“…A total of eight cascades of 28 larger and small HPSs producing 9.5-1,860 MW are planned in the Naryn river basin (Maratbekov, 2018). While the construction of these hydropower plants is expected to have negative impacts on biodiversity, it would allow water resource management to be modified, which could potentially reduce the regional conflict around the operation of the Toktogul reservoir (Mubarakshin, 2013;Namazova, 2016;Urmambetova & Chymyrov, 2017). As a consequence, there is a trade-off between biodiversity conservation and the production of hydropower.…”