Essay On The Three Gorges Dam

In the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there were several problems. There were several protestors and opinions about the dam before the Three Gorges Dam project was even started.1 China has had history of several dam failures in the mid-1970s that were responsible for thousands of deaths. The three gorges (Xiling, Wu, and Qutang) have scenery that is a tourist attraction.2 The dam was going to be a little over 600 feet tall, 7500 feet wide, and hold over 97 trillion gallons of water. Because of all of the population increase, China started using coal power plants1 and shipping, which causes acid rain over the region making the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.4 It does not help that the Yangtze River runs right through Chinas industrial heartland. Using the river to transport their goods to other parts or China adds to the pollution.2 Pollution from mines, hospitals, and garbage dumping is another big problem for the river because the pollution is building up around the dam.1 With the Three Gorges Dam will come landslides because of the rising water tables and the large slopes with unstable soil from local farming causing more sediment being added to the river.3 And because the dam lies on a fault line there will also be an escalation of earthquakes. There is a huge decrease in sediment discharge; which caused a 90% sediment load into thousands of other reservoirs. Before the dam was operational, it was retaining water and sediments.4 The water levels were rising faster than anyone expected, therefore, the finish date had to be moved up.1 Scientists even projected that 70% of sediment discharge would be trapped for the first two decades and 44% would be store...

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...ecause of the flooding. With more and more tourist going to see the dam every year, there is an underlining issue of, is the increase in tourism traffic going to be the downfall to the already critical environment? Tourists will be able to view more scenery, but at what cost? I believe building the Three Gorges Dam was a mistake and that the Chinese are just looking for an easier way of life at the expense of the environment. I kept reading about how it will make trading easier and how relocated farmers were told to farm citrus fruit when all they know is growing grains. Life might be easier for the government and the big trade industries, but it will not be easier for the people who have to work under those authorities and conditions. There will always be bias for something because the government has gone above what environmental organizations have suggested.