The lake of Kossou, which spans 585 square miles (1,500 km2) in the centre of Côte d’Ivoire, is an artificial reservoir designed to regulate the flow of the Bandama River and to facilitate the construction of a hydroelectric dam. The lake was built between 1969 and 1971, at the cost of 200 flooded villages and 75,000 displaced people, who benefited from reinstallation and development measures. In 2000 the world had a total of 45,000 dams greater than 50 feet (15 m) high (versus 5,750 of them in 1950), of which half are in China, where 90 dams higher than 190 feet (60 m) are under construction. Although dams can contribute prominently toward mastering floods and satisfying needs for energy and water, especially in developing countries where two-thirds of retained water are found, their ecological and social impact remains considerable: 40 to 80 million people in the world, often poorly compensated, have been displaced to make way for reservoirs. Better integration of the soc

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