FOR PROFF FARELL ONLY
newbie984
three_gorges_dam_1.docxAndersen 1
Chris Andersen
Mrs. Benson
ENG 121.108
21 November 2016
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam located in Yiling District in Yichang, Hubei province of China is the largest hydropower project in the whole world. It is also the most notorious dam in the world. The dam spans the width of the Yangtze River. It is the largest power station in the world regarding its installed power capacity which is 22,500 megawatts (MW). The location was chosen because it had a collection of steep bluffs at a bend in the river. This geographic feature made it a prime location for a dam. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:d Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:in t Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:ms of
The Three Gorges Dam has often been referred to as a “model of disaster." The dam has had profound impacts on the environment. These effects are projected to worsen as time goes on. The size of the Three Gorges Dam along with other factors have led to this. For the dam to be constructed, over 1.2 million people had to be relocated to make room for it. When these people were being relocated, they were promised plots of land and stipends as compensation. Currently, there are cases of people receiving as little as 50 Yuan ($7.45 usd) per month as compensation.
Hvistendahl, Mara. "China's Three Gorges Dam: An Environmental Catastrophe?" Scientific American. N.p., 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
“The initial estimation by the government of the cost of constructing the Three Gorges Dam was 180 billion Yuan ($26.1 billion usd). A review done at the end of 2008 showed that the government had already spent 148.365 billion Yuan. This amount was accounted for as indicated; Construction: 64.613 billion Yuan, Resettling the over 1.2 million displaced: 68.557 billion Yuan, Financing the project: 15.195 billion Yuan” (Hvistendahl). The government, however, expected that the total amount used in the construction of Three Gorges Dam would be fully recovered in not more than ten years after the full completion of the project. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:show Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:10
“This occurred way earlier since as on the 20th of December in the year 2013, the full amount used in the construction of the Three Gorges Dam had been recovered. The recovery is to occur since the dam has already generated (3,600 PJ) 1,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity and this total has yielded approximately 250 billion Yuan” (Hvistendahl).
Funds to construct the dam were acquired from other dams like the Gezhouba Dam, a Three Gorges Dam Construction Fund, government acquired loans from the China development bank, as well as foreign and domestic banks. The government also received finance from corporate bonds before and after the dam was operating entirely. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:ful
“The dam set the world record for the highest ever generated power in 2014 when it generated 98.8 TWh of electricity which was 0.17 TWh more than the previous record holder found on the Brazil and Paraguay border called the Itaipú Dam. After sometime, however, production went down, and Itaipú Dam regained its position as the largest producer of electricity at 89.5 TWh, while the Three Gorges was producing approximately 87 TWh”. (Hvistendahl)
The dam also holds the record for the largest number of people ever displaced, the number of cities it has ever flooded, and the length of its reservoir. It displaced over 1.2 million people during its construction; it flooded 13 cities, 1,350 villages, and 140 towns. The dam has a reservoir that covers over 600 kilometers. However, the massive project has been recently plagued by spiraling costs and a lot of corruption. Activists have also been on its back due to issues with its environmental impacts, violation of human rights, and difficulties in resettling the displaced people. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:, Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:hug
Rosenblatt, Seth. "Three Gorges Dam." International Rivers. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
Scientists from China and other countries warn that the residents that remain at the dams surrounding could still be in danger. “Their concerns are due to the possibility of landslides occurring attributed to the increase in pressure of the surrounding land because of the dam and the weight of the reservoir has a high chance of inducing seismicity” (Rosenblatt). Landslides can also be due to a lot of erosion of downstream riverbanks and the reservoir.
The scientists also project a large rise in waterborne diseases and a great decline in biodiversity in the surrounding areas. The dam has brought submergence of many mines, factories, and waste dumps and due to a large number of huge industrial centers at the upstream of the river, a raising bog of silt, industrial pollutants, and effluent are being generated at the reservoir. The erosion in downstream riverbanks and the reservoir also threatens fisheries located in the East China Sea. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:the
Wines, Michael. "China Admits Problems With Three Gorges Dam." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
“Some critics also argue that the Three Gorges Dam may have aggravated the recent droughts that have been seen. This is done when the dam withholds the critical supply of water upstream to the users downstream and the ecosystem (flora and fauna). The dam also generates a micro climate of its own because of its gigantic reservoir” … “The dam also affects Chinas plants and animals in other ways. The country is home to almost 10 percent of all vascular plants in the world. Biologists estimate that nearly half of animal and plant species in the nation inclusive of the rare Chinese sturgeon and the giant panda are located only in China. There is also a nature reserve near the dam, the Shennongjia, which is home to the "wild man" or yeren, in Chinese, and the banal white monkey” (Wines). Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:most
