This work is the result of a study carried out on the banks of the São Francisco River, showing aspects from its source to its mouth, bringing Porto da Folha/SE to the attention of the world in terms of the relationship between man and nature. From the 1970s to the end of the 20th century, when the riverbed was marked by a period of construction of several hydroelectric dams, environmental and social impacts were engendered in the place from the mid-1980s to the present. Despite the existing Sobradinho, Paulo Afonso I, II, III and IV, Luiz Gonzaga (formerly Itaparica) and Moxotó dams on the São Francisco riverbed, their impacts are not as heavy as those of Xingó on the aforementioned site. The concept of the term socio-environmental impact and the discussion of the area of influence of the Xingó Hydroelectric Undertaking should therefore be emphasised. The work is structured in four chapters, combining the context of the desired objective by responding to the hypothesis that these impacts did in fact occur as a result of the existence and activity of the Xingó Hydroelectric Power Plant, although the other dams had an indirect influence.