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The Three Gorges Dam Reproduced with the Permission of Artist: Lin Jun Energy, the Environment, and the New Emperors by Patience Berkman

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The Three Gorges Dam Reproduced with the Permission of Artist: Lin Jun Energy, the Environment, and the New Emperors by Patience Berkman THE THREE GORGES DAM REPRODUCED WITH THE PERMISSION OF ARTIST: LIN JUN ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND THE NEW EMPERORS BY PATIENCE BERKMAN “To a builder of concrete dams, a river squeezing its way HE THREE GORGES DAM PROJECT under con- through a narrow valley presents a heaven-sent opportunity struction on the Yangtze River 1 in the People’s Republic of for spectacular results at relatively low cost.” China offers geographers and educaT tors a topic of global significance, a wealth of accessible resources and plenti- ful opportunities for developing geo- graphic literacy. The Three Gorges Dam will be the largest dam in the world, eight times the size of the Aswan Dam.2 The dam will create a reservoir 370 miles in length, displace upwards of 1.3 million people ABOVE: Contemporary graphic of the Three Gorges PHOTOGRAPH BY EDITH BOYDEN region by Lin Jun, award winning artist born in 1921 WATER LEVELS BEHIND THE DAM WILL RISE in Shanxi province. Note the small boat in the SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE NARROW GORGES. channel and the house to the right. 27 IF THE YANGZTE RIVER WERE SUPERIMPOSED ON THE UNITED STATES, provide at least ten percent of the electric- IT WOULD ORIGINATE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS WEST OF DENVER, ity in China, most of which will be used in Sichuan and Hubei Provinces.9 GRADUALLY TURN SOUTHEAST TO DALLAS, THEN WORK ITS WAY BACK Proponents claim that the dam’s gen- NORTH TO FLOW INTO THE ATLANTIC NEAR NEW YORK CITY. eration of electricity by hy dropower will significantly reduce China’s output of dangerous atmo spheric pollutants. If the from their cities, villages and farms, sub- nate in the Rocky Mountains west of Den- dam is not built or if the emission problem merge forever hundreds of priceless ver, gradually turn southeast to Dallas, then is not addressed in some other way and archaeological sites, and cost from 17.5 to work its way back north to flow into the China continues to use coal for seventy- 50 billion dollars.3 Why has the Chinese Atlantic near New York City.5 Its 4,000 five percent of its energy needs, the green- gov ernment undertaken this immense mile length divides China into a northern house effect could be catastrophic.10 With infrastructure project? What are the possi- wheat growing region and a southern up per respiratory problems identified as ble benefits? What are the risks? region dominated by rice cultivation. The the greatest single cause of death in China, This article gives an overview of the Great River features prominently in poetry, any move to reduce airborne pollutants history, environmental implications, and folklore, and legends, and unforgettably in needs to be given serious attention. controversies surrounding this huge pub- the visual arts. lic works project, and provides samples of The Yangtze was of strategic impor- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT student work, lesson plans, and a compre- tance during World War II, when OF THE INTERIOR hensive re source list. Educators should Chongqing became the inland capital of As the major waterway in the country, the note that lessons include directions for an the Nationalists after the Japanese invaded Yangtze transports seventy-eight percent environmental impact panel, a major map China in 1937. The Japanese were never of China’s riverborne freight.11 However, project, a student debate, a time line, able to penetrate and reach Chongqing current navigational difficulties in the poster projects, and activities related to lit- because the geographic barrier created by Three Gorges region make it impossible erature about the Yangtze. the narrow gorges formed a natural defen- for the river to meet the growing trans- sive line. In a 1995 Foreign Affairs article, portation demands of the burgeoning YANGTZE, YANGTZE Audrey Topping succinctly described the economy. Westerners hear of dramatic Chang Jiang—“Long River,” Da Jiang— Yangtze’s general impact. “No river has changes and eco nomic growth rates of “Great River,” Jiang—“The River.” The touched so many lives. More than 380 mil- eleven percent per year in China, not real- Yangtze, now often romanized as Yangzi, lion people, a third of China’s population, izing, perhaps, that such news comes is central to the cultural and historical iden- live along its banks, where half of China’s largely from regions near the coast. In tity of the Chinese people. The Great River food is grown.”6 It is a dragon, it is the contrast, there is less modernization or is the third longest in the world, after the heartbeat. And it is vulnerable. infrastructure in the remote region where Amazon and the Nile. Originating in the dam will be located. There are limited rugged mountains near the Tibetan border, THE NEED FOR CLEAN ENERGY markets for goods produced in this area, the Yangtze flows southeast until it reaches China desperately needs a clean, renew- and road transportation through mountain- Shigu in the province of Yunnan, where able source of energy to achieve its goal ous regions is difficult and dan gerous. the river makes a dra matic hairpin turn to of nationwide modernization. Since the With limited highway connections, it the north as it ricochets off the limestone breakup of the former Soviet Union, is exceedingly difficult for truck ers to get cliffs of Yun Ling (Cloud Mountain). China has moved into second place through, making the river of singular eco- One author muses that Cloud Moun- behind the United States in generating nomic importance as a pathway for the tain just might be the most important carbon dioxide emissions that contribute movement of goods.12 In fact, the only mountain in the world.4 It forms a barrier to global warming.7 With the country practical long range transport is along the which forces the swift currents of the depending largely on coal to drive its eco- river’s course. Hence the appeal of mak- Yangtze sharply northward, back towards nomic climb, air quality over urban and ing a shipping channel that is deep enough central China and the Three Gorges area some regions of rural China is abysmal, and wide enough to enable 10,000-ton which lies east of Chongqing. If this moun- with high emissions of sulfur and carbon- ships to reach the port of Chongqing 1,500 tain were not in this precise location, the based gases and complaints of acid rain miles from the Pacific coast.13 Chongqing Great River might continue to wend south- from as far away as Korea and Japan. will lie at the western end of a reservoir ward, losing itself in regions south of the There is limited electrical power in the the length of Lake Superior. Chinese border. Without the Yangtze’s area of the proposed dam, with frequent Supporters of the project claim it is powerful presence coursing through China brownouts and blackouts.8 imperative that the Yangtze be made navi- from west to east, China’s history, culture, Supporters of the dam predict hydro- gable for larger ships and open to large and economy might have taken a dramati- electric output equal to eighteen nuclear scale commerce. If the dam is completed cally different turn. power plants once the dam is operational. successfully as planned, huge tankers, If the Yangzte River were superim- The Chinese government claims energy trading ships, and ocean-going tourist ves- posed on the United States, it would origi- produced by the dam’s huge turbines will sels will glide inland where once trackers 28 EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA Volume 3, Number 1 Spring 1998 pulled their narrow junks inch by inch on a less ambitious project, against the current. The potential bene fits the Gezhouba Dam, was of this economic superhighway are tanta- started in the 1970s as a trial lizing. “. The dam would increase run, or pilot, for the Three capacity for shipping fivefold and Gorges project. The Gezhou- decrease shipping costs by about thirty- ba dam lies about fifteen five percent.”14 miles east of the new dam site. It is a low dam, 150 feet FLOOD CONTROL in height, causing minimal One of the primary purposes of the dam is change in the water level. to control the disastrous flooding which Though not large enough to has plagued the population living along provide flood protection, it the river’s banks. Devastating floods have has been very successful at been documented since the Han dynasty. producing hydroelectric Some towns are situated lower than the power. In fact, profits from river, protected by dikes which, when the Gezhouba Hydroelectric breached, permit the river to inundate the Power Station will help fund surrounding countryside with ferocious construction on the Three speed. There have been over 300,000 Gorges Dam. lives lost to Yangtze floods in this centu- Deng Xiaoping contin- ry. A 1991 flood left thousands dead and ued to support the project in millions homeless, damaging close to the 1980s, and Chinese Pre- thirty-five million acres of valuable agri- mier Li Peng, a hydrologist, cultural land. With about one quarter of has been pushing the project the world’s population and a narrow agri- for years. During the relative cultural base (only about seven percent of stability of the 1980s, the PHOTOGRAPH BY EDITH BOYDEN the land in China is arable), even tempo- Yangtze River Planning GEZHOUBA DAM ON THE YANGTZE RIVER. rary loss of arable acreage is significant. Commission began feasibili- SEPTEMBER, 1993. Repairs in the wake of such floods add to ty studies to consider how their cost. Supporters of the dam promise large a dam would be neces- flood control and as a fringe benefit, sary to fulfill the governmental objectives and spent ten months in prison, six of these increased water for irrigation.
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