Industrial activity, intensive agricultural settlement, water diversion and hydroelectric development, among other activities, have the potential to directly or indirectly impact the physical and cultural sustainability of modern Aboriginal communities. However, the water rights of Aboriginal people in Canada remain uncertain. This paper discusses how Bands in the treaty 8 area of northern Alberta possess Aboriginal, treaty and common law water rights and, in some cases, may have received title to the beds of navigable, on-reserve waters by implication. It then discusses some indirect impacts of hydroelectric development on the traditional economy and the manner in which Bands may prevent or participate in such development.