Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam

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Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam, which is currently under construction on Yangtze River, include degraded water quality, detriments to wildlife, potential riverbank collapses, and potential silt related falling of coastal areas.

Currently, the quality of water in the higher banks of Yangtze is slowly worsening, due to the dam's preventing dispersal of pollutants; algal blooms have risen progressively since the dam’s construction; and soil erosion has increased, causing riverbank collapses and landslides.[1] The report detailing this was officially released in September 2007.[2] Senior Chinese government officials and scholars said the dam could cause a "huge disaster ... if steps are not taken promptly."[1] The same scholars and officials previously had defended the Three Gorges Dam project.[3] However, the Chinese embassy in the United States has firmly promoted it.[4] Xinhua News Agency also reported that tens of billions of yuan had been spent to prevent pollution and geological disasters by tree planting, measures to maintain biodiversity, shutting 1500 polluting industrial and mining enterprises and building 70 sewage and waste treatment plants, all of which are "progressing well."[3]

Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam

Of the 3,000 to 4,000 remaining critically endangered Siberian Crane, a large number currently spend the winter in wetlands that will be destroyed by the Three Gorges Dam.[5] The dam contributed to the functional extinction of the Baiji Yangtze river dolphin. Though it was close to this level even at the start of construction, the dam further decreased its habitat and increased ship travel, which are among the factors causing what will be its ultimate demise. In addition, populations of the Yangtze sturgeon are guaranteed to be "negatively affected" by the dam.[6]

While logging in the area was required for construction which adds to erosion, stopping the periodic and uncontrolled flooding of the river will lessen bank erosion in the long run. The build up of silt in the reservoir will, however, reduce the amount of silt transported by the Yangtze River to the Yangtze Delta and could reduce the effectiveness of the dam for electricity generation and, perhaps more importantly, the lack of silt deposited in the peninsula could result in erosion and sinking of coastal areas.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "China's Three Gorges Dam Under Fire", Time, 2007-10-12. Retrieved on 2008-01-13. 
  2. ^ "China dam to displace millions more", MWC News, 2007-10-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  3. ^ a b Mary Ann Toy. "Three Gorges Dam 'could be huge disaster'", The Age, 2007-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  4. ^ "People Are Better Off in Three Gorges Resettlement", Archive.org WayBackMachine. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 
  5. ^ "Three Gorges Dam Case Study", American University, The School of International Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-20. 
  6. ^ Ethan Theuerkauf. "Three Gorges Dam: A Blessing or an Environmental Disaster?", The Flat Hat, the College of William and Mary’s student newspaper, 2007-10-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-20. 
  7. ^ "Three Gorges Dam Project - Environmental Impact", ibiblio.org. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.