First Nations in southern Manitoba are demanding Manitoba Hydro review its operations to stop damage they claim northern dams are causing to their communities.

The Sagkeeng First Nation is located on the Winnipeg River near Lake Winnipeg.

The band claims Manitoba has been raising lake levels, leading to the destruction of shoreline.

"We've seen the shorelines eroded to the point where we have seven homes within 10 feet of shoreline which used to exist on close to 50 feet," Lyle Morrisseau, a band councilor from the community, said Friday. "It's that serious."

Another community, on the Fisher River, has a similar concern.

"Each and every year the flooding seems to be more pronounced," said Glen Hudson, chief of the Peguis First Nation. "Last year ... we flooded three times. So it's about time we call on this environmental audit."

Hudson said almost 300 houses were flooded in 2009, and some families have not been able to return to their homes.

Both the Sagkeeng and Peguis First Nations have joined with the Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) in calling on Manitoba Hydro to conduct an environmental audit on its damming practices.

The SCO claims there are 26 First Nations affected by Hydro operations.

However, Manitoba Hydro officials said there is no basis for the SCO's complaint. They said the lake levels have not changed since Hydro began regulating them and there has been no complaints about the lake backing up into its tributaries.