OrientDams: The Impact of Dams on Cultural Heritage in the Middle East and North Africa

Dams represent a controversial tool for economic development. Less contested is their impact on archaeological and heritage resources. It is widely agreed that in addition to water reserves, massive hydraulic infrastructures provide different types of benefits, such as the production of electricity, increased farmland brought by irrigation as well as developments of fishery and water-related industries. However, in addition to their maintenance costs, the construction and up-filling of dams entails potential political international issues when built on rivers flowing through different countries, the dislocation of thousands of people, the permanent loss of the best soils and the widespread destruction of both cultural and natural heritage.