THE SANXIA (3 GORGES) PROJECT - THE ENVIRONMENTAL ARGUMENT SURROUNDING CHINA SUPER DAM

The Sanxia, or Three Gorges Dam, was formally approved by the National People's Congress in April 1992. As the world's largest dam, the project has attracted a considerable amount of attention. This article looks at the background to the project and the arguments surrounding construction and financing. Approval of the Sanxia project was expedited by the Tiananmen Incident of June 1989 and the massive flooding on the Chang (Yangtze) River during the summer of 1991. Advocates of the dam admit that there are still some technical uncertainties. Given the fact it is highly unlikely that the dam will serve its purported functions of flood control, energy generation, navigation improvement, and increased water supply, the Chinese would be wise to avoid the irreparable ecological damage and the economic risk from such another grandiose project. Instead of a large dam, smaller scale projects and basic conservation measures are likely to have more positive environmental, economic, and political consequences.