Aging infrastructure coupled with growing interest in river restoration has driven a dramatic increase in the practice of dam removal. With this increase, there has been a proliferation of studies that assess the physical and ecological responses of rivers to these removals. As more dams are considered for removal, scientific information from these dam-removal studies will increasingly be called upon to inform decisions about whether, and how best, to bring down dams.

As water scarcity in both China and India worsens, the competition over shared water resources in their transboundary rivers, particularly the Brahmaputra River, is set to intensify. Without an effective working mechanism between the two countries, water conflicts could potentially become a serious challenge to Sino-Indian relations. Nonetheless, the water wars narrative, which is gaining steam in India, is being overstated. This article argues that the major supporting arguments of the water wars narrative are very weak.