A dam engineer's view of the world water problem

It is now nearly 10 years since the World Commission on Dams submitted its report on 'Dams and development' and it is time to look again at some of the issues which the authors raised such as resettlement, fish passage, evaporation and sedimentation. Meanwhile there are an increasing number of books available that argue the case against dams. This paper is written against this background and provides a personal perspective on the issues surrounding the world water shortage, the impending energy shortage and the part that can be played by dams in addressing these issues. © 2010 ICE Publishing.