Valuing the water management services of hydropower

Hydropower’s public value extends well beyond electricity generation. In an era of climate volatility, rising water stress and more complex power systems, hydropower infrastructure is increasingly expected to deliver a wider set of services: flood moderation, drought management, irrigation support, water supply reliability, and broader system resilience.

Current sector thinking increasingly recognises that these functions are not peripheral co-benefits, but part of hydropower’s strategic role in integrated water and energy systems. At the same time, major gaps remain in how these services are measured, recognised and rewarded in policy, planning and investment frameworks.

This session will examine how hydropower’s water-management services can be valued more systematically and incorporated into policy, planning, regulation and investment decisions.. The aim is not simply to restate that hydropower creates wider benefits, but to explore how those benefits can be translated into practical frameworks that support sustainable, bankable and socially legitimate decision-making.

Session objectives

• Clarify how hydropower’s water-management services should be defined within integrated water and energy planning.
• Explore methods for quantifying and valuing services such as flood control, drought resilience, water supply support and sediment management.
• Discuss how these values can be incorporated into public policy, regulation, market design and investment appraisal.
• Identify the institutional and financial reforms needed to ensure hydropower’s full societal value is recognised and responsibly rewarded.