Economic implications of climate change for infrastructure planning in transboundary water systems: An example from the Blue Nile
Abstract
This research develops a hydroeconomic modeling framework for integrating climate
change impacts into the problem of planning water resources infrastructure development.
It then illustrates use of that framework in evaluation of two alternative sizes of
a potential hydropower project along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Storing water in a
Blue Nile reservoir provides an interesting case for testing this integrated approach
because such a project would induce a number of physical and economic changes, both
transboundary and climate-dependent. The proposed framework makes two contributions
to the existing literature on water resources project appraisal. First, it demonstrates
how routinely used hydrological modeling techniques can be supplemented with Monte
Carlo simulation to include economic uncertainties inherent in the planning problem,
in addition to its more commonly considered physical dimensions. Second, it demonstrates
how analysts can include a number of linkages between climate change, hydrology, and
economic production in conventional planning models to develop better understanding
of the complexities and important uncertainties associated with future conditions.
While the framework described here has not been used in a full analysis of alternative
development projects in the Blue Nile, the general approach could be combined with
a variety of decision-analytic tools to evaluate design and management alternatives
in water resources systems. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.
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Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5973Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1029/2010WR009428Publication Info
Jeuland, MA (2010). Economic implications of climate change for infrastructure planning in transboundary
water systems: An example from the Blue Nile. Water Resources Research, 46(11). pp. W11556. 10.1029/2010WR009428. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5973.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Marc A. Jeuland
Associate Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Marc Jeuland is an Associate Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, with
a joint appointment in the Duke Global Health Institute. His research interests include
nonmarket valuation, water and sanitation, environmental health, energy poverty and
transitions, trans-boundary water resource planning and management, and the impacts
and economics of climate change. Jeuland's recent research includes work to understand
the economic implications of climate change for water

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