Main externalities associated with dams - Existing study details

Full description

This dataset is one of seven datasets that analyses a water supply option in terms of externalities (positive and negative effects that are not taken into account directly in market-place transactions). The water service option covered in this dataset is dams; the majority of town water supply in Australia has been from rainfall collected in the catchment areas of dam and reservoir storages, but some regions are now choosing to construct off-stream storages where water is extracted from a river via a pump and pipeline to storage in large tanks or off-stream reservoirs. Related datasets cover stormwater harvesting, desalination, wastewater recycling, groundwater, greywater and rainwater tanks. Each dataset identifies the social, environmental and economic impacts associated with the option in general and for each stage in its life cycle. Stages generally comprise the collection, storage, treatment, distribution of water and, finally, the decommissioning of the water supply option. The externalities were identified by an extensive survey of existing research and literature in water-related studies and through technical analysis of the option characteristics and technologies. The literature is vast and, at times, contradictory. The data is intended to provide an overview of the externalities that must be considered in the externality evaluation process, and does not provide not definitive values for option impacts as externality impacts will be site-specific.