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Many proponents of dams may argue that dams provide a way to control flooding, which they argue will protect lives. However, flooding is a natural process of the earth. The proponents justify dams through short- term benefits, such as recreation, water storage and flood control, but ignore the long term effects, such as habitat destruction, pollution, and 23 million displaced people. If supporters are taking positions to better the lives of people, they really need to reconsider whether they truly have a positive impact upon others.

https://www.fema.gov/benefits-dams (source sites the benefits of dams)

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The purpose of dams should be to help the people, because without that purpose, there would be no reason to construct. Due to the  construction of the Three Gorges Dam, many people are at risk of degraded water quality, because the water from the dam showed increased concentrations of nitrates and phosphates. In addition, approximately 23 million people were displaced in order to construct this dam. This mass migration has caused increased environmental impacts, such as deforestation (which can lead to soil erosion and crumbling hillsides). The land cleared for crops were not fruitful at all either, affecting the peoples lives in a negative way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/asia/19dam.html

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"Planners have generally failed to assess the

true benefits and costs of large hydro power

projects. Returns have usually fallen short

of expectations even without adjustment for

risk, and an estimated 75% of large dams suffered cost overruns that averaged 96% above the figures used to justify their creation.

Economic projections frequently exclude or

underestimate the costs of environmental

mitigation, as in the case of the ~$26 billion

spent by China to moderate ecological impacts of the Three Gorges Dam"

The Three Gorges Dam is a very good example that shows how dam projects are often inept at accurately calculating their costs. By not calculating the environmental causes into the final cost, China truly paid a heavy price for their mistakes
https://bio.kuleuven.be/eeb/lbeg/docs/winemiller-et-al-2015.pdf

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One of the many downsides to having a dam is the fact that there are environmental impacts. In some cases, the fish population can be affected, such as the salmon. The salmon population requires rivers to reaching their spawning areas in order to lay their eggs and then finally die. Dams, unfortunately make this impossible for the fish to reproduce.

In addition, when calculating the costs for the construction of a dam, ecological impacts are rarely considered, making the entire process dangerous for biodiversity. For example, the project of Elwha showed that when the dam was removed, biodiversity returned to its original state and flourished.
http://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/elwha/