Three Gorges Project

1. Three Gorges Project The Three Gorges Dam, a project of great weight to Chinese nation, has been completed and so far begun to bring benefits to Chinese people in mainly four aspects: flood control, power generation, navigation and tourism.

2. One of the major objectives of the dam is to control water levels due to frequent floods causing a historical problem around the Jinjiang River and Dongting Lake area. The project can efficiently control the water from upper stream and reduce the flood and sand pouring into Dongting Lake during the flood season, thus the sediment accumulation rate of Dongting Lake can be postponed and the threat of flood to it can be relieved. The normal storage level can be reached to 574 feet and its flood control capacity is as large as 29 billion cubic yards which will protect the Jingjiang River and the middle or the lower reaches of Yangtze River. If severe floods happen, the big dam can hold the water and discharge the flood, which wins time for transferring personnel to avoid loss of life.

3. Power Generation The total capacity of the Three Gorges Dam Project is 18.2 million kilowatts and the annual power generation is 84.7 billion kilowatt hours, which greatly relieves the electricity pressure in middle and eastern China. Hydropower is clean energy and environmental friendly. The operation of the Three Gorges hydropower station can reduce the emissions of ten million tons of carbon dioxide, one to two million tons of sulfur dioxide, 300,000 to 400,000 tons of oxynitride, 10,000 tons of carbon monoxide and 150,000 tons of dust. From these data, the huge contribution of this hydropower station to the environmental protection is definitely affirmed.

4. Navigation Located in the middle reach of Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam will largely improve the waterway conditions from Yichang City to Chongqing City. In the dry season, the water in the lower reaches of Gezhouba Water Control Project can get ample supply, and the navigation in the upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River will be well developed. The ships of ten thousand tons can sail directly from Chongqing to Hankou and further to Shanghai. Besides, due to the improvement of the navigable waterways, the ship size and fleet size are accelerated standardization and large-sized, and the transport costs can be reduced.

5. Tourism After the completion of the dam project, visitors will be delighted to see a wonder in the Yangtze River where a calm lake sits among the steep gorges. As the rising of the water, many scenic spots which originally hard to enter are now reachable. For example, in Dangyang River, the branch of Madu River, a new sight of "small three gorges" appears. The White Emperor City, which was hidden in the thick forest in the past, becomes a beautiful island standing in the center of the river. The big scenery change will attract more and more visitors to explore the Three Gorges.

6. Concerns have surfaced about the dam itself. Allegations of corruption among officials involved with the project have raised fears of shoddy construction. The Chinese media recently reported several incidents in which corruption and poor construction have led to disasters at major building projects. Notable among the reports was the collapse of a steel bridge in the city of Chongqing in January 1999 that killed 40 people. Non-governmental criticism of the project also has surfaced. Journalist Dai Qing was jailed for 10 months in 1989-90 after criticizing the Three Gorges project and, by extension, Li Peng, the former Chinese premier and Soviet-trained engineer who spearheaded the dam's construction. Dai calls Three Gorges "the most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world." She also calls for a halt to construction and supports the idea of a series of smaller, less disruptive construction projects on tributaries of the Yangzi.

7. Of further concern are claims the dam might become an environmental disaster. There have been little to no attempts made toward removing accumulations of toxic materials and other potential pollutants from industrial sites that will be inundated. Experts say such materials could leach into the reservoir, creating a health hazard. The relative lack of waste treatment plants in China also could mean run-off from communities around the dam would most likely go untreated directly into the reservoir and into the Yangzi.

8. Resettlement The social element of Three Gorges has generated more questions than answers. The dam will "drown" more than 100 towns once the water starts to rise in 2003. Government estimates say 1.2 million people will be resettled and that new land is being provided for 300,000 farmers. Some observers say the government may be underestimating by as many as 700,000 the number of people who actually will be relocated. "One of the tragedies of this [project], if just from a regional standpoint, is that the land that is going to be flooded is some of the most fertile in China," says Byrne. "The land to where the population is to be relocated is much less fertile." The frustrations of those caught up in the resettlement process have been well covered by the Chinese media. Even the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, has editorialized against corruption and poor construction that have either delayed new housing or resulted in sub-standard buildings.

9. Historians also have questioned the dam's impact on attempts to preserve some aspects of China's long and illustrious history. Archaeologists and historians have estimated nearly 1,300 important sites will disappear under the reservoir's waters. Most irreplaceable, according to some experts, are sites that are remnants of the homeland of the Ba, an ancient people who settled in the region about 4,000 years ago. A former curator at Beijing's National Museum of Chinese History describes the area as "the last and best place to study Ba culture."