Author Description

<p>Dams and reservoirs illustrate, as no other construction, the etymological meaning of infrastructure. However, dams and reservoirs are also highly contested due to their enormous ecological and environmental impacts, as well as the often dramatic social and economic consequences for resettled populations and their unfulfilled expectations of development. The in-depth case studies in this book, spanning from the second half of the twentieth century until today, reveal that many dams throughout history and throughout the world have proven themselves to be outdated and a precursor to the contemporary paradigmatic shift that is emerging regarding new concepts of water management.</p>