China’s Three Gorges Dam: An Epic Battle Between Man and Nature
by Beth Gray
Images of the Three Gorges Dam from Nasa's Earth Observatory Website.
China’s Three Gorges Dam project is marred in controversy and serves as an example of man’s attempt to harness nature and nature’s stubborn resistance. Officially approved in 1992 by the Chinese government, the project was originally conceived by China’s most famous Nationalist leader, Sun Yat-sen, decades earlier in 1919. The project is intended to harness the power of the unruly Yangtze River which in the last 2,000 years has flooded the towns and villages that rest on its banks more than 1,000 times. Several of these floods have caused tremendous loss of life. Perhaps the most significant of these floods occurred in 1931 when more than 300,000 lost their lives in the cities of Nanjing and Wuhan and another 40,000,000 were left homeless. While the Yangtze’s flooding has caused much death and destruction, the Chinese have recognized that there may be value in the river’s power.
The Chinese government sees great potential in using the river as a major source of renewable power for a nation that is growing in both population and energy dependence. The Dam, once completed, would generate 18,000 megawatts of power, more than eight times that of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. The project which has been estimated to cost some $24 billion has created tremendous controversy for several reasons, however. Human rights activists, for example, have voiced concerns over the required relocation of entire villages and towns. Scientific American reported in an article that the Chinese government had ordered the relocation of “some 1.2 million people in two cities and 116 towns clustered on the banks of the Yangtze.” Though promised fair compensation for their land, many of those evacuated have reported that they have been offered as little as 50 yuan, or $7 a month, as compensation.
Besides the toll the project is taking on the immediate lives of the individuals living in the area, there are extensive and significant environmental concerns associated with the project. Though the project was eventually approved, environmentalists inside and outside of China raised concerns that the “Three Gorges Dam…had the potential of becoming one of China’s biggest environmental nightmares.” Though Chinese officials have previously denied any environmental fallout from the project, some are beginning to realize that recent events and environmental phenomena are significantly linked to the Three Gorges Dam.
Perhaps the most frequent and devastating of these events are landslides caused by the construction of the Dam. In one 20-mile stretch of the river, for example, dozens of landslides have occurred burying highways, homes, and even people. As soil is removed to create reservoirs for the dam’s infrastructure, the land is destabilized and in turn becomes prone to landslides. Additionally, scientists and environmentalists fear that the construction of the dam could trigger earthquakes. One of the largest reservoirs associated with the dam sits directly on top of two major faults: the Jiuwanxi and the Zigui-Badong. Though no earthquakes have occurred that can be directly attributed to the Three Gorges Dam, “engineers in China blame dams for at least 19 earthquakes over the past five decades, ranging from small tremors to one near Guangdong province’s Xinfengjiang Dam in 1962 that registered a magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale.” Considering the magnitude of the Three Gorges Dam, it is not surprising that scientists are fearful of the potential for earthquakes as the project continues.
Less obvious environmental consequences have also been explored in relation to the building of the dam. Many scientists claim that China’s rich biodiversity is being threatened by the project. The reservoirs created for the dam, according to the Scientific American article mentioned above, threaten to flood and endanger the habitats of some 400 species of vascular plants, many of which are found only in China. Additionally, fish populations are being negatively impacted by the changes in water levels in various portions of the Yangtze as a result of the building of the dam. According to scientists, “the project has already contributed to the decline of the baiji dolphin, which is so rare that it is considered functionally extinct.”
Scientists are also exploring the possibility of increased water-borne diseases associated with the building of the dam. For example, George Davis, a tropical medicine specialist at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC, is studying the apparent rise in schistosomiasis, a blood parasite transmitted to humans through snails. According to Davis, humans have a higher risk of contracting this disease when swimming or wading in contaminated fresh water. Other scientists have noted the deteriorating water quality of the river as a whole since the beginning of the project and have raised concerns that the dammed river is less able to disperse pollutants in an effective manner. Further, the snails culpable for transmitting the infection used to breed on small flood plain islands and were controlled by annual flooding of the Yangtze. Decreased water flow downstream as a result of the damming of the river, however, has allowed these snail populations to increase unchecked, leading to increased instances of transmission to humans in the areas of China surrounding the Yangtze.
Initially, environmentalists and scientists chastised the Chinese government for its perceived refusal to accept the likelihood of such negative environmental impacts from the building of the dam. In June 2007, however, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao “told…the State Council…that solving environmental problems surrounding the controversial dam project should be a priority for the country.” As of the publication of this article, the progress of building the dam continues and it remains to be seen whether the Chinese government will heed the warnings of Chinese and international scientists exploring the environmental degradation associated with the project. While the Chinese government sees tremendous benefit to the damming of the Yangtze, not the least of which is the ability to more effectively control flooding, the environmental concerns expressed by the scientific community at large should not be overlooked.
Tags: China, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, George Davis, George Washington University Medical Center, schistosomiasis, Scientific American, Three Gorges Dam, Yangtze River
