Ecological Roulette: Damming The Yangtze
Article Summary and Author Biography
China is trying to build the largest, most expensive, and perhaps most hazardous hydroelectric dam ever. On a fabled stretch of the Yangtze River, the government is planning to erect a 1.2-mile-long dam that will create a 385-mile-long reservoir of over 10 trillion gallons of water. Even if the dam is constructed safely, the devastation will be staggering: 1.4 million people resettled, 113,00 acres of fertile river valley lost, several rare species eliminated, and some 200 ancient tombs submerged. If it were to fail, millions of city dwellers downstream would be engulfed in a tidal wave. Chinese leaders have touted the flood control and electricity production and have censored and jailed those who dared criticize.
Audrey R. Topping is an author and photojournalist specializing in Chinese affairs. Her books include Dawn Wakes in the East and Splendors and Sorrows of Tibet.
If all goes according to plan, the People's Republic of China by the year 2009 will have completed the biggest, most expensive, and perhaps most hazardous hydroelectric dam ever attempted. The megadam is under construction near the center of China on a fabled stretch of the Yangtze River. Along a mountainous section of the river valley that sharply narrows in three places to form immense, steep-walled canyons--the Xiling, Wu, and Qutang Gorges--the dam will create what the Chinese refer to as a "lake within the gorges." The government claims the Three Gorges Dam will increase the supply of affordable electricity throughout the Yangtze Valley, control floods, boost the growing economy, reduce air pollution, and lessen the impact China's energy production has on the earth's ozone layer.
Although the project had floundered for decades, and final engineering and financing plans were incomplete, last December Premier Li Peng brushed aside international criticism and proclaimed that construction had officially begun on the 1.3-mile-long, 610-foot-high dam. On the surface, the benefits of a megadam to China seem indisputable. But are the benefits worth the costs and risks?
Both the technical and social dimensions of the project are staggering. A reservoir stretching 385 miles up the Yangtze River will be created, forcing the resettlement of 1.4 million people and submerging ancient farmland, temples, wildlife habitats, and archaeological treasures dating back 10,000 years. Much of the unique scenic splendor of the Yangtze River, which has been an integral part of Chinese life and mythology, will be lost forever. The environmental effects will be comparable to those of damming the Grand Canyon or diverting Niagara Falls.
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