Why is three gorges dam being built

The changes of fish early resources since have shown in Figure 2. Fish have also been negatively impacted by habitat loss and degradation from dredging and from the disconnection of floodplain lakes and wetlands from the main river Fang et al. The disconnection the lakes to the river prevents fish from accessing both spawning and nursery habitats.

Figure 2. Annual results of monitoring of carp egg and larvae in the Yangtze downstream of Three Gorges Dam during three periods: before the dam, after dam closure, and during the period of environmental flow operation. Specific impacts of the Three Gorges Dam include its effects on habitat, connectivity, and the flow regime.

The consequences of these changes for carp have been closely studied. According to a hydrological analysis at Yichang Station, downstream of the dam site, the construction and operation of the dam has resulted in changes in flow patterns, including more erratic flows and increased flow variability during April and May.

These changes are likely the result of releases to create storage space in the reservoir in anticipation of the upcoming flood season. This modified flow regime is significantly less effective in stimulating spawning behavior of the carps. Thus, since the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, the change of the flow pattern and the decline of the average flooding period are the key factors affecting the natural spawning of the four carp species Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, It is possible that these pressures have acted synergistically to impact fish populations.

The number of egg and larvae in surveys had already dropped from 7 to 8 billion in the to 1—2 billion by the s and s Survey Team of Spawning Grounds of Domestic Fishes in Chanjiang River, ; Yi et al. The number of egg and larval fell from 1.

The social and environmental impacts of the Three Gorges Dam received considerable attention—both within China and globally—since the dam's planning stages in the s. Subsequently, the dramatic decline of the four carp species, described above, received widespread media attention within China, prompting the public and conservation organizations to apply pressure to regulators and CTG to find solutions to address the issue.

Evolving regulatory requirements for environmental protection provided the strongest driver for dam operators to seeks solutions to mitigate impacts on the carp. Following decades of rapid economic growth, the Chinese government has begun to strengthen environmental protections to address the negative impacts of that growth. In , China's State Environmental Protection Administration the precursor to the Ministry of Environmental Protection required that hydropower projects release environmental flows to support a range of other downstream resources and values, including social and environmental benefits.

This has included releases to support fisheries and to maintain water quality. Scientists understanding of the carps' spawning requirements suggested that an environmental flow should mimic the Yangtze's natural flood pulse to promote spawning.

However, the Three Gorges Dam is a multi-purpose project that has major functions of flood control, electricity production, navigation, and drought alleviation.

The implementation of environmental flows needed to be integrated into the operational requirements that encompass these multiple purposes and thus required engagement with diverse stakeholders. This consultation process addressed barriers to reoperation, complemented by a research program.

For example, the MOA which is responsible for fishery resources management in China and CTG funded a research program, including field surveys, analyses of hydrologic and fish biology data, and modeling of operations. The research focused on the relationship between flows and spawning, including identifying hydrologic indicators and thresholds, and how changes to flows would affect other major purposes, such as flood control.

This research program is ongoing to monitor the effects of environmental flow operation and analyze further potential improvements to operations.

The information gained from the research program was then integrated into the decision processes for the operation of the Three Gorges Dam. The operational plan is drafted based on a structured decision-making SDM process involving relevant agencies Gregory et al. A number of government agencies are consulted during this process, including CWRC and YFRC, and those concerned with environmental protection, land and resources, the electricity grid, and navigation. The operational guidelines for the dam clearly stipulate that flood control takes priority over water resources operation water released for downstream economic production, human needs, and environmental needs , which has priority over electricity production and navigation.

For example, in order to cope with salt water intrusion in the Yangtze River estuary in , the reservoir released more water 1. The evolving regulatory requirements for dam operators to maintain river health along with a period of stakeholder consultation and research resulted in changes to the operations of the Three Gorges Dam in Operational changes included both those aimed at water management to benefit social and economic values downstream flow releases to mitigate droughts and saltwater intrusion and flows to promote carp spawning.

Dam operation was first modified in , for two purposes: drought mitigation during the early part of the year; followed by a flow release in May to mimic the Yangtze's natural flood pulse and promote carp spawning.

Flow releases to promote carp spawning have been made in the early flood period late May to June , and have lasted for 3—10 days, continuously increasingly the flow during the spawning period of the carps. These environmental flow releases have now been implemented for seven consecutive years. Examples of environmental flow releases from Three Gorges Dam in and were shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. A monitoring program samples carp eggs and larval fish in the water column below the dam before, during and after the period of environmental flow release. Monitoring results available to date indicate that carp reproduction has increased with these new flow releases.

The average number of carp eggs and larvae sampled at Jianli station was million per year between and before implementation of environmental flows and million between and , during the period that environmental flows have been implemented data from Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Figure 2.

In June , the average density of eggs and larvae in the reach from Yichang to Yidu was three times higher after the environmental flow release than before, and the density on the third day of operation was seven times higher than before the release began Chen and Li, While these results show that carp reproduction appears to be increasing after a period of significant decline between and , it is not yet possible to fully attribute that increase to the environmental flow program.

The relevant authorities would need to publish more rigorous statistical analyses that control for other factors water quality, habitat, fishing pressure, background hydrology before firm conclusions can be drawn on the extent to which the environmental flows can explain the increases. Although the full analysis of impacts has yet to be published, the re-operation of Three Gorges Dam to promote carp spawning provides an important example of how regulations, stakeholder engagement, and science can be combined to inform re-operation of a major dam and to broaden the range of objectives for dam management in China and, potentially, beyond.

A combination of environmental, socio-economic, and political pressures and opportunities stimulated policies, processes and institutional interactions that led to the re-operation program. An understanding of how this situation unfolded can provide insights that might be useful in other contexts.

This case study is particularly valuable as it involved one of the largest dams in the world and occurred within a country with extremely limited examples of environmental flow implementation. In too many cases an unacceptable and often unnecessary price has been paid to secure those benefits. These difficult issues also were debated in China when the Three Gorges Dam was being built. Various local groups opposed the construction of the dam. However, construction began in late and was completed 12 years later.

Millions of people were displaced when an area stretching around kilometres was submerged. Today, after several upgrades, the dam has 32 main turbines, with a generating capacity of over 22, megawatts, more than five times the size of the generating capacity of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in southern New South Wales. Increases in the supply of power of this kind are certainly needed in China.

Electricity consumption per person in was just over kilowatt-hours per year, compared to nearly 13, kilowatt-hours in the US. China still lags a long way behind most Western countries in providing basic serves such as electricity across the nation. But sustained torrential rains have caused extensive flooding in central China in recent weeks.

Nightmare memories have been revived of , when severe floods left more than people dead and caused extensive economic damage. In response to the build-up of floodwaters upstream, authorities have been discharging large amounts of water from the dam. That will mark the end of the first phase construction and the beginning of the second phase.

One guarantee made by developers of the Three Gorges Project ensures smooth navigation at the construction site during the six-year second phase A water diversion channel opened formerly on October 6.

During the next-phase construction through , ships will use the channel to bypass the dam site or use temporary locks now being built on the north bank of the Yangtze. Engineers said that ships can safely pass through the channel except for peak water flow seasons. When the water flows faster than 25, cubic meters per second, it could be difficult for large ships to use the channel.

The maximum flow for smaller ships is between 10, and 15, cubic meters per second. Temporary ship locks are being built to ensure safe passage during the flood season which normally begins in May. The diversion channel will guarantee that passenger and cargo transport needs are met in the upper reaches of the Yangtze river during construction. Permanent ship locks will be in operation after the year The normal water level of meters will be achieved in the year , with the reservoir covering 1, sq.

The resettlement effort and the area to be inundated are unprecedented in Chinese history, with inundation affecting townships in 21 counties, cities or districts in Sichuan and Hubei provinces. This enables the dispersed and badly affected residents to come together thanks to the former image of the god, who is now presented first and foremost as a historical figure, albeit one maintaining a power and a role similar to those of the popular deity.

For instance, it has published a new version of the legend of Zhang Fei in which no mention is made of the hill of the Flying Phoenix, thereby jettisoning its importance in the story.

This new version was made public in in a little book presenting local history, which was distributed to all the schoolchildren of the district In addition, the local government claims that the city of Yunyang was originally situated near Shuangjiang, its current site.

According to Communist Party historians, at the time of the Qin dynasty B. For its part, the culture day is organised and orchestrated under the auspices of the local government and falls under the umbrella of the recently established municipality of Chongqing. It is a little as if the authorities thought, with the new festivities of the temple, to take up again the former rites associated with the deity of the place and to introduce regional rites that are politically acceptable and liable to be integrated by all concerned.

One significant fact is that one of them does not take place inside the temple at all, but right in the heart of the new city. The reorganisation of the representations and emblems of the region constitutes an attempt at reinventing and manipulating previous references that are projected beyond the regional context, whilst still making use of a traditional language. This process allows an articulation of the past, the present and the future by recovering elements with a strong significance for the local community.

The setting up of purpose-designed places and adequate ceremonies enables the partial reinterpretation of memories whose emotional potential has been revived. The local government of Yunyang is seeking to forge a combination of images out of commonly shared elements, so as to politically remodel a coherent and moveable whole with the goal of reconstructing a strong and united district. These references constitute a mechanism of social control of which the government is, moreover, fully conscious.

Indeed, as I walked around the place I was easily able to discover the origin of residents, merely by reading the shop signs that still bore the name of their former location. The metamorphosis of the capital, not only in its urban layout, but also its social fabric and markers of local memory, is causing the fraying of identities, and Xin Yunyang will have to give itself solid, new foundations if it is to obviate this problem. Like the temple, which followed the capital in its relocation, the commemorative park, a cultural site at the top of the hill, and the special day that is associated with it, are various factors that actively participate in the establishment of this new living space.

They will also take part in the consolidation of the feeling of belonging to the place, by bringing about a sense of pride linked to the positive re-evaluation of the community.

The process observed in Yunyang fits into a broader context, that of the creation of the municipality of Chongqing. The Three Gorges project is one of the main reasons for this administrative promotion. Li Jianhong clearly explains the circumstances of this change in a region in which the residents, by and large, no longer consider themselves to be Sichuanese Chongqing will attempt to make the most of its new autonomy by trying to consolidate itself as an entity.

In its quest for legitimacy and consolidation of identity, references to the past are going to play a vital role. Opposition to the enemy land of Wu found in memoirs and legends seems still to exist today, particularly through the stigmatising of the residents of Hubei. Furthermore, the dam situated in this province, at the point of the former border between the territories of Shu and Wu, is causing much more of an upheaval in Chongqing than in the economically better-off Hubei, which appears to be a clear beneficiary of it.

Moreover, people there are experiencing much less trauma linked to the relocation, as the majority of the victims of the rising waters have the possibility of staying put. The consequences of the administrative shake-up of the region and the change in the management of the territories inevitably bring about reformulations locally. Chongqing is seeking to consolidate its legitimacy as a particular entity, and its districts are also trying to establish their individual identities and distinguish themselves from each other.

It is incumbent on Yunyang to legitimise its new status, all the more so in that the district has been elevated to the same administrative level as Wanzhou on which it previously depended. These various entities are in competition for the opening up of their territories, and are fighting as much with the weapons of tourism as through the creation of new markets. Thus, a strong and dynamic image of Yunyang as a culturally rich district will serve not only to attract tourists and unite its residents, but also to enable it to stand comparison with its neighbours.

The building of the bridge and the relocation of the temple are benefiting from a strong advertising campaign. The transformations and renewed fame of the temple and of Zhang Fei himself, which have become emblems of wealth and modernity, will have repercussions for the district.

Representing strength, might and combat, this hero is a revitalised positive symbol that will give new dynamism to the area. He is, together with the holy place devoted to him, a powerful lever enabling promotion of local success, all the more in that the temples dedicated to this deity are quite rare in China. The local pride that it brings clearly appears to be of a kind that can serve a political end. They give the impression that this deity is venerated only in this district. And yet it is known as the god of boatmen from Chongqing to Wuhan ; statues and temples are dedicated to him in the neighbouring regions, and the accounts of his miracles are just as famous there.

At the same time, he is fully participating in the operation to stimulate local pride and strengthen a feeling of belonging. He is today maintaining his traditional role as deity of the place, even as god of the territory, and his cult seems even to be given a boost with his new official status as an element of the national heritage protected by Peking. They are not only regarded as places of consumption, as has been observed elsewhere in China It is all about restricting certain beliefs and stimulating others, showing, as in previous times, their ability to spread harmony and peace.

To this end, they are promoting the local historical and cultural riches by encouraging a feeling of pride in and belonging to this new municipality, this shaken-up district and recomposed capital. It is this promotion of the regional culture of the past as well as the modern and dynamic image of the district that will enable it to stand competition with its neighbours and to motivate the residents made vulnerable by the recent traumas.

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Outline Local heritage put to work for tourism. Reconfiguring places of worship and cultural relics.