Editing Angara (section)

===Dams and reservoirs===
[[File:Bratsk hydropower station 3.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Bratsk Dam]]]]
Four dams of major hydroelectric plants - constructed since the 1950s - exploit the waters of the Angara:
* [[Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Irkutsk Dam]], forming the [[Irkutsk Reservoir]], which floods the valley of the river from its source to Irkutsk, and slightly raises the water level in Lake Baikal
* [[Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Bratsk Dam]], forming the [[Bratsk Reservoir]]
* [[Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Ust-Ilimsk Dam]], at [[Ust-Ilimsk]], forming the Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir
* [[Boguchany Dam]], at [[Kodinsk]]

The reservoirs of these dams flooded a number of villages along the Angara and its tributaries (including the historic fort of [[Ilimsk]] on the Ilim), as well as numerous agricultural areas in the river valley. Due to its effects on the way of life of the rural residents of the Angara valley, dam construction was criticized by a number of Soviet intellectuals, in particular by the Irkutsk writer [[Valentin Rasputin]] - both in his novel ''[[Farewell to Matyora]]'' (1976) and in his non-fiction book ''[[Siberia, Siberia]]'' (1991).