Environmental
- The Three Gorges Project, which will be the world's largest water conservation facility when completed, will take 17 years to build.
- The Three Gorges is one of the world's most famous scenic sites. It runs in areas around Qutang, Wuxian and Xiling, featuring breathtaking scenery which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from at home and abroad each and every year. The charming scenery will be left untouched following the damming of the mid-section of the Xiling Gorge.
- The climate and environmental protection experts believe that the construction of the Three Gorges Dam will improve the local climate and its surrounding areas. It is hoped it will also be highly conducive to the planting of citrus fruits.
- The area around the Yangtze River project has a mild climate. In extreme weather in winter temperatures there are not less than five degrees below zero centigrade, while the yearly average temperature is above 15 degrees centigrade. In addition, the area's humidity can be kept at around 80 percent.
Political and Social Reasons
- The Three Gorges Project will relocate 1.2 million residents in the 1,084 sq km-reservoir area, since the reservoir is expected to submerge more than 630 sq km of land behind the Three Gorges Dam.
- Statistics show the incomes of the majority of those resettled people have risen, and the county's economy is developing at an unprecedented speed. In 1995, agricultural and industrial total output in the county soared 40.5 percent over the previous year.
- It has been a Political ambition for generations to control the River Yangtze. Much of what project opponents had forecasted in 1989 is now in full view for the world to see.
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Construction is currently facing massive corruption (In 2000, 97 officials were punished and one sentenced to death for embezzling funds put aside for the relocation of over a million people whose homes were to be flooded by the dam), spiralling costs, technological problems (including cracks 2mm wide and 5m long) and major resettlement difficulties, all raising questions to the judgment of continuing the project.
HEP issues
Locations are largely split, downstream and upstream. The upstream normally has the cost and the downstream has the benefits. Mainly the cost is in rural areas and as the electricity is needed in an industrial area the benefits go to urban areas that are downstream.
People that disagree with the idea, that it is fair to move a relatively small number of people to benefit many people. Per capita wealth is low, rising quickly, is a project like this going to be suited to an LEDCs? A significant question is whether or not the development is sustainable.
Links
Hydrology – Yangtze River flows to Shanghai into Gongan County and led to a massive flooding in these areas. The alluvium carried in the river destroys the crops and can lead to famine and starvation. Alluvium also leaves behind a think layer and silt ruins the fields meaning that future crops are cut back and can be devastating for both trade and for growing a subsistent amount of crops. Labour is the main resource in this area and therefore a loss of people is a massive impact on the area, and the displacement of people that was caused by the massive flood led to lack of people to work the land.
Climatic – 50 million tonnes of coal is the equivalent per year of the production of the HEP. China is the largest producer and users of coal, so to generate the electricity this way means the environment is saved as is the coal that would have been used. Now this coal can be used for other developments.
Tectonics- the weight of the dam and the weight of water behind it could result in an earthquake. The weight may crash the rock and the enormous volume of water could seep into enormous fault lines and lubricate them meaning that they can slip more easily across one another leading to an earthquake. This is a Quasi-Natural occurrence. The sheer weight such a huge volume of water could cause such an earthquake too.
