HE311

The Three Gorges Dam project,

China
By: Group 2

Alan Dai Sheng
Jensen Yap
Lee Liang Tian
Lee Yee Jia Jamie
Ong Soo Yue
Wong Li Ting
Introduction
The worlds largest dam
About 2,355m long and has a maximum height of 185m
Built near the Three Gorges which in the middle course of Yangtze River
where water traverse from the western Sichuan province into Eastern
Hubei
Objective
To control flood
Costs
Project cost: US$ 24 billion
During construction large areas of the Qutang, Wu and Xilang gorges,
some 600 km upstream of the dam were totally submerged, and the
rising water flooded some 500 cities, towns and villages along the river
Relocation of 1.6- 1.9 million of people
1200 sites of historical and archaeological importance vanished. For
example, Baheliang (possesses 165 pieces of inscriptions dating back to
the Tang Dynasty) is submerged, Zhang Fei Temple at Yungang is
relocated

Benefits
Flood control
Employment of 60,000 workers
Increase shipping capacity for inland trading- greater development and
economic progress
Provision of drinking water to Shanghais 13 million inhabitants
Hydroelectricity- reduced dependency on coal (about 1.1- 1.2 billion tons
of coals saved annually)
Irrigation- increased total crop yield and improved farmers livelihoods

Externalities
Negatives
Water pollution- water pollutant concentrated at the dam rather then
being washed downstream and out to sea
Wildlife destruction- stagnation of water affects life pattern of the
animals. For example, Siberian Crane and Baiji
Loss of great sceneries
Positives
Cleaner energy- less air pollution
New skills acquired during employment for construction
Multiplier effect of the capital investment
Increased tax revenue for local government
Reduced wage disparity between rural farmers and urban workers

Discussion Questions
1. The Three Gorges Dam brings economic
development, controls flooding and provides
irrigation to crops and farming to much of rural
China. So why is there so much opposition to
this seemingly beneficial projects?
The Chinese government adopted this idea in 1954.
Vice Minister of Electric Power Li Rui initially argued that the dam should
be multipurpose, that smaller dams should be built first until China could
afford such a costly project, and that construction should proceed in
stages to allow time to solve technical problems, according to Chinese
scholars Kenneth Lieberthal and Michel Oksenberg.
Later, Li Rui concluded that the dam should not be built at all since it
would be too costly, flood many cities and fertile farmland, subject the
middle and lower reaches of the river to catastrophic flooding during
construction, and would not contribute much to shipping.
Sichuan province officials also objected to the construction since Sichuan,
located upstream, would shoulder most of the costs while downstream
Hubei province would receive most of the benefits.
2. How can the Chinese government
internalize the external social cost?
Preservation of the historical and archaeological structures (an
underwater museum has been built)
Artificial reproduction schemes for endangered animals
Proper management of the quality of water in the dam reservoir