After erecting Three Gorges dam, China warns of its perils

[babylonsister]

After erecting Three Gorges dam, China warns of its perils
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007


MIAOHE, China — Earlier this year, on a slope far above the mighty Yangtze River, Qu Wanfu felt the earth give way. Terrified, she dashed into her house.

"The earth was moving down the hillside," Qu recalled.

Luckily, the landslide stopped, saving this village of about 50 households from careening into the muddy waters of the Yangtze, the largest river in Asia, in a gorge far below.

A few bends downriver, the Three Gorges Dam, said to be the world's biggest civil works project, spans a mile and a half across the Yangtze. Nearly a year and a half after it was completed, the government still touts the $26 billion dam as a showcase project that limits disastrous seasonal flooding and generates vast amounts of electricity.

But authorities now admit that the dam is generating major problems. It's created a huge — and heavy — reservoir pressing against the mountains along the Yangtze, making them more prone to landslides. The deep reservoir stretches upriver about 370 miles, impeding the natural flushing action of the river and trapping pesticides, fertilizer and raw sewage. Downriver from the dam, water flows cleaner and faster, adversely affecting aquatic species adapted to sediment in the river.

Authorities are finally letting reports of the dam's problems reach the public in an apparent bid to pre-empt criticism should disaster unfold. And it's disaster that the official Xinhua news agency forewarned of in an unusually blunt report two weeks ago during a forum on the environmental consequences of the project.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20433.html

[EST]

1. Sad.

Short sightedness among those with more power than brains certainly is no respecter of political philosophy--amply illustrated in this grandiose disruption of nature.

[razzleberry]

2. enjoy the advantages of renewable energy .n/t.

[hatrack]

3. Gosh, they sure thought that through, didn't they?

:eyes:

[The2ndWheel]

4. If we want to engineer the planet to fit us

we won't escape the downside. We will privatize profits, and externalize costs. The same way corporations do it to actual humans, our species does it to the rest of life. It works the same way.

[AlecBGreen]

5. this is much more than just a "big dam"

To the Chinese, its a way of showing the world that they've come up. Its another "Great Wall of China", another symbol of national pride, and it just so happens to supply a sizeable percentage of the country's electricity needs as well. Unfortunately it'll most likely fail at some point in the future and those living downstream can kiss their sweet asses goodbye.

[tom_paine]

6. The usual "Unexpected Environmental Consequences"

I wonder if the next technological-intelligent species to inhabit the Earth millions of years from today will have more foresight, enough to reach the stars...

Because I think this species is getting ready to wave a final goodbye, ironically, dying like yeast organisms in a beer fermenter.

And we will finish the job when we drill up the oil and gas underneath the Arctic.

[Javaman]

7. So how long will it last? nt

[hatrack]

8. Interesting question - apparently, the reservoir's already the world's biggest sewage lagoon

Anybody here like to fish? I hear the elusive Yangtze Sewer Trout is having a record run this year.

[GliderGuider]

9. Marsh gas = methane...

The amount of raw sewage pouring into the river has doubled this decade, and huge trails of flotsam commonly entangle its waters.

"There are millions of tons of floating rubbish that cannot head downstream. This matter compresses and sinks to the bottom of the reservoir. Gradually, it will ferment and produce marsh gas," said Wu Dengming, the head of the Green Volunteer League of Chongqing, a nonprofit environmental group.

The designers should be awarded the "People's Hero" medal with oak leaf clusterfucks.