The Integrative Dam Assessment Model: Reflections from an Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

In 2000, the World Commission on Dams (WCD), an organization under the guidance of the World Bank and the World Conservation Union, called for more equitable, interdisciplinary, and sustainable decision making with respect to large dams. The WCD advanced seven Strategic Priorities toward this goal, one of which was the need for a "comprehensive options assessment" of different hydrodevelopment scenarios. In response, an interdisciplinary group of scientists began developing the Integrative Dam Assessment Model (IDAM) with funding from the United States National Science Foundation. Our goal was to support more informed and transparent decision making processes related to dam development by creating a modeling tool that could help decision makers understand and visualize how a given dam project would affect human communities and ecosystems. Working with institutional partners in China, we have collected natural and social science data from two watersheds—the Nu River and the Upper Mekong River—that are currently undergoing large-scale hydropower development. In this paper, we wish to outline the objectives and accomplishments of this interdisciplinary project and reflect on our experience as anthropologists contributing to the modeling effort.