Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam

1. The Issue China has undertaken the since the erection of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal -- the Three Gorges Dam project. The Three Gorges Dam will be the largest hydropowerstation and dam in the world, with a 1.2 mile stretch of concreteand a 370 mile-long reservoir and 525 feet deep. This project willcost more than virtually any other single construction project inhistory.

2. Description The idea of building a dam across the Yangtze river to controlflooding and to and to harness it for hydropower has been the dream of several generations. The first proposition for construction dates back to the year 1919, when Dr.Sun Yat Sen suggested to build a dam at the Three Gorges. Since1954, Chinese and foreign scientists and engineers have devotedthemselves to the planning, design and consulting work of theproject.
As planned, the capacity of Three Gorges dam, 17 millionkilowatts, will top that of the largest dam currently operating by40 percent.

Its projected annual power generation of 84 billion

kilowatt-hours is equivalent to a coal mine capacity of 40 to 50million tons per year. The project will supply power mainly tothe central China grid of Hubei, Hunan, Henen, and Jiangsu, andAnhui. It will cost (in 1990 prices) as estimated RMB 57 billion($ 10.57 billion). Once completed, the dam will be 185 meters highand store 39.3 billion cubic meters of water. It will create a reservoir 36 miles long and 525 feet deep. Supporters say the benefits of the project far outweigh the costs.

The principal advantage of the project is to generate power to keep pace with China's economic growth. It is estimated that China's power output must rise by 8 percent annually to keep pacewith 6 percent annual increase in gross national product. Inpractical term, that means the nation's total 1990 power capacityof 130 million kilowatts must grow to 580 million by the year 2015. Chinese officials note that the dam will relieve the danger offlooding. The Chang Jing River Valley has been chronicallythreatened by flooding. For example, in 1954, a flood killed30.000 people and left one million homeless. In addition,navigation capacities on the river from Yichang to Chongging willbe improved, thus, 10.000 tons fleets can make direct trips.

Another advantage of the dam is to reduce emissions of sulfurdioxide and carbon dioxide; generating electricity equal to about40 million tons of coal. China's growing coal consumption poses ahuge threat to the environment. Coal burning emits several harmfulair pollution including carbon dioxide (CO2), a major contributionto the global warming. Three quarters of the country's energycomes from coal. China used between 1.1 and 1.2 bn tons of coal in1993, mostly for heating and generating electricity. Industrysource predict China will consume as much as 1.5 to 1.6 bn tons bythe year 2000. Sulfur dioxide emissions, which cause acid rain,are expected to rise from 15.5 million tons in 1991 to 1.4 billion.

However, social costs of resettlement and environmental damageare enormous. Environmental sustainability of the project inrelation to massive resettlement and ecological damage is to befocused in this paper. Chinese officials estimate that thereservoir will partially or completely inundate 2 cities, 11counties, 140 towns, 326 townships, and 1351 villages. About 23800hectares, more than 1.1 million people will have to be resettled,accounting for about one third of the project's cost. Many criticsbelieve resettlement would fail and create reservoir refugees. Theforced migration would raise social unrest. Many of the residentsto be resettled are peasants. They would be forced to move fromfertile farmland to much less desirable areas.

In April 1992, the National Peopleþs Congress approved theconstruction of the Chang Jiang River, the worldþs third largestriver, as part of Chinaþs 10-year development program. The projecthas four goals: to prevent flooding of the navigation on theriver, and to generate power for the surrounding communities. Itconsists of three parts: a dam, a hydropower station and navigation facilities.

The impact to international trade is indirect, butnonetheless, important. The construction of the hydroelectric damrequires numerous international inputs, such as machinery andhydraulic equipment. Moreover, the generated power of 17 millionkilowatts will be used for industry to boost outputs. The groundbreaking began December, 1994, but the resettlement of residentshad begun two years before that. The full-scale construction iscurrently underway and the projected completion date is 15 yearsaway in the year 2010. In April 1992, the plan was formally endorsed by the NationalPeopleþs Congress (NPC). It is believed that the project willalter the entire ecological system and environment in the area. Not only will it divert the riverþs natural course, but it willalso reclaim hundreds of acres of land that is the habitat for manyspecies.

The project will also cause devastating environmental damage,increasing the risk of earthquakes and landslides. It will alsothreaten the riverþs wildlife. In addition to massive fishspecies, it will also affect endangered species, including theYangtze dolphin, the Chinese Sturgeon, the Chinese Tiger, theChinese Alligator, the Siberian Crane, and the Giant Panda. Moreover, silt trapped

behind the dam will not only deprivedownstream regions, but also will impede power generation from theback-up. Construction of the dam would require extensive loggingin the area. Finally, the dam

and the reservoir will destroy someof Chinaþs finest scenery and an important source of tourism revenue.

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