Interactive comment on “Assessing residual hydropower potential of the La Plata Basin accounting for future user demands” by I. Popescu et al.

The manuscript main aim is to quantify the maximum and residual hydropower potential of the whole La Plata Basin (LPB, area: 3500000 kmˆ2; population over 200 millions) and compare it with the current hydropower production and electric energy in the region and estimated future energy demand (i.e. year 2040). The study adopts tools that were previously developed to perform the estimation, therefore it is not innovative in this sense. Nevertheless, given the geographical scale of the analysis, the hydrological relevance of the study region, and the topical issue addressed, in my opinion the manuscript presents a very important piece of information which is definitely of broad international interest. It also raises some serious questions on how to manage in a sustainable way the future energy demand of the area, which cannot be fulfilled by hydropower production only. I really enjoyed reading this manuscript, which is neatly organized and which I believe is worth publishing in HESS. I only have a few main remarks and some minor comments on this manuscript that should be considered while revising the manuscript for improving the clarity of the presentation. I detail them below in the hope that the authors will find them to be useful while revising their manuscript.