Investing in nature is just as important as the concrete and steel needed to build dams and reservoirs and contributes to the long-term resilience and sustainability of this infrastructure.
Sanitation services and waste collection have long been a financial burden for the public sector. A new series of business models shows how this trend cannot only be reversed, but how recycling and reusing waste can be a lucrative endeavor.
Resettlement schemes are meant to improve the lives of those who are resettled, but sometimes this change brings about livelihood problems for relocated villagers. Considering the gender dynamics of the groups being relocated may help.
How can the private sector help with fecal sludge management and resource recycling from this waste product? Initially published on the World Bank's Water Blog, this post looks at how business opportunities could make sanitation more sustainable.
It is impossible to view any one of the Sustainable Development Goals as an isolated issue. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus platform takes an integrative approach, considering how water intersects with other potential challenges.
Development banks take a reductionist approach to hydropower; the critical counter-discourse calls for more nuance. These two discourses rarely cross paths, but a new paper in Global Environmental Change directly addresses both views from a critical scientific perspective.
When resettlement of villagers is planned and carried out, local power dynamics and relationships can have a huge effect on the outcome and lived experiences and perceptions of resettled individuals.
With the current drought in Southeast Asia, downstream Mekong countries are concerned that their water is being held up by large mainstream dams in China and Laos. There are, however, hundreds of small dams on Mekong tributaries, and the cumulative effect of these cannot be ignored.
"The Greater Mekong Forum serves as the primary interface between the technical work produced by WLE Mekong and potential users of that work," Kim Geheb discusses his thoughts on the forum.
In the Mekong Region, fast flowing rivers are often the lifeblood of nearby communities. They provide food, transportation, irrigation and spiritual needs. But a fast flowing river is also an opportunity to generate hydropower. To offset the ecological effects, could artificial wetlands benefit dam-side communities?
Many farmers long ago turned to groundwater pumping to cope with water supply shortages. But how much energy do we use to access this water source? The answer has remained something of a mystery — until now.
Recent research has quantified that large dams are linked to more than a million malaria cases each year. How can dam builders and operators, be encouraged to work with relevant government agencies to mitigate the public health threats, not just malaria, that large dams pose?