Transboundary Dam: Hydropower Diplomacy Simulator

Many of the world's largest rivers cross national borders, and the dam that generates one country's electricity controls the water that feeds another's fields downstream — a structural link between energy policy and peace. This simulator models a single upstream reservoir with a real mass-balance equation: turbine release drains it, natural inflow (throttled by a dry-season slider) refills it, and hydraulic head plus release rate determine live power output in megawatts. Switching between unilateral and treaty-coordinated operation shows the mechanic at the heart of real transboundary water-energy diplomacy — a negotiated minimum flow floor turns a resource one nation could withhold into one both nations can rely on, and the live diplomatic tension index tracks how a downstream irrigation deficit accumulates under each policy.