Why could China's Three

Gorges Dam cause an

environmental disaster?

This man still lives in a half-demolished building nearly submerged by the Yangtze's rising
waters.
Environmental experts cite not one, but several potential catastrophes that could
occur in the wake of the dam's construction.

Pollution. As it fills, the enormous reservoir will submerge 13 cities, 140 towns
and 1,350 villages [source: International Rivers]. Homes, factories, mines and
waste dumps will all end up underwater, along with their contents, which likely
include toxic chemicals. Add to that the estimated 1.35 billion tons (1.25 billion
metric tons) of sewage already being dumped in the river each year, which will
have nowhere to go but into the reservoir -- a major source of drinking water for
the region [source: China Three Gorges Project]. Putting a dam on the Yangtze
will slow its flow from 13 feet (4 meters) per second to 1 foot (0.3 meters) per
second, which means pollutants will float lazily in the river instead of being
flushed quickly out to sea [source: Kuhn]. In a country where more than half of

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the major waterways are polluted to the point of being unsafe for drinking,
polluted water is a big concern.

Earthquakes. Three Gorges Dam sits on two major fault lines -- Jiuwanxi and
Zigui-Badong. Geologists fear that rapid changes in water pressure when the
reservoir levels are changed during flood season could activate already shaky
ground and trigger an earthquake (a phenomenon known as reservoir-induced
seismicity). In the seven months following the 2006 increase in water level,
geologists recorded 822 tremors around the reservoir [source: Hvistendahl].

Landslides and mudslides. The raising and lowering of the water level in the
reservoir also destabilizes the land around it. Water seeps into the soil in the cliffs
surrounding the reservoir, causing enough erosion to make the ground slip. The
shore of Three Gorges reservoir has already collapsed in more than 90 places
[source: Macartney]. Villagers in the area have reported mudslides and cracks
appearing in their backyards. In 2003, 700 million cubic feet (20 million cubic
meters) of rock slid into the Qinggan River just a couple of miles from where it
flows into the Yangtze. The rockslide spawned 65-foot (20-meter) waves that
killed 14 people [source: Hvistendahl].

Changes in the weather. The alteration in water flow from the dam is so
significant that scientists are saying it's actually changing the weather in the area.
Researchers at NASA discovered that Three Gorges was creating a sort of lake
effect, decreasing rainfall in the area around it, while increasing rainfall in the
surrounding mountains. In areas where rainfall increased, temperatures dropped
by an average of 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit (less than 1 degree Celsius)
because cloud cover limited the amount of sunlight reaching the ground. NASA
scientists say these temperature fluctuations could become even more dramatic
when the dam becomes fully functional in 2009 [source: NASA].

Drought. Ironically, just as the Three Gorges project seeks to prevent flooding,
it's causing drought by reducing water levels in the Yangtze River. In 2008, the
China Daily newspaper reported that the river had hit its lowest level in 142 years
[source: Reuters]. That precipitous drop in water level stranded ships and led to

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water shortages in central and eastern China, including in Shanghai, China's
largest city.

Lost species. The dam will flood some animal and plant habitats, while leaving
others high and dry. Pollution in the water will make it impossible for many fish
to survive. Three Gorges threatens more than 400 plant species, including the
Chinese dove tree and dawn redwood, as well as a number of fish and the rare
Baiji dolphin.

Historic relics. The reservoir will inundate ancient villages, temples and burial
grounds, destroying thousands of years' worth of irreplaceable history.
Archaeologists and historians say almost 1,300 important historical sites will be
submerged, including the 4,000-year-old homeland of the ancient Ba people.

Trash washes against the side of the giant Three Gorges Dam. The river's pollution is putting
the drinking water of Shanghai and many other cities at risk.
GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Human rights activists, scientists and environmentalists have been voicing serious
concerns about Three Gorges since plans were approved in the early 1990s. Even
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji issued a dire warning when he toured the dam site in
1999, saying, "The responsibility on your shoulders is heavier than a mountain.
Any carelessness or negligence will bring disaster to our future generations and
cause irretrievable losses" [source: Kennedy]. Chinese journalist Dai Qing has

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been one of the most outspoken critics of Three Gorges. She once called the
project "The most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world"
[source: Kennedy]. In 1989, Qing spent 10 months in prison for her views.

For many years the Chinese government hailed the virtues of the project and
downplayed any harm it might cause. Then, in a September 2007 meeting in the
city of Wuhan, the government's tune seemed to change. Officials warned of the
project's "hidden dangers," and said it had the potential to cause a "huge disaster
[…] if steps are not taken promptly" [source: Yang].

The Chinese government is taking steps -- to the tune of billions of dollars -- to

make the dam and reservoir safer. It's spending $3.2 billion on water treatment
projects, and another $1.6 billion on fortifying the reservoir banks to
prevent landslides [sources: China Environmental News Digest and International
Rivers]. It's finding new spawning areas for threatened fish species, and it moved
many ancient relics before they ended up underwater.

However, despite serious concerns about its safety, the Three Gorges Dam
project continues. Not only is it proceeding, but there are also plans under way to
create 12 more hydropower facilities on the middle and upper Yangtze. The
Chinese government is also looking to replicate the Three Gorges model
elsewhere, with 13 dams planned for the Nu River and eight dams on the
Lancang (Upper Mekong) River, all in an effort to increase the country's
hydropower capacity to 300 gigawatts (300 million kilowatts) by 2020
[source: Yardley]. These dams could potentially displace thousands more people,
and cause ecological nightmares of their own.

To learn more about dams and China, look over the next page.

FINDING NEW HOMES

The Three Gorges Dam will have a huge impact not only on the land surrounding
it, but also on the people who live there. Before construction began, the Chinese
government ordered 1.3 million people living along the banks of the Yangtze to

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leave their homes. Although those who were relocated were promised money
and plots of land, some received as little as 50 yuan -- just $7 -- a month, and
were resettled to areas where the soil was less fertile than the land they had left
[source: Hvistendahl]. Many farmers moved to higher ground, where they're now
sharing tiny pieces of land on steep, landslide-prone slopes.