Dam Disagreement

Last summer, my boss took his family for a cruise on the Yangtze River. He said that it was pleasant, but that he wished he had gone sooner for the river had lost much of its aesthetic value with the rise in water level. In the US, the argument against dams for hydroelectric power usually stem from both aesthetic concerns and ecological concerns based in landslides and damage to fauna. In China, the Shanghai Daily and Xinhua just can't seem to agree on the ecological harm caused by the Three Gorges Dam.

First, the benefits of Three Gorges:

• reduction in downstream flooding
• generation of carbon-free energy (predicted to be the equivalent of 31 million tons of coal per year when fully operational)
• creation of a 660km navigable reservoir

To build the dam, ~1.4m people have been relocated and ~4m more might have to be relocated by 2020.

Xinhua has been reporting two major problems with the dam:

• major landslides that are only stand to increase in severity and number as the reservoir's depth is increased to its maximum next year
• ever increasing pollutants are collecting in the reservoir from the tributaries in the form of pesticides, fertilizers and sewage

These reports supposedly come from officials.

The Shanghai Daily printed a story originating with Xinhua which claims that the landslides are not any worse than predicted, and Wang Xiaofeng, director of the office of the Three Gorges Project Committee of the State Council, quickly covered the pollution by saying that the algae blooms were only temporary. Mr. Wang and the Shanghai Daily also focus on the good news by pointing out the dam survived its first flood season admirably.

Mr. Wang and the Shanghai Daily both have incentives to protect this dam's reputation. For Mr. Wang, well, this is his job. For the Shanghai Daily: Shanghai receives a substantial amount of the electricity generated by the dam.

Is this dam good? Or a dam travesty?

I'm of the opinion that it is impressive, but I find forced relocations terribly distasteful. China has far greater ecological concerns than landslides and their fauna, and anything that can cleanly replace 31m tons of coal from receives a thumbs up from me. The water pollution is of grave concern, though. There a lot of people in China who need clean water to drink, and the Yangtze carries a lot of what was at one time fresh water. A large reservoir will spread pollutants to a wider area and turn fresh water spoilt.