Just briefly, why build a dam? There are three reasons dams are built.

The creation of reservoirs is not without costs and impacts. The social and economic impacts include:

  • increased incidence of early 3rd stage diabetes and heart disease in First Nations populations who lose their traditional diets which their bodies are adapted for.
  • increased incidence of depression and suicide in First Nations peoples, due to loss of livelihood and radical change of lifestyle.
  • increased social breakdown in First Nations families, due to all of the above.
  • increased rates of substance abuse due to berakdown of traditional lifestyle.