3 Gorges Dam ~ Cycle A ~ Team Assignment
List of Generated Questions:
JB - Are there any government plans for the people who are being displaced?
I have no preliminary ideas on this one. I’d have to do some detailed research.
JB - Did the time and cost that it took to build the dam have any adverse side effects to the
economy?
The scenario says that the dam took 17 years and $70 billion to create. I would think that
this amount of time and money would certainly have effects on the Chinese economy.
JB - How will the farm land that will be covered up be replaced? Where will these people get
their food?
According to one of the provided resources on the ESSEA site (Discover the Yangtze), up until
now, the river has been mainly used for transportation. With this new dam, the local governments
are trying to utilize agricultural labor, build new roads, railway lines and bridges.
JB - What will happen to all of the organisms whose habitats are destroyed?
Because of the change of salt content in the water, obviously some organisms will either
have to adapt or they will die out. Other organisms will be introduced to this area over time than
can handle the salt content.
SB - How will this dam affect the Baiji? Will it become extinct?
My research shows that the Banjii is probably already extinct. None were sighted in 2008.
SB- What other wildlife and plants will be affected by this lake?
The diversity of the wildlife and fish will change. The biggest changes will be where the
Yangtze enters the East China Sea. since there will be less fresh water and sediment entering this
area, it will change the types of fish that thrive there.
SB - Where will the displaced people be sent and what jobs and homes will they have?
Many of the people have already been moved. Some have moved back because they were
moved to places that had no jobs for them.
SB - How will the barges and freighters get around the dam? Will there need to be a series of
locks?
Barges and freighters will not go around the dam. They will only navigate the waters above
the dam.
SB - Where will good farm land be found to replace what has been destroyed?
I could find no information on where farming will be increased. I suppose that with
increased electrical energy, that there will be more industrial jobs and more food will be bought
from other countries.
SB - Is there an infrastructure in place to deliver all of the electricity that will be produced?
The facilities to turn the water into electric power and deliver it are already being built.
I did not find information yet about where in China this energy will be sent.
SB - Could building a huge dam and lake on a fault line cause an earthquake? Even if it doesn't
cause the earthquake, what if there is an earthquake here, the dam breaks, and all the water
in the lake is released at once?
There is evidence that a dam built just a few years ago contributed to the large
earthquake in the Szechuan region in spring of 2008. This dam was close to the epicenter. There
are already small earthquakes in the area of Three Gorges dam. They are causing cracks in the dam
that have to be continually repaired. The pressure of the water behind the dam when the lake is
full could trigger larger earthquakes.
DR - NOAA says that the Baiji is already "functionally extinct". Have measures been taken by
Chinese scientists to find some way to preserve this species? By either preserving their habitat or
relocating it?
DR - What are the effects on other species of marine and plant life in the Yangtze ecosystem?
DR - Are there any residual environmental effects on the land that has been taken over from the
1600 factories?
DR - Are there any residual environmental effects on the soil from the areas that were farmland
(fertilizer, pesticides, etc.)?
DR - Are there any residual environmental effects on the land from the areas that were villages
(sewage, etc.)?
YG - What would happen to all the people who are being displaced?
More than 1.2 million people have been relocated from lands surrounding the Yangtze
River. Entire villages and parts of some major cities have been relocated. Many struggle to
reestablish their once rural lives in the urban cities. The official newspaper of the Communist
Party reports against corruption and poor construction that has delayed construction of new
housing or resulted in construction of sub-standard housing.
YG - Will the chemical waste from the factories be disposed of properly?
YG - How will they deal with the shortage of food supply created by the flooding of land that is a
major source of agricultural production in China?
YG - What will happen to all the wildlife that will be displaced?
The Yangtze River branches into a broad estuary that stretches into the East China Sea,
and forms one of the worlds largest continental shelves. Over half of the sediment of the Yangtze
River is deposited into the estuary. Because there is a significant relationship between intertidal
wetland growth, and the riverine sediment supply, the health of the estuary depends on this
sediment. Yet due to the Three Gorges project, and other dams, the sediment rate in all
reservoirs of the river has increased from zero to nearly 106 tons per year, causing erosion of the
wetland habitat there. This habitat provides nurseries for fish and is a resting area for migratory
birds, and is one of the most important wetland ecosystems in the world.
YG - Will there be any attempt to save the Baiji dolphin?
There is also concern for the biological diversity of this area. The Baiji dolphin, the
ancient river sturgeon, the finless porpoise, and the population of the Siberian Crane in the Poyang
Lake will all be affected by this dam.
YG - Will there be any attempt to save the many species of plants that live in the area that will
possibly become extinct?
RM - All that electricity power, what will it be used for?
It will be used to combat the widespread power shortages. And will supply the growing
economic needs.
RM - Won't the debris from the flooding villages and factories cause more flooding?
The Yangtze River deposits massive amounts of silt to help the Jiangsu Providence a large
plain grow. The Providence provided 35% of the world's rice supply. The debris may pollute the
area and cause more flooding.
RM - Is this the solution to the flooding problem?
Though the government claims 10-100 thousands of people will be saved from flooding
hydrologist say sediment and shifting of the floor of gravel will hinder the turbines and build up in
the bottom of the reservoir creating more floods.
RM - What will happen to the people in villages that will ran out of homes and who will pay to
relocate them?
People are to be transported to other providences, but the providences refuse to welcome
them. Li Boning head of the 3 Gorges Migration office plans to resettle and compensate the
affected population into the local region. They are relying on foreign investors to be attracted to
what the dam has to bring.
Problem Statement:
Our task is to determine the probable positive and negative impacts that the Three Gorges Dam
may potentially have at the local, regional, and national levels. We will focus our research on the
following areas:




Government plans for relocating displaced people
Wildlife and plants that are destroyed
Possible residual environmental effects
Possible effects of building on a fault line
Plan of Action:
For the next step, we plan to divide up the focus questions as follows:




Government plans for relocating displaced people/businesses – Julie/Renee
Wildlife and plants that are destroyed - Yolonda
Possible residual environmental effects - Deena
Possible effects of building on a fault line - Suzi