When the Three Gorges Dam is completed in 2009, it will be the largest dam/hydroelectric plant ever created. And, like many large projects, whether or not it should be built is controversial. But before you decide what side you’re on, you need to know a little more about the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
The Three Gorges Dam project was started in 1994 and is expected to be complete in 2009. It will be 610 feet high and 1.3miles wide. Its main purposes will be to control flooding and to provide much needed clean electricity. The dam’s annual goal is to match 10 nuclear power plants. But though it sounds like it invites no arguments, the Three Gorges Dam has drawbacks.
The Three Gorges Dam will create a reservoir 370 miles long and 525 feet deep. This reservoir is the cause of a mass relocation of people. Over 1.2 million people will be relocated. Many of the people who have already been relocated are having trouble adjusting to their new jobs, homes, and lives. For example, one couple was placed on a plot of land 2/3 the size of their old property. In their old home they had an annual income of $1,200. Now though, their income has dropped to $240. The building of this dam puts stress on the people who live on the planned reservoir site.
The Three Gorges Dam reservoir will not only flood more than 320 villages, 140 towns, and close to 1,600 industries, it will also flood 16 important archeological sites. The archeologists are racing to uncover secrets of the past and ancient artifacts. They have even found evidence of an advanced early culture. All of this new knowledge of the past will be lost in the reservoir flooding.
When the Three Gorges Dam reservoir floods the many cities and industries, the pollution from those areas will be absorbed into the reservoir. This pollution will harm the many animals that live around that area, including the already endangered Siberian Crane, Chinese Tiger, and Yangtze River Dolphin. The Chinese government is working to help the people being relocated. But what about the animals, they can’t be relocated. Many people fear that the pollution that will be absorbed into the reservoir will lead endangered animals to extinction and lead regular animals to be endangered.
Think of this: people are angered, animals suffer, and money is wasted all because of something that won’t work. This scenario is what critics expect in the future for the Three Gorges Dam. Supporters may say that the benefits of clean electricity and flood control that they expect surpass the losses. But what if the dam fails? For example, the dam is supposed to create electricity and control flooding. But the conditions don’t match. To control flooding, water levels in the reservoir must be low to deal with oncoming water flow. But to create electricity, water levels must be high to maintain constant pressure on the turbines. The conditions just don’t match. Also, silt and bedrock carried by the river may eventually get into the dam, causing the turbines to clog and stop producing electricity. The silt and rocks may also pile up on the reservoir floor, causing floods.
What is the point of building a 32 billion dollar dam that causes people stress, dangers animals, floods important archeological sites, and destroys the scenic view of Three Gorges that might not even work?! Instead of building such a complicated dam, use the money to repair already built dikes and dams along the Yangtze, and build smaller hydroelectric plants on the Yangtze River. These smaller dikes, dams, and hydroelectric plants would not cause so much controversy and damage. These things would do all the things the Three Gorges Dam is supposed to and not cause so much damage. Why then, would you build the Three Gorges Dam, when you have such a promising alternative?
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