3 Hydropower As Renewable Resources

Hydropower has been officially declared a renewable energy source in the UN Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002 (IHA, 2004 a). Third world Water Forum
in Kyoto in March 2003 acknowledged “the role of hydropower as one of the renewable
and clean energy sources and that its potential should be realized in an environmentally
sustainable and socially acceptable manner” (WWC and IHA, 2003). However, it has to be
acknowledged that the recognition of hydropower as a legitimate renewable energy
resource has been questioned by a number of influential interest groups. In the lead up to
International Conference for Renewable Energies 2004 in Bonn for example, there had
been a concern that hydropower would not be recognized as renewal energy resources on
the grounds that new hydro projects would be unlikely to meet pre-requisite WCD
guidelines (Peter Rae, 2005).

However, the Political Declaration made at the conclusion of International Conference for
Renewable Energies 2004 in Bonn gave recognition to hydropower as a renewable energy
resource, and further went on to estimate that up to 1 billion people could be given access
to energy services from renewable resources-including hydropower. Ministers and
Government representatives from 154 countries gathered from June 1 st to 4th, 2004 in Bonn
(Germany) and political declaration signed in Bonn, identifies hydropower as one of the
renewable technologies.

6.4 Sustainability of Reservoirs

Reservoirs are man-made structures and considered as important water bodies that are
primarily used to collect, store, and save water behind dams and manage water that is
essential to fulfill basic human needs and requirements. Water stored in reservoirs are
essential for all forms of life and serves several different functions that mainly include
drinking and industrial uses, hydropower generation, irrigation and water supply, and
flood control (Palmieri, et al., 2003).

Water resources development is sustainable when it does not significantly or progressively

diminish the resources quantity or quality over the long term, and maintains the diversity
of natural habitats and ecosystems (Morris and Fan, 1997). Reservoir conservation and
sediment management in reservoirs is an effective approach to maintaining existing
storage capacity. It is also advisable to design new dams in a manner that will facilitate
sediment management and long–term reservoir conservation.
Reservoirs are potentially the most long-lived of any operational structures and Schnitter
documents several reservoirs with active lifespan exceeding 2000 years (Morris, 2003;
Morris and Fan, 1997). The earliest known dam was built in Egypt 4,500 years ago to store
water on a river that only flowed occasionally. The Mareb Dam, built in Yemen 2,500 years
ago, was one of the largest and most spectacular feats of civil engineering achieved by
humanity in pre-modern times. The reservoir stored water of 55 million m 3 to irrigate
about 10,000 ha of farmland and supported a population of about 30,000 to 50,000 (IHA,
2003). These are some earliest examples of water resource management attempting to
increase supply to meet demand, rather than constraining consumption to match local
availability.

Currently sedimentation is one of the major issues to deal with, for professionals, as it
causes continuous loss of storage and hinder the intended purposes of a dam. More
research and case-specific studies are required to understand the behavior of sediment
transport mechanism in order to propose remedial measures. Morris and Fan (1997)
provided different criteria of sustainability of new and existing reservoirs. The
sustainability criteria suggested for new reservoirs is to design for a minimum of 1000
years of operation. This may be accomplished by balancing sediment inflow and outflow, by
providing 1000 years of sediment storage capacity, or some combination thereof.

Moreover, Morris (2003) recommended that sedimentation issues in reservoir projects be

evaluated for a period of 500 years, or until sediment balance is achieved, whichever
occurs soon. At existing reservoirs, sustainable sediment management should seek to
balance sediment inflow and outflow across the impounded reach while maximizing long-
term benefits. This may involve strategies to minimize sediment inflow, enhance sediment
release, or a combination of both. A sediment balance will eventually be achieved at all
sites, the result of either management or natural phenomena. Sustainability should be
considered from the initial phase of project design, incorporating to the greatest extent
possible those elements which will eventually lead to a long-term sediment balance.

The current practice of design and operation of the hydropower assumes a “design life” for
projects, which implies that the project has a beginning and an end. This approach in dam
and reservoir design, which assumes that over the course of its life, a water resources
project would recover investment costs through the benefits generated by the projects.
This approach does not take into account what happens to the project at the end of its
design life and it is assumed that problems with reservoir sedimentation and eventual
retirement will be addressed by future generations. This flaw can be corrected by
implementing the Reservoir Life Cycle Management approach (Annandale, 2002; Palmieri,
2003; Palmieri et al., 2003).

A fundamental assumption in the Reservoir Life Cycle Management concept is that natural
resources should be used in a sustainable manner. The life cycle of a dam or reservoir
should be used as the general frame work for sediment management studies (Annandale,
2002; Palmieri, 2003).

6.5 Life Cycle Management Approach

This linear concept or beginning and an end concept of the project (See Figure 6.1) assume
that the resources will not be used in a sustainable manner. Once it has been decided how
long the design life would be, say 50, 75 or 100 years, the project is planned, constructed,
operated and maintained for that period of time. Conventionally the economic evaluation of
such project did not account for the cost of decommissioning/replacing from the economic
assessment clearly ignores inter-generational equity (Palmieri, 2003; Palmieri et al., 2003).
Such costs are borne by future generations. This has been the practice on most, if not all,
projects that have been conceived using the design life approach.

Figure 6.1: Design Life Approach (Linear Approach) To Infrastructure Design

This flaw can be corrected by implementing the reservoir life cycle management approach
(see Figure 6.2). The World Bank initiated the RESCON (reservoir conservation) project in
December 1999 to promote sustainable management of surface water reservoirs. The
project has now been completed and the final report is currently available in two volumes:
(i) Volume I, the RESCON Approach; and (ii) Volume II, the RESCON Model and User Manual
(Palmieri, 2003; Palmieri et al., 2003).This can be downloaded through internet by web site
www.are.uconn.edu/SustDnld.htm.
The RESCON approach promotes sustainability through Dam Life-Cycle Management. The
RESCON approach makes use of the World Bank’s Safeguard Policies to assess
environmental and social aspects during the option assessment stage. World Bank’s
Safeguard Policies are intended to prevent and mitigate under harm to people and their
environmental in the development process (Palmieri, 2003).

The ultimate goal of the reservoir life cycle management approach is sustainable use,
where the major functions of the dam are maintained, through good management and
maintenance, in perpetuity. This approach contains the same elements as the design
approach but arranged in a circular fashion, indicating perpetual use of the infrastructure
(see Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.2: Life Cycle Management Approach (Palmieri, 2003)

Although life cycle management approach promotes the use of sustainable management
approaches, it may in some cases not be feasible to manage facilities in a sustainable
manner. When it is not possible to manage a dam and reservoir in a sustainable manner it
is recommended to create and maintain a financial instrument that will accumulate funds
to pay for the decommissioning and/or replacement of such facilities (Palmieri, 2003;
Palmieri et al., 2003). The idealization of the life cycle management approach shown in
Figure 6.2 cannot necessarily be applied to all projects, especially not most existing dams
and reservoirs, because they have not been designed to effectively manage reservoir
sedimentation. If at all possible, existing water resources infrastructure should be
refurbished to allow reservoir sediment management (Palmieri et al., 2003).