Assessing the Impacts of Large-Scale Water Transfer Projects on Communities: Lessons Learned from a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Large-scale water transfer projects (LWTPs) have been promoted to address rising water demands around the world. Scholars have been examining various impacts of LWTPs for decades; however, there is limited research that systematically examines the literature and synthesizes impacts and lessons learned from LWTPs. By conducting a systematic literature review, we assess the impacts of LWTP implementation on communities followed by the social, political, and economic factors that shape the implementation of LWTPs. Our review indicates that LWTPs can threaten livelihood strategies, jeopardize the sustainability of traditional cultures, and disrupt communities through resettlement. These impacts are shaped by the use of water as a political mechanism, the prioritization of economic interests, and unequal participation of stakeholders. Our review goes beyond individual studies of LWTPs to highlight the importance of using an environmental justice framework to guide LWTP assessments so that these assessments can address unique contexts of individual LWTPs.

Keywords:

• Environmental justice
• water source region
• water supply region
• inter-basin water transfer
• water governance
• water infrastructure

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the Chinese Scholarship Council for a State Scholarship award received by the first author to visit Purdue university in order to conduct this research. We also want to thank the support of members of the Human Dimensions Lab in the Darpatment of Forestry and Natural Resources for their support during the research process.

Notes

1 * indicates a peer-reviewed journal article from the list of 68 articles that were included in our systematic literature review (see section 2.2. Review process).