In Focus – Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in the Hubei Province of China. It spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping and is the world’s largest power facility in terms of capacity at 18,200 megawatts. The dam body was completed in 2006, and the final components for it to be functional were completed in late 2008. Beyond producing electricity, Three Gorges also increases shipping capacity and helps control flooding. Plans for the dam started as far back as 1919, but the construction didn’t start until December 1994 due to many different reasons including economics, the lack of necessary engineering expertise and political interference.

Today however, this project has created an onslaught of various problems. The State Council admitted that it needs to take action to curb pollution and prevent natural disasters that could be triggered by the dam. Geologists say that damming up so much water in the region could lead to a heightened risk of landslides or earthquakes, as well as causing irreversible damage to the river’s ecology. The government denies that the dam had anything to do with an earthquake in 2008 near Sichuan that killed 87,000 people.

The Yangtze is China’s biggest watershed and its tributaries are already feeling the effects of the dam. Pockets of ammonium, lead, copper and zinc have been found in high levels in the area’s lakes. However, the Three Gorges’ social responsibility report indicates that the dam held back more than 900 billion cubic feet of water that would have otherwise flooded the region. Along with that it provided 85 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy, the equivalent of burning 30 million tons of coal that would have produced 71 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The building of Three Gorges ruined many of the traditionally traveled waterways. It also forced 1.4 million people out of their home region where they farmed rich fertile lands; and then pushing them into areas where they cannot resume their agrarian lifestyles. But with progress there are inevitably costs, and while the forced relocation of so many people sounds terrible, Three Gorges Corporation reminds their fellow countrymen that they have spent $4 billion on disaster and poverty assistance since its creation.

The Corporation also plans to build four more dams on the Yangtze River, generating 43 gigawatts of electricity, or twice its current capacity. The hope is that the new dams will further help control flooding, as well as take pressure of the Three Gorges Dam relieving other environmental and disaster concerns. The first of the dams is scheduled to be completed in 2015, with the others to be completed by 2020. We do not know at this time what impact the construction and damming will have on those living in the area, but seeing what has transpired so far with Three Gorges, we can only assume that there will be further debate around the human and ecological costs of the projects.

This 50-cm Natural Color image was captured on December 27, 2010 by WorldView-2. This massive dam is the Three Gorges Dam in the Hubei province of China. This imagery has been processed with eMap’s proprietary technique, ImageBoost. (Image courtesy: DigitalGlobe)



Justin Harmon
Senior Editor


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