Reforming for resilience: delivering ‘multipurpose hydropower’ under water and energy risks

Multipurpose hydropower reservoirs are regularly framed as water security and climate change solutions. Although multipurpose projects can do deliver a range of services, ‘win-win’ outcomes not guaranteed. Emerging energy risks altering the net benefits from operating to generation, supply, flood control, or other purposes. This paper shows that new governance approaches needed efficiently fairly reallocate under risks. We demonstrate dynamic reallocation is fundamental resilience reservoir systems examine three potential reforms: periodic relicensing, tariffs, sustainability performance bonds.