In this section are listed various resource materials, including videos and books. Most of these are also mentioned in the appropriate sections, but they are brought together here to provide a single listing of especially useful materials.

Videos

"The Dammed" (1994). A CBC Nature of Things special narrated by David Suzuki. 1 hour, 32 minutes. Examines two projects: the Yacyret in Argentina and Paraguay, and the Narmada dam in India. Very good presentation of key issues of displacement & resettlement, role of the World Bank, etc.

"The Drowning" (1995?). A survey, from the environmentalists' point of view, of the Bakun Dam in Malaysia. 28 minutes.

"Chinatown". A Hollywood perspective on the politics and economics of large water projects in the American west.

"Large Dams, False Promises," 33 minutes. Features stories of three dams: Sardar Sarovar (India), Three Gorges (China), and Balbina (Brazil). Available from the IRN.

"Riding the Great Whale" (NFB, 1994). On the Great Whale project in Quebec.

"Flooding Job's Garden" National Film Board, 1991. 59 minutes. One of a five part series on native self-government, "As Long as the Rivers Flow". Order number: C 9191 044. Portrays the impact of the James Bay project on the Cree of Northern Quebec. Boyce Richardson juxtaposes conditions in the region in the early 1970s, before Hydro Quebec began construction, and in 1990, at the time of debate over Phase 2 of the project.

"Narmada" (Peripheral Visions Productions, 1994). This video follows the grassroots opposition to the Sardar Sarovar project in India, and its leaders, Medha Patkar and Baba Amte. It documents the 200-kilometre march of 6,000 people, an important factor in forcing the World Bank to withdraw its funding from the project. 1 hour, 27 minutes.

"James Bay: A Challenge Met" (Hydro Quebec, 1983). 21 minutes. An overview of the James Bay project, from the perspective of Hydro Quebec.

The Dam Bookshelf
Not a comprehensive listing; but some books that I have found useful, and that constitute a basic library about dams.

Adams, W. M., Wasting the Rain: Rivers, People and Planning in Africa,
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992). [Surveys experience with dams and other river developments in Africa, with a particular focus on irrigation projects.]

Barber, Margaret, Gráinne Ryder, Damming the Three Gorges: What Dam Builders Don't Want You To Know, 2nd ed., (Toronto: Earthscan, 1993).

Caufield, Catherine, Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations, (Henry Holt, 1997).

Christensen, Bev, Too Good To Be True: Alcan's Kemano Completion Project, (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1995).

Dai Qing, Yangtze! Yangtze! (Toronto: Earthscan, 1994). [Originally published in 1989 in Chinese.]

Fisher, William F., ed., Toward Sustainable Development: Struggling Over (Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1995).

Insan, Power Play: Why the Bakun Hydroelectric Project is Damned, (Kuala Lumpur: Insan, 1996). [Wide-ranging survey of the Bakun controversy, from the perspective of activists opposing the project.]

Luk, Shiu-hung, Joseph Whitney, Megaproject: A Case Study of China's Three Gorges, (Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1993).

McCully, Patrick, Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, (London: Zed Books, 1996). [Up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the issue. By far the best one-volume source on dams and their consequences. By the Campaigns Director of the International Rivers Network.]

McCutcheon, Sean, Electric rivers : the James Bay project, (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1991).

Morse, Bradford, Thomas Berger, Sardar Sarovar: Report of the Independent Review, (Ottawa: Resource Futures International, 1992).

Pearce, Fred, The Dammed: Rivers, Dams, and The Coming World Water Crisis, (London: The Bodley Head, 1992). [Fairly impassioned global survey, with some historical content, of dams and the issues they raise for development and the environment.]

Reisner, Marc, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1986, 1993). [Fascinating, and very well-written examination of American water politics.]

Schnitter, Nicholas J., A History of Dams: The Useful Pyramids, (Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema, 1994). [History of dam construction from ancient times to the present day, focusing on changing engineering practices. Reflects the overall ideology of dam construction, as a highly useful, relatively clean technology.]

Shiva, Vandana, Ecology and the Politics of Survival: Conflicts over Natural Resources in India, (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1991).

Sluiter, Liesbeth, The Mekong Currency, (Bangkok: Project for Ecological
Recovery/TERRA, 1992).

Waldram, James B., As Long as the Rivers Run: Hydroelectric Development and Native Communities in Western Canada, (Winnipeg: U of Manitoba Press, 1988).

Worster, Donald, Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985).

In 1995 the New Internationalist magazine published a theme issue on
rivers, that included several articles on various dams in the world.
Click here for information on this issue.

Organizations
The International Rivers Network, based in San Francisco, is the leading organization involved in opposing water development projects. Its web site provides very extensive links to current information, resources and other organizations, relating to a wide range of water projects.