Abstract
The blocking of natural waterways has been argued to be one of the clearest cases of human-generated damages to natural systems and biodiversity. (World Commission on Dams, 2000). Is this damage potentially avoidable? And why are the world’s waterways flooded with dams? Of course, many of these structures are erected in the pursuit of clear development benefits (energy, irrigation) and represent examples of the trade-offs existing between the pursuit of developmental and environmental benefits (Krutilla and Fisher, 1967). Others however may be the result of inefficient water management practices, and hence entirely avoidable. It is this class of wasteful construction/obstruction projects that we wish to describe and to define here. It is our argument that dams may be one consequence of inefficient groundwater management practices — a response to the persistence of externalities between groundwater owners and conjunctive users.
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Groom, B., Swanson, T. (2002). Missing Markets and Redundant Reservoirs: Dams as a Consequence of Inefficient Groundwater Management Policies. In: Pashardes, P., Swanson, T., Xepapadeas, A. (eds) Current Issues in the Economics of Water Resource Management. Economy & Environment, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9984-9_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9984-9_9
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