Potential impacts of climate change on dams (barrages) and waterways and adaptation strategies - in Latin America.
Partner:
Technological University of Panama, Dr. rer. nat. Denise Marie Delvalle de Borrero
Funders:
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
Duration:
1 Year
Summary:
Against the background of already noticeable climate changes, it is becoming increasingly important to deal with the consequences of climate change and the resulting extremes of the hydrological cycle. The most obvious ones are floods and droughts. In addition, however, the consequences for all systems of water and urban water management should be assessed. This means to prepare and flexibly design the development, the management and the rehabilitation of the systems for changes with long-term planning. The focus here will be on dams and waterways. Dams, for example, are an indispensable part of the water management infrastructure worldwide. In addition to the demands of use (water supply, flood protection, low water elevation, energy generation), the simultaneous protection of the water resource must be taken into account. Consequently, foresighted adaptation strategies, more system flexibility and an integral management of dams (e.g. water sector, agriculture, river basin) have to be implemented and goal-oriented precautionary measures have to be taken. Latin America is a country of dams. These serve to supply drinking water, provide water for agriculture and generate energy. Dams are civil engineering structures that are exposed to both the forces of nature and the demands of society without restriction and over an extraordinarily long service life. Therefore, dams themselves are directly affected by the expected climatic changes in terms of technology and management. At the same time, thanks to a wide range of adaptation options, they offer good conditions for compensating for the unfavorable effects of climate change on water management conditions in the respective region. However, they are not only associated with positive effects, because they have an impact on the climate and have enormous ecological but also social consequences. Drinking water protection areas are usually not available, the river ecosystem as well as the indigenous population become secondary, in agriculture an overuse of water resources takes place, forests are destroyed. Therefore, an integral and sustainable management of existing facilities including the river basin as well as a future-oriented and equally sustainable planning of new facilities is evident.