by Dr. Jinsheng JIA, President of ICOLD

I take this opportunity to welcome all the delegates who will attend ICOLD’s 79th annual meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland.

During the past century, ICOLD, as an international organization aiming to share and extend knowledge and experience on all aspects of dam technology, has been glad to see that large dams have made an important contribution to the sustainable development of water and energy resources. Recently many countries have increased investment in dams and reservoirs to deal with the economic crisis, as well as to adapt to the impacts of climate change, to alleviate poverty and to mitigate the effects of floods and droughts. It is now recognized that water resources development is essential to achieve sustainable development. Insufficient water storage facilities will delay our ability to respond to global changes and to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

However, in this new century, the construction and operation of dams and reservoirs can no longer be considered as a purely scientific and technical matter. Much more attention should be paid also to social and environment issues. To counter the criticism of various organizations or individuals and get support for further development at global level, ICOLD constantly needs to promote initiatives in all related field of dam engineering and water resources development.

As an active and important member of the ICOLD family, Switzerland maintains a long tradition in dam construction. There are 48 dams higher than 60m, of which 25 dams are over 100 m high, including the 285m high Grande Dixence Dam, the highest concrete gravity dam in the world. Due to advanced design concept and dam safety, emergency action plans and water alarm systems, dams in Switzerland have a successful record even after being in service for more than 50 years. This positive aspect, as well as the good integration of the hydraulic structures in the environment has contributed to a large acceptance of dams and reservoirs by the Swiss public. Switzerland is also the country who firstly put forward and applied Green Electricity Certification for hydropower plant, a concept that has been accepted by the European Green Energy Standard.

I have strong confidence that the conference will be a fruitful one, providing ample opportunity for sharing new ideas as well as enjoying beautiful sightseeing related to mountains, rivers, and lakes.