Should The Huge Controversy Over The 3 Gorges Dam In China

Easy navigation and flood control encouraged trade along the river, which boosted the economy and led to an increase in jobs for traders, deckhands, etc. (US History TVA). In addition to providing increased trade opportunities, large amounts of money that would have been spent on the flood damage that were saved by the construction of these dams. A few years into the program, stations were created in the area to monitor flooding. Reports from these stations, in addition to computer calculations, show that the total cost of the flood damage up until 2007 would have been $5.8 billion (TVA River Neighbors). The flooding would have destroyed not only people’s homes, but also their businesses and livelihoods., which would have led to further unemployment.

Archeologist and historians criticize the building of the Three Gorges Dam because it is socially and environmentally destructive. This is because when the dam is finished, nearly 2 million people will have been displaced and 4000 villages, 140 towns, and 13 cities will have been swallowed up. Also, monuments, and priceless archeological discoveries of this countries culture will be lost

The dam is an earthen dam built into schist (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2013). The dam is 245ft tall, 40ft wide at the crest, and 1,255ft long (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2013). The dam has a spillway capacity of 245,000cfs at 4651.7ft (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2013). The dam is also used as a flood control to protect Rapid City from flooding on the Rapid Creek (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2013). Preservation of the dam is important because if the dam were to fail then there would be millions to billions of dollars in damage just to Rapid City

There should never have been an increase in the size of the dam if it was going to cause such a great impact on surrounding environments. The location where the water was released is now dead and still somewhat submerged under water. The organism have not returned, new organisms may have come but in terms of an ecological factor should not be there. Another option would have been to build the dam up instead of out, or even create a new damn in an environment that wouldn’t have been as effected, and they could have either joined the dams, or separated the flow from the Hinze dam, and the new dam could provide water to those areas not receiving water from the Hinze dam anymore. Also close by to the Hinze Dam is the Nerang Dam, so why not expand the Nerang Dam. This would have given the increase in water that the Hinze dam needed, without the that the Hinze Dam has left on the environment. I don’t if the experts who made these decisions new exactly where the water from the Hinze dam would go when it was released, and they probably thought we will worry about it when it comes to it. Or they may have known, but that may have been the area that would have been affected least, so that’s why it was chosen to flow there. So far however nothing has been done to repair the damaged area, and it has almost become a new type of environment because of

Primary sources about the construction of the Hoover Dam were few and far between, and several of those were not beneficial to the study. Due to my lack of infinite wisdom about the Hoover Dam, it was difficult to talk about the significance without the capability to see a first hand point of view. In addition, there was a lack of sources regarding the negative consequences associated with the Hoover Dam. Without the ability to understand the negative aspects, my views on the Hoover Dam had to be very one sided. There are many inferences that can be made about possible adverse effects of the area, however, there are no sources linking impacts directly to the dam. Were I to have had access to primary sources, or sources about adverse effects, it would broaden my view on the overall significance of the dam. This would allow me to more accurately and effectively assess the significance of the Hoover Dam from its creation until present

The damage prompted a mandatory evacuation for cities and counties near Lake Oroville. In the worst case scenario, one official said, an uncontrolled release from the dam could send a 30-foot wall of water downstream.

The topic for my essay was a filtering of my thoughts for most of this past summer—how can we as humans harmonize with our environment for a net, positive outcome? Water and dams provided the backdrop for most of those thoughts and not without a bit of hypocrisy since a lot of them came while floating down a beautiful trout river in Tennessee created by a hydroelectric dam. I tried to be explicit in my paper that not all dams are bad (again, see the image of that pretty river), but that the overzealous construction of the past two centuries needs to be re-evaluated for necessity and, where warranted, removed to allow nature to return to its original state.

First, the Mosul Dam plays in many vital roles for many of us, Iraqis. The Mosul dam provides not only water, but also electricity to 1.7 million Iraqis. There are clearly possibilities of the dam collapsing if other countries around the world like Baghdad and the U.S.A are concerned with the situation. On top of that, the engineers involved in building the dam 30 years ago have warned that the risk of it collapsing could be even worse, and could happen

In certain areas, dams were built to low standards because there was no development beneath them. Now communities and cities have been built beneath these older dams and face a threat of being submerged if the dam were to fail. One of these dams is the Lewisville Lake dam. The Army Corp of Engineers finished building the Lewisville dam in 1955 and they are responsible for its upkeep. This dam is in critical condition and is labeled as the eighth most hazardous dam in the United States. This dam is currently holding back 2.5 billion tons of water and is only 34 miles upstream from Dallas, Texas. If the dam were to fail, an estimated 431,000 people would be at risk and there would be 21 billion dollars in property damage (Getschow). The amount of water released would put the city of Dallas 50 feet under water. This dam has been classified as in critical condition due to a sand boil that was spotted in 2015. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, “When flood waters remain high for a long time though, underseepage can increase in volume and velocity and begin the destructive process of moving sand from the foundation, through the ground, to the surface, forming ‘sand

The building of the Three Gorges Dam was not needed and was harmful. The povertized people had lost their homes for this structure to be built and were not given much money to start a new life. They were forced to leave and could not argue. The dam had also used the land for the country’s farming. It used half of all of the land for China’s crop production. Many artifacts of China were lost because of this dam as well. The treasures that let people learn about China were submerged in water. The Three Gorges Dam was not a structure worth building.

This document discusses solutions to combat the volatility of the Yellow River. In 1st Century BCE China, the Yellow River was both an agricultural and urban necessity—but it was also a danger due to flooding. An authority on the matter, Jia Rang, proposes multiple solutions intended to tame the aggression of the Yellow River. He’s aware of the importance of digging canals and notes three benefits of digging: the movement of salt and silt leads to increased fertility, more rice can be planted opposed to wheat, increasing production, and things can be reliably transported in the water. He also notes three detriments: constant flood preventative measures exhausts people, evaporation causes high humidity, sickness, and alkaline soil, and finally when the flood destroys the dikes, people living nearby drown. Jia Rang made other suggestions made on his findings, but considered the best option to be “…the building of large-scale dikes”.

Hydroelectric dams are essential to preventing floods. Many of these dams are located in places that are bordered by water such as Mississippi and Ohio. Most dams are created to control river flow, improve navigation, and regulate flooding. However, some dams are built to produce hydroelectric power which is the case here (Smith).

What public policy theories best explain the development and implementation of the Three Gorgers Dam project?

The increasing demand for water resources can severely affect natural ecosystems. For the construction of a dam, a large area is going to end up under water, severely impacting terrestrial ecosystems. Overexploitation of water for irrigation can seriously affect aquatic ecosystems. An example of that is what happened in the Klamath River (Oregon, USA): more than 30,000 salmon perished because farmers were allowed to withdraw unsustainable

There are chances that with new dams built there can be large areas getting submerged under water which is an important threat to be considered.