Water

Dams and Development E-Paper Contents

p. 23 of 74 BACK | NEXT Home Page of Dams and Development Foreword I. Why an e-paper on dams and development? II. Assessing options III. Participatory processes IV. Social impacts Resettlement - compensation or development? Upstream and downstream impacts Gender design - ADB case studies What do ADB Policies and strategies say V. Environmental impacts VI. Benefit distribution VII. Dam safety and sustainability VIII. Existing projects IX. Improving governance X. What other organizations say XI. ADB, Dams, and Development XII. References Contact Us

Social impacts

Displacement of people from the area to be inundated by a reservoir is generally considered as the main area of social impact of a dam.

However, experience has shown that dam projects often have a far wider social effect. Impacts are also felt by

• host communities among which those displaced will be resettled
• communities living upstream and downstream of a dam that are affected by changes in river flows, water quality and aquatic ecosystems; and
• communities living in the periphery of the project and affected by changes in access to natural resources or the local economy

Assessing baseline conditions and the scale of impacts requires intensive surveys and sensitivity to issues related to ethnic minorities, gender, cultural heritage and customary rights.

For information on some emerging approaches that address social impacts consistent with the overall development perspective of a project, see:

• Resettlement - compensation or development?
• How can upstream and downstream impacts be addressed?
• Gender design - ADB case studies
• What do ADB policies say?

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