What these ‘advocates’ are not aware of is that there are alternative sources of energy which are more new, cheaper and less polluting than hydroelectric power, such as gas-fueled combined cycle plants and co-generators produce practically no pollution or greenhouse gases. Though the combined cycle plants may not be ready until five years from now, by then ratepayers will defect to new, more technologically sophisticated alternatives which are safer, more reliable, uses less fuel, requires less capital investment, adapts easily to rapid changes in energy needs and carries no risk of black outs. This is almost as if hydro-dams are antiquated.
Emphasis on the dam as a flood control system resulted from a flood in 1954 that killed tens of thousands. There were the annual floods that would ruin crops, homes of the people living along the fertile banks of the Yangtze and killed about 300,000 people within the last 100 years. ‘Experts’ say that with the dam built, the flow of water can be controlled to prevent frequent floods from once a decade to once a century as the reservoir has a storage capacity of 22.1 billion cubic meters. But this does not really address the real source of flooding, which is the loss of forest cover in the Yangtze watershed and the loss of 13,000 km2 of lakes (which had greatly help to lessen floods) due to siltation, reclamation and uncontrolled development.
In the hopes of trapping most of the silt before it reaches the dam, four more dams are being built on the Yangtze River’s longest tributary, the Jinsha (Golden Sand) River. The Jinsha flows for more than 1,200 miles from Tibet to enter the Yangtze at Yibin in Sichuan province. Officials thought that the best way to deal with the problem of silt building up behind the reservoir at the three gorges dam was to built even more dams, which is clearly an absurdity. To the government because the population is sparse along the Jinsha so they think that it is alright to let silt be trapped in those dams and cause floods there.
The dam threatens a double blow to the Yangtze’s water quality. A toxic cocktail of arsenic, mercury, lead, cyanide and other cancer-causing heavy metals are poured into and will be stored in the reservoir that is to water some of China’s most fertile farmland and due to provide drinking water for millions. Professor Zhang Chaoran said that the problem must be considered from the perspective of gaining the greatest economic profit in response to the continuation of the construction of the dam.
100 of China’s major cities faces severe water shortages and in trying to alleviate this problem, the central government gave approval to the largest water diversion project in history, the “South-to-North” project, which will divert fresh water from the Yangtze to the parched northern cities. Not only is this project again going to cut through many people’s lives and change the landscape drastically, but there is also the problem with the ‘fresh water’ that northern cities are hoping to get.
Beijing being one of these cities, receives the bulk of its drinking water from one reservoir which is now only a third as full as it once was. This is due to high consumption rates and recent years with droughts causing the water table to fall and eventually run dry. Water is an important factor in economics, water shortages cause loss in water-dependent industries and if even a small percentage of the working population fall sick because of drinking contaminated water think of the impact that would have on a economy that is still quite dependent on its labor force. The South-to-North project will include Beijing, but bring dirty water to the city will not help with the development that is intended, the water in the Yangtze must be cleaned up!
Downstream from the dam, floods may be less frequent but there are other disasters waiting to happen. The reservoir, which will be located on a major geological fault, will impound so much water it could trigger an earthquake that would devastate the nearby populations and damage the dam itself. Shanghai’s municipal and industrial water quality could suffer even more when the dam reduces the river’s flow, which flushes the saltwater out of the delta and provides the city with fresh water. Fluctuations in the river’s flow would also disrupt the water supply to numerous downstream lakes, destroying the wetland habitats of numerous endangered species, including the Asian waterfowl and the Siberian crane. Silt trapped behind the dam would deprive the regions downstream and the river’s estuary of vital nutrients, causing a decline in freshwater and marine fisheries. The loss of silt could also accelerate erosion along 800 km of coast destroying some of China’s best farmland.
Whether a dam is built or a river channel is dug out to divert flow, the development made cannot compensate for the loss of local culture and natural beauty. 1,300 historical sites, temples and some of the world’s finest scenery will be submerged. This would also cause a drop in revenue from tourism.
It is clear that if any country wants to develop, first of all they must clean up and manage their water source. They should not use the dam as a means of short-term relief in taming floods and producing energy. Therefore, the overriding development needs of China do not outweigh the negative consequences which result from major river alterations.
Bibliography:
“Water in China” .
“Three Gorges Dam Project”
“Three Gorges Dam”
“Water in China” The Economist (printed edition), August 16th, 2001
