Methodical approaches in the Norwegian Master Plan for Water Resources

The Norwegian Master Plan for Water Resources instructs the management not to consider applications for concession to develop hydroelectric projects in the so called category II of the plan. These are the environmentally most controversial projects or the most expensive projects. This report discusses the methods used in this Master Plan to classify the projects. The question whether the assessments of the environmental disadvantages of hydropower development are reasonable is approached in two ways: (1) Compare the environmental costs imbedded in the Plan with direct assessments, and (2) Discuss the appropriateness of the methodology used for environmental evaluations in the Plan. The report concludes that (1) the environmental costs that can be derived from the ranking in the Plan are significantly greater than those following from direct evaluations, (2) the differences are generally so great that one may ask whether the methods used in the Plan overestimate the real environmental costs, (3) it seems to have been difficult to make a unified assessment of the environmental disadvantages, (4) the Plan has considered the economic impact on agriculture and forestry very roughly and indirectly, which may have contributed to overestimated environmental costs of hydropower development. 20 refs., 6 figs., 7 tabs