It proposed reviews of all existing large dams. James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, which in recent years has markedly scaled back its financing of dams, said he would present the findings to the bank's 180 member nations. A decision on whether to implement the guidelines when financing future projects is expected in February. A call to suspend building Half the world's dams were built for irrigation and account for 12 to 16 percent of the world's food production, while others provide flood defenses and produce hydropower and water supply. Dams account for 19 percent of electricity generated worldwide, and 24 countries generate more than 90 percent of their power from dams.
Critics also call for compensation for the social and environmental damage caused by dams.
There are 45,000 large dams in the world, most built in the 1970s, when an average of two to three new large projects were commissioned each day to help meet escalating demands for water. China and India have half the world's dams. Construction has tailed off in recent years, but projects such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam across India's Narmada River are still a source of controversy. India's Supreme Court recently gave the go-ahead for work to continue, dismissing widespread concerns the dam will flood villages and displace hundreds of thousands of people. In addition to Grand Coulee, the other massive dams studied were Pak Mun in Thailand, Aslantas in Turkey, Glomma-Laagen Basin in Norway, Kariba in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Tarbela in Pakistan, Tucurui in Brazil, and Gariep and Vanderkloof in South Africa.