All life depends upon water. For man, however, water can supply the power necessary to relieve him from the drudgeries of life and give the time and means to enrich his existence beyond the bounds set by the mere need to survive. Large scale hydropower makes a significant contribution to the total generated power of the developed world. The means of harnessing water power for large flows and heads above three metres are efficient and well established. There remains however, the fact that many people, especially in developing countries live adjacent to water courses and tidal estuaries where heads of 2 metres or less exist but are not exploited. The reasons for this are often that practical machines do not exist or are insufficiently well developed to be used. Much effort has been made in recent years to develop equipment suitable for small, low-head sites in remote places. The writer has worked on three such devices in both the laboratory and on site - these are the Salford Transverse Oscillator, the AUR Water Engine and the Underwater Motor. This thesis describes these machines in detail together with other contemporary devices. The initial chapter contains an assessment of machines used in the past to exploit low head sites. There is little doubt that some of these older machines, suitably brought up to date in design and materials, would be more suited to the needs of developing peoples than many of the esoteric devices described in later chapters. The thesis is concerned mainly with the need to provide a means of generating power rather than the assessment or suitability of a site for power generation. The writer draws on experience gained in the laboratory, and as a Mechanical Engineering Consultant for small installations in the United Kingdom and overseas.

Appraisal and design of small-scale hydro power plants requires a knowledge of hydraulics, hydrology, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, and basic economics. Further, small hydro is site specific in nature and marginal from an economic view point. Methods of appraisal and design are required therefore that will keep engineering fees to a minimum and yet still achieve a reliable evaluation of scheme potential and economics. In this context it should be appreciated that small hydro is not large hydro scaled down, and that small hydro needs its own experts (Ref. 1). This thesis considers techniques for appraisal of small hydropower schemes, the selection and specification of scheme components, their costing and economic evaluation. These appraisal techniques are subsequently applied to regional assessment of small-scale hydro-electric potential in the U. K, and to the development and application of a new type of ultra low-head hydropower generator called the Salford Transverse oscillator (STO). Although this work is predominately concerned with assessment of scheme potential in the U.K., it also draws on experience gained by the writer during short visits to India and Nepal, and during a six month design appraisal for rehabilitation of mini-hydro schemes in Sri Lanka (Ref. 2).

Ce travail est consacré à l'analyse des outils et méthodes de prévention et de pilotage des conflits d'usage dans les pays en voie de développement, et plus particulièrement à l'étude des conflits liés à l'installation de nouvelles infrastructures, qui ont provoqué l'expropriation d'habitations et d'exploitations agricoles ainsi que la disparition de nombreuses ressources productives dans les espaces ruraux. L'étude se fonde sur le cas du barrage de Chotiari, au Pakistan, avec une analyse de l'impact du projet sur les ressources naturelles et socio-économiques de la région, ainsi que des racines de ce conflit. Une attention particulière est accordée au réseau d'acteurs utilisateurs de l'espace, ainsi qu'à la violation des droits de propriété, qui a provoqué des asymétries de pouvoir et conduit à la montée des conflits d'usage de l'espace. Notre recherche montre que les conflits résultant du lancement de ce projet résultent de causes structurelles (tels que des décisions unilatérales, l'absence d'études et d'expertises scientifiques et techniques, la corruption, l'importance d'intérêt internationaux et l'absence de politique nationale d'intégration) comme de facteurs plus locaux (comme le népotisme, la diversité ethnique et l'illettrisme). Par ailleurs, les déplacements forcés de populations locales ont conduit à une multiplication des oppositions et des confrontations. Pour finir nous tirons de ces résultats un certain nombre de recommandations en termes de prévention et de pilotage des conflits, fondées sur la mobilisation des relations de proximité. / This research discusses the tools of land use conflict analysis and methods for their prevention and management, on the basis of existing conflicts created by infrastructural projects in developing countries. Such conflicts have entailed expropriation of homes, farm businesses and other productive resources in rural settings. Specifically, we use data from the case of Chotiari water reservoir project in Pakistan, where we put stress on project impacts on socio-economic and natural resource values in the region, by highlighting root causes of the conflicts with response to land use decision. We also paid attention on the network of actors over land use and property right violation, which have created dissimilar power distribution and significant land use conflicts. Through this research we show that conflicts created by the project have resulted from structural factors (unilateral decision, lack of technical and scientific investigation, corruption, international interest, and non-existence of national resettlement policy) and proximate factors (nepotism, ethnic diversity/disarray, and illiteracy). Moreover, forceful displacement of local population has led for multiplication of the confrontations. From these results, we provide helpful insights and information for the recommendations in terms of land use conflict prevention and management, mainly based on proximity relations analysis.