Within the last 24 hours, the final temporary retaining wall that held water intended for the Three Gorges Dam project was destroyed in order that the water may enter and discharge through the dam. Three Gorges Dam is on. This is the largest dam ever constructed in the world and is surrounded by controversy from groups concerned with the environment, human rights, and history/archeological. Construction of this monstrosity began in 1993 and was officially completed in May 2006, 13 (lucky) years. The government of China, unmoved by international appeal to the contrary, went ahead with the project and displaced over one million people. The construction was possible in part by funding from countries including the United States, Canada, and Germany. Exact numbers are not known, but the total cost exceeds $25 billion dollars and may be as much as $100 billion. The dam is located on the Yangste River, stretches 1.3 miles and is just over 610 feet high. The hydropower generation will not be fully functional until 2009, but is expected to generate 18,000 megawatts of electricity.
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06/08/06 » 7:22 am »
Large-scale hydro is so damaging to the environment as it totally disturbs local and far-reaching flora and fauna. Changes in water flow/temperature, as well as dispersion of river sediments, and floodwaters, which enrich riverbank soil profounding affect fish, farming, insects, birds, pretty much everything. I’m surprised that China went ahead with the project since there was so much outcry over it. It will be interesting to see how much it screws up the fisheries both along the river and at the mouth of the river where the river water enters the sea. All I can hope is that it will be the last of it’s size built and that it will have such devastating impacts that it will teach the world (again….but anyway) about the stupidity of it. (not to mention all the people who were removed from their ancestral homelands!)
It’s too bad they didn’t invest all that money in less damaging technology.
06/08/06 » 2:23 pm »
this dam is necessary to curb global warming. the whole world blames china for being the biggest polluter, and at the same time, the world blames china for making the decision to harness the 3rd longest river on earth. if they didnt do this, they would build many coal plants instead, and all you environmentalists know how bad that would be.
07/11/07 » 2:01 pm »
matt, that would be great if it were true. however, most people do not realize that the large reservoirs created by the dam serve as huge collectors for organic matter such as vegetation and dead animals. these sink to the bottom in oxygen deprived environments and decay in an inefficient manner that turns carbon into methane gas. methane is a ghg 20 times more potent than co2. research at a dam in brazil in the 90′s found that the reservoir emitted 50 times more ghg than an equal sized coal fired power plant.
04/14/08 » 3:53 pm »
The World Bank estimates that forcible “development-induced displacement and resettlement” now affects 10 million people per year. According to the World Bank an estimated 33 million people have been displaced by development projects such as dams, urban development and irrigation canals in India alone.
India is well ahead in this respect. A country with as many as over 3600 large dams within its belt can never be the exceptional case regarding displacement. The number of development induced displacement is higher than the conflict induced displacement in India. According to Bogumil Terminski an estimated more than 10 million people have been displaced by development each year.
Athough the exact number of development-induced displaced people (DIDPs) is difficult to know, estimates are that in the last decade 90–100 million people have been displaced by urban, irrigation and power projects alone, with the number of people displaced by urban development becoming greater than those displaced by large infrastructure projects (such as dams). DIDPs outnumber refugees, with the added problem that their plight is often more concealed.
This is what experts have termed “development-induced displacement.” According to Michael Cernea, a World Bank analyst, the causes of development-induced displacement include water supply (dams, reservoirs, irrigation); urban infrastructure; transportation (roads, highways, canals); energy (mining, power plants, oil exploration and extraction, pipelines); agricultural expansion; parks and forest reserves; and population redistribution schemes.
01/24/12 » 4:33 pm »