Three Gorges Dam tested as water rises

[Javaman]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4BH58Y20081218

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rising water levels in China's giant Three Gorges Dam have triggered dozens of landslides in recent months, damaging houses, land and infrastructure worth millions of dollars, state media said on Thursday.

In July, China finished evacuating residents from the last town to be submerged by the massive 660-km (400-mile) long reservoir on the Yangtze River, ending an exodus of some 1.4 million people that began four years ago.

The 2,309-meter-long dam, the world's largest, aims to tame the river and provide cheap, clean energy for the country's rapid development.

But critics say rising water levels in the reservoir are eroding already fragile slopes and triggering landslides which could worsen as levels reach their maximum height next year.

[marketcrazy1]

1. when this dam breaks

the Chinese government will collapse.......

[TheWraith]

2. I read that there's 100 million people living in the area that would flood if that happens.

Absent a miracle, it would probably be the worst single loss of life in human history.

[phantom power]

4. Externalized cost.

[TheWraith]

5. The irony is that China's making themselves incredibly vulnerable.

If they piss off anybody with a decent rocket, a couple of cruise missiles into that dam later and they're paralyzed.

[TheWraith]

3. Let's hope they built the dam better than they do their toys.

The Chinese can do great workmanship... IF they actually bother to do it right.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. A good first source on dams and watershed issues

http://internationalrivers.org/">International Rivers

http://internationalrivers.org/">International Rivers' Mission

International Rivers' mission is to protect rivers and defend the rights of communities that depend on them. We oppose destructive dams and the development model they advance, and encourage better ways of meeting people’s needs for water, energy and protection from damaging floods. To achieve this mission, we collaborate with a global network of local communities, social movements, non-governmental organizations and other partners. Through research, education and advocacy, International Rivers works to halt destructive river infrastructure projects, address the legacies of existing projects, improve development policies and practices, and promote water and energy solutions for a just and sustainable world. The primary focus of our work is in the global South.

International Rivers' Vision

International Rivers seeks a world in which rivers and the ecosystems they support are valued, and the importance of the links between healthy environments and healthy societies are understood. We envision a world where development projects neither degrade nature nor impoverish people, and where all people have a voice in decisions affecting their lives and livelihoods.

I strongly recommend reading the PDF "http://internationalrivers.org/files/IRfactsheet_dammed_rivers_lores.pdf">Dammed Rivers, Damned Lives". It is not very rich in information, but it is a good, broad overview of rivers, wetlands, dams, their people, and their associated issues. More publications, including links to studies, http://internationalrivers.org/en/publications">can be found here. There is also a web page devoted to http://internationalrivers.org/en/china">China and its effort to build energy-producing dams on every river that will support them.

--p!