The Kenney Dam is a rock-fill embankment dam on the Nechako River in northwestern British Columbia, built in the early 1950s. The impoundment of water behind the dam forms the Nechako Reservoir, which is also commonly known as the Ootsa Lake Reservoir. The dam was constructed to power an aluminum smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia by Alcan (now Rio Tinto Alcan), although in the late 1980s the company increased their economic activity by selling excess electricity across North America. The development of the dam caused various environmental problems along with the displacement of the Cheslatta T'En First Nation, whose traditional land was flooded.

Following the Second World War, the Canadian government invited the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) to explore the potential of various sites around the country for hydroelectric power generation. British Columbia was particularly interested in attracting the aluminum industry. Premier Byron Johnson introduced special legislation authorizing the provincial cabinet to do what it thought necessary to establish a new aluminum industry in BC. For its part, Alcan was concerned with locating its energy-intensive aluminum smelters near to an inexpensive source of hydroelectric power. Chilko Lake in the Chilcotin region was the original proposed site for the Kenney Dam, but due to preliminary calculations by Fisheries and Oceans Canada showing that the Chilko Lake held up to three-quarters of the Fraser River's total sockeye salmon spawned in the region, the provincial government eliminated the site from the proposal. In 1948, following feasibility studies, Alcan decided to pursue a project on the Nechako River to power a large aluminum smelter to be located at the new townsite of Kitimat. A public opinion poll taken in 1949 indicated that an overwhelming majority of British Columbians supported the Alcan's plans for hydroelectric development on the Nechako. Support was not universal, however: for example, the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission objected to the use of a salmon river for power.

Alcan had originally proposed that the BC government build the dam and the company buy the electricity from the province, but the government declined. Instead, Alcan signed the Kemano I agreement with the province on December 29, 1950 which granted the company rights to divert water from the Nechako above the dam and Nanika River downstream of Nanika Falls, permission to dam the Nechako and divert a portion of the original flow through a tunnel to a hydroelectric facility at Kemano, tax exemptions, and favourable water rental rates. Alcan also received timber rights and mineral rights on the Crown land that was flooded, and was given the opportunity to purchase land for the townsite of Kitimat at a rate of $1.60 per acre.

Construction of the dam and its associated facilities began in 1951 and continued until 1967, although the dam became operational in 1954. The dam, located in the Canyon of the Nechako River, is a rock-filled, clay-core dam measuring 97 metres high and 457 metres wide (at the top). Construction involved over 3 million cubic metres of material. Concrete was injected in bedrock fissures below the dam to stabilize the foundation. Until the W. A. C. Bennett Dam was built on the Peace River in the 1960s, the Kenney Dam was the largest rockfill dam in the world. The dam was named for the Hon. Edward Tourtellotte Kenney, then-Minister of Lands and Forests in the government of Premier Byron Johnson.

Behind the dam, the Nechako Reservoir filled from 1952 to 1957, flooding a series of lakes in the drainage basin of the upper Nechako River. The water of the reservoir filled an area of 92,000 hectares. However, the level of the reservoir can vary by more than 3 metres depending on rainfall and power generation needs.

The dam, which sits at the east end of the reservoir, forms part of a hydroelectric complex which also includes the Skins Lake spillway, which regulates water levels both in the reservoir and downstream. On the west side of the reservoir, a 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) long intake tunnel running through the Coast Mountain range brings water to penstocks for a 2,600-foot (790 m) vertical drop to the 8 units of the 890-MW Kemano Generating Station. The basic design of the Kenney Dam-Kemano power station inspired a similar development in Quebec. The Bersimis-1 generating station, built between 1953 and 1956 by Hydro-Québec, shares many features with Alcan's project.

Concurrent with the hydroelectric development of the Nechako, the Alcan smelter, and townsite of Kitimat were created.

At the request of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), the Murray Dam and the Skins spillway were constructed across the Cheslatta River to help cool water temperatures in the upper Nechako River in order to minimize the impact on salmon spawning from the development of the Kenney Dam. As a result of the discharged water from the Murray Dam and the spillway, the traditional lands which had been home to the Cheslatta T'En people for at least 10,000 years, were flooded and caused the relocation of approximately 200 Cheslatta people. Villages were demolished and burned prior to the flooding with most families unable to return to collect their belongings and as water levels rose, it has been noted that coffins and skeletons from their traditional grave sites were washed away with skeletal remains being allegedly found in and around Cheslatta Lake.