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Events

PhD Defence Afua Owusu

On Wednesday 30 November 2022, the PhD Defence and Awarding Ceremony of Ms. Afua Owusu from Ghana, will take place. Her promotors are Professor Pieter van der Zaag & Professor Jill Slinger (TUD) and her co-promotor is Dr. Marloes Mul.

The title of the thesis

The Practice and Opportunities in Re-operating Dams for the Environment.

Research summary

Many rivers worldwide have been progressively engineered for agriculture, energy, transportation, flood control and navigation. Dams, in particular, have played a major role in controlling and harnessing large volumes of water to support these anthropogenic uses. While dams have undoubtedly contributed to human development, this has often come at a heavy price to downstream communities and the natural environment. The provision of environmental flows (e-flows), freshwater flows for the environment, is a means to restore or protect the benefits of naturally flowing rivers. Since the 1940s, e-flows science has grown, however, actual implementation remains relatively limited. This research investigated how dams are re-operated for the implementation of e-flows. It began with a systematic literature review and survey of practical cases of dam re-operation followed by a case study of the Lower Volta River, Ghana. The research has generated knowledge on the process of dam re-operation for e-flows, the enabling factors for success and hurdles which typically stall the process, as well as inter-sectoral trade-offs inherent in delivering environmental flows in a unique case study. These insights inform attempts to scale up efforts in e-flows implementation towards the sustainable operation of dams for people and the environment.

Livestream

Watch the livestream here.