Assessing the Social-Economic Impacts of Dam Construction on Surrounding Villages (Case Study: Eyvashan Dam, Khorramabad County)

Dams have always had consequences by creating changes in the surrounding natural and human ecosystems. Accordingly, this study aimed to evaluate the socio-economic impacts of Eyvashan Dam on the surrounding rural areas. The methodology was quantitative in nature with the type of applied research and was approached in a descriptive survey manner. The statistical population of the study was 128 households living in the villages around Eyvashan Dam. Totally, 90 households were estimated as sample size according to Bartlett and colleagues’ sample size table and were selected by performing a random proportional distribution of the samples in the four villages of Eyvashan Golestan, Chakmeh Siyah Olia (Galeh Hadi), Goldarreh, and Chaghalvand Rood Olya. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire within which the face validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was also confirmed by conducting a pilot study and calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.621-0.879). Findings showed that the construction of Eyvashan Dam has affected the components of the economic factors and these effects have been additive. Findings also showed that the Dam affected all social components across local communities in the way that conflict was more noticeable among them, with a decrease compared to the past (-0.318). Results also revealed the variety of diverse impacts among the surrounding villages. Filially, according to the results and the status of the components in the studied villages, suggestions have been made to improve the situation.