Marloes Mul, Senior Researcher Hydrology and Water Resources at IWMI, has written a blog post on the IUCN Water Knowledge Platform about the ‘WISE-UP to Climate’ project where the assumption is that built infrastructure and its benefits are well documented and understood, whereas natural infrastructure is less well understood and the benefits are harder to quantify.
Building water infrastructure such as dams contributes to economic development, food, and energy security depending on their objective. In developing countries it is often seen as the most cost effective way to increase electricity production and irrigated agriculture. However, reaching these national objectives can often come at a cost to nature and local livelihoods which depend on healthy ecosystems. Modified river flows change the timing, quantity and quality of water flowing downstream. Yet, these constantly changing river flows are essential for livelihoods dependent on flood recession farming, floodplain cattle grazing, and fish production.