rare consensus in their unanimous call for an independent World Commission on Dams.

After much follow-up negotiation between those stakeholders, 12 eminent persons with wide-ranging experience in dams-related issues (see list) were chosen as Commissioners. The Chair is Prof. Kader Asmal, South Africa's Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry from 1994-99 when he was named Minister of Education. The Commission Secretariat was established in Cape Town, South Africa in June 1998 and consists of an international team of professionals expert in conflict resolution, the environment, sociology, anthropology, engineering, economics, and water and energy management.

The WCD's motto is 'Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future'. Its two-year mandate calls for in-depth, independent analysis of the effectiveness of existing large-scale dams in meeting a broad range of development goals -- economic, social, and environmental. Based on that analysis, the Commissioners will determine policy options to guide future decision-making over dams and their alternatives.

Interested parties can contribute to the Commission's work programme and deliberations by making submissions to the WCD and through the series of consultations the Commission will hold in the next several months.


For stakeholder information, please contact:
Saneeya Hussain shussain@dams.org