The building of dams has caused significant environmental losses throughout the world. In many cases, the negative environmental impacts were not predicted and the efforts to mitigate these impacts have failed. The benefits of dams have largely gone to the rich, while the poor bear the costs. Furthermore, these costs were frequently neither addressed nor accounted for. In the European Union, water and environmental legislation has improved significantly in recent decades. The Water Framework Directive, Habitat and Bird Directives, and EIA Directive are powerful tools to protect water and water-related ecosystems. But even in EU member states, when the public is not involved in decision making or is not vigilant enough, harmful projects and activities take place. How much more so is this the case in those countries where the legislation and, especially, its enforcement is much weaker? However, examples from Bosnia and Herzegovina show that even in seemingly hopeless situations, strong and organized resistance from communities can achieve success and protect the rivers these communities depend on.