Three Gorges Damn

Three Gorges Dam

The construction of the Three Gorges Dam began in the year 1993 but the idea was created many years ago. This will be the biggest hydroelectric dam on the face of the earth when complete in the year 2009. Along with the creation of the Three Gorges Dam, a great deal of controversy had arisen and still exists today. Many people question whether the Dam will ultimately hurt China's economy and society rather than benefit it. The goal of the Dam is to reduce the amount of harmful gases extracted into the atmosphere and to save money in the long run on producing electricity, but the dam comes with an outlandish price tag. The Three Gorges Dam is sure to help the atmosphere but the problems it may potentially bring might override the dam's positive affects.

The Three Gorges Dam stretches the Yangstze River starting at Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The dam will be positioned between the cities of Yichang, Hubei; abd Fuling, Changqing Municipality (Wikipedia). Dr. Sun Yetsun first proposed the idea of the Three Gorges Dam in the year 1919. In his book "Industrial Plan" he stated that, "We can use a lock to block the river to let boats move against the water as well as make use of resources." This was the introduction of the idea of using the great hydro power of the Three Gorges to benefit society as well as improve the navigation channel of Chuanjiang (paper 1).

In 1924 Dr. Sun Yetsun wrote a book called "Peoples Living" in which he introduced the idea of using the Three Gorges by stating, "The water power at Quixia in the upper stream of Yangtze river is great. Someone has checked and found out that water resource from Yichang to Wanxian can generate power such as 3000 horsepower, much greater than the power of the whole nation." This gave many people a better understanding of how powerful the Three Gorges truely were (Paper1).

The Resource Commission of the Guomindang government had put together a team of Scientists who studied the hydro power of the upper Yangstze river in October of 1993. They felt a dam should be built at Gezhouba with a height of 12.8m and total capacity of 300,000kw, 10,000kw each. The following April the Yangtze River Committee wanted to create a power generation plant in upper Yangtze. The advisor of the Yangstze Water Resource Committee was looking for a way to improve the channel of the Three Gorges and to develop better water resources. This study did not last long at all due to social and economic troubles (paper1).

In 1945 the Resource Commission gathered organizations of related fields and formed theThree Gorges Hydro Power Plan and Technical Research Committee. Mr. Qian Changzhao was elected Chairman of the committee and wanted to come up with a precise plan for the Three Gorges Project. He wanted the plan to consist of ideas for navigation, irrigation, reservoir area flooding, resettlement, fertilizer making and reservoir survey. That August the Three Gorges survey team was formally established (Paper 1). Either political problems or financial problems always put a hold on the development of the Three Gorges Dam until the year 1984, when plans first began constructing for the project.

In 1946, Three Gorges survey division under Resource Commission worked out Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir Survey Report, Economy Investigation Report of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and Geological Report of Yichang Gorge. That same year, Resource Commission signed an agreement with US Bureau of Reclomation to entrust the latter to do engineering. The commission sent over 50 Chinese technical people to participate in the engineering of Three Gorges Project. In 1947, the Guomingdang government decided to stop the engineering of Three Gorges Project because of internal war in China. (paper1)

Along with the Three Gorges Dam has come lots of controversy. When the dam is completed it will be the most powerful dam ever built. The dam will stand 607 feet high and more than a mile wide., equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants. At peak load, 26 turbines will generate 18,200 megawatts of electricity and will create a reservoir 370 miles long. The system of locks will allow ships to come through enhancing marketing for the Chinese, but it will put a great burden on society in more ways than one (wikipedia).

The budget for the project was $25 billion and supporters of the dam feel that it will pay for itself through electricity generation. The project has now turned into one of the most expensive projects in the history of the world. Some investigators have estimated the project costing around $100 billion dollars. This estimation also excludes maintenance or any type of repairs that might have to take place in the future such as corruption, destroyed arable land, mass population displacement, and environmental damage (wikipedia).

Many people also question who the dam is really benefitting. Critics see the dam as mainly helping the interests of east coast industrialists since they have the greatest need for the hydro-electric power. Unfortunately this is coming at the expense of millions who's homes are being displaced. The number of people being moved has been greatly under estimated and the land they are moving to is of much less quality. This is horrible because half the people being moved are farmers who are in need of good land (wikipedia). Many of the cities along the rivers bank will be devastated. The reservoir will take up as many as 240,000 acres of farmland. Some of the inhabitants of the region are in favor of the dam and believe it will help future generations, while others believe the dam will destroy much of the "cultural" and "historical value" of the area. Archaeologists estimate that about 8,000 un-excavated sites will be lost forever to the reservoir (new source).

When the Three Gorges Dam is completed in the year 2009, it will take care of about 10% of China's electricity needs. Over 80% of the Country's power is now being generated by coal. Although hydro-electric power is a renewable energy, the creation of large reservoirs can generate considerable amounts of Green house gases consisting of large amounts of methane, due to micro biotic activity (wikepedia). Many factories and mills deposit hazardous toxins into the Yangtze river everyday. The power of the river takes the pollutants in the opposite direction of region which keeps it from sitting stagnant. Many specialists believe that the reservoir