Editing Small hydro (section)

== Energy Justice ==
Many small hydro developments are made in rural or geographically isolated areas where it is expensive to connect to national power grids. For instance, rural areas in India or other countries that have flowing water regimes utilize small hydro to provide a renewable source of energy without connection to the national grid. <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Mukesh Kumar |last2=Khare |first2=Nilay |last3=Agrawal |first3=Alka Bani |date=2015-11-01 |title=Small hydro power in India: Current status and future perspectives |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115005572 |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |volume=51 |pages=101–115 |bibcode=2015RSERv..51..101M |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.075 |issn=1364-0321|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Environmental justice of small hydro development has been most discussed in Asia and the Americas.

=== Asia ===
In mountainous regions, such as in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, small tributaries play an essential role in the water supply of villages, irrigating agriculture and supplying water to households. The diversion of these streams for small hydropower generation threatens water quality, irrigation supply, and local livelihoods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Erlewein |first=Alexander |date=2013-11-01 |title=Disappearing rivers — The limits of environmental assessment for hydropower in India |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195925513000760 |journal=Environmental Impact Assessment Review |volume=43 |pages=135–143 |doi=10.1016/j.eiar.2013.07.002 |bibcode=2013EIARv..43..135E |issn=0195-9255|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Local residents of Himachal Pradesh assert that benefits of local SHP projects have been exaggerated and have pushed for legal opposition to their development.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Diduck |first1=Alan P. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003141228 |title=Advancing Environmental Justice for Marginalized Communities in India: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities |last2=Patel |first2=Kirit |last3=Malik |first3=Aruna Kumar |date=2021-07-21 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-14122-8 |edition=1 |location=London |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003141228}}</ref>

In Matsuguma Village, Japan, a 30 kW small hydropower plant was completed in 2020 under a private-public partnership. The local government approached the community explaining their goal to supply power to the regional electric grid. Community members collaborated with a business model based "by the local community and for the local community." By selling the electricity produced, community members obtained [[energy democracy]], improved the infrastructure of the village and improved their welfare and quality of life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Small Hydropower Development Report 2022 |url=https://www.unido.org/WSHPDR2022 |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=UNIDO |language=en}}</ref>

=== South America ===
Because SHP projects under 20 MW are considered renewable in Chile, they are oftentimes approved without indigenous consultation, ignoring community demands for autonomy and self-determination. The [[Ralco Hydroelectric Plant|Ralco Dam]] controversy in Chile afforded indigenous Chilean communities a governmental promise of no more mega-projects on the upper BioBío river, the second largest river in Chile. Lack of political and environmental oversight has allowed for multiple small hydropower installations to be developed in this area, contributing to further tensions in the [[Mapuche conflict|Mapuche Conflict]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Radwin |first=Maxwell |date=2022-11-16 |title=Dam construction ignites Indigenous youth movement in southern Chile |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/dam-construction-ignites-indigenous-youth-movement-in-southern-chile/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=Mongabay Environmental News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hernando-Arrese |first1=Maite |last2=Rasch |first2=Elisabet Dueholm |date=2022-01-01 |title=The micropolitical life of energy projects: A collaborative exploration of injustice and resistance to small hydropower projects in the Wallmapu, Southern Chile |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214629621004242 |journal=Energy Research & Social Science |volume=83 |pages=102332 |doi=10.1016/j.erss.2021.102332 |bibcode=2022ERSS...8302332H |issn=2214-6296|doi-access=free }}</ref>