Three Gorges Dam crisis puts 400,000,000 Chinese at risk

[steveluv]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Natural-disasters/As-water-crests-Three-Gorges-Dam-crisis-puts-400m-at-risk?utm_campaign=RN Subscriber newsletter&utm_medium=daily newsletter&utm_source=NAR Newsletter&utm_content=article link&del_type=1&pub_date=20200824123000&seq_num=4&si=44594

As water crests, Three Gorges Dam crisis puts 400m at risk
More torrential rain forecast along Yangtze River basin on Sunday

Water is discharged Tuesday from the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei Province.   © Xinhua via Kyodo
SHUNSUKE TABETA, Nikkei staff writerAugust 22, 2020 01:30 JST

CHONGQING -- Water levels at China's Three Gorges Dam set fresh records on Friday despite a gradual decline in inflows, doing little to assuage concerns of a possible collapse that would affect 400 million residents.

Inflows into the dam, one of the world's largest flood control facilities, declined 5% on Friday. But the water level is still rising because the amount of water discharged has also been cut back to limit flooding downstream. And with another round of torrential rain along the Yangtze River basin feared on Sunday, authorities remain on high alert.

In the winter, when rainfall is light, water is allowed to accumulate to a maximum of 175 meters for efficient transportation and power generation. During the summer, the limit is set at 145 meters to more effectively control flooding during the rainy season. The current water level is far above that, at 166 meters.

The growing burden on the dam has spurred talk of a potential failure that would have disastrous consequences.

When the water level rose during last month's flooding, the dam operator told the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times that there is no risk of deformation or collapse. But if it did burst, the resulting deluge would inundate Shanghai and other cities, affecting more than 400 million people living downstream.

Rescue workers evacuate a resident stranded by floodwaters following heavy rainfall in China's Sichuan Province on Aug. 18.   © Reuters

Fears over the dam add to the woes already suffered from several bouts of torrential rain this summer. Flooding in central and southwestern China has already killed hundreds and displaced millions just as the country appeared to be past the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 185-meter-high, 2.3-km-wide Three Gorges Dam has a reservoir of 39.3 billion cu. meters of water and can generate electricity equivalent to 20 standard nuclear reactors. According to the operator, the facility is the largest hydroelectric power station in the world as well as the top flood control structure in terms of capacity.

The dam was first proposed in 1919 by Sun Yat-sen, but progress stalled amid the Cultural Revolution.

The National People's Congress finally approved the start of construction in 1992, but with an unusually large number of dissenting votes amid widespread environmental and budgetary concerns about the project. A total of 177 representatives voted against the proposal and 664 abstained, compared with 1,767 votes in favor.

Then-Premier Li Peng, himself a hydroelectric engineer, headed an expert committee on the project and pushed forward with construction, which began in 1994. The dam, which began storing water and generating electricity in 2003, was completed in 2006, and started operating at peak power capacity in 2012. Roughly 1.3 million people were forcibly relocated for the project.

Edited August 24, 2020 by steveluv

[Mockngbrd]

mai scared mai scared!!!

[Wt_know]

it was a grave mistake building the dam?  

from inception to building ... all sexperts said it’s a bad idea ... except prc govt

Edited August 24, 2020 by Wt_know

[inlinesix]

Confirm kenna hammer

Standby popcorn now

[inlinesix]

1 minute ago, Wt_know said:

it was a grave mistake building the dam?  

from inception to building ... all sexperts said it’s a bad idea ... 

FYI not yet TOP hor

[Beregond]

12 minutes ago, Wt_know said:

it was a grave mistake building the dam?  

from inception to building ... all sexperts said it’s a bad idea ... except prc govt

i no expert at dam building and flood control, but china have bad flood everyyear throughout history. building dam is part of and a main way of controlling flood.

they dun build dam to control, ppl will talk. they build already if flood ppl will still talk.

i dun know if without all these dam, how bad or worst this year flooding could be. 

after this year flooding i predict china will build even more and bigger dam, another 1 bigger then three gorges is already otw

Edited August 24, 2020 by Beregond

[Wt_know]

such gigantic and enormous project

i guess no one really really not even the sexpert team can be 100% sure what works and what dont work and what is the “ripple” effect - for damn sure

just like our 50 years once orchard road flood sexpert also comment that the marina barrage has contributing factor to flooding ... 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Wt_know

[Beregond]

6 minutes ago, Wt_know said:

such gigantic and enormous project

i guess no one really really not even the sexpert team can be 100% sure what works and what dont work and what is the “ripple” effect - for damn sure

just like our 50 years once orchard road flood sexpert also comment that the marina barrage has contributing factor ... 

from common sense pov and from what i watch in youtube,

dam is to store water, when too much rain it will flood, so how? build a dam to store all the excess water is the most simple way . beside it a provide clean source of energy .

but what happen when there is too much water? the dam will still over flow or burst, in which they need to release. hater will still hate and say the dam cause the flood etc etc .lousy design  etc etc

true to a point, if any  design fault, i say 3 gorges dam is simply not big enough to control this year flooding/rainfall. but its already the biggest dam in the world by a long long long miles. 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Beregond

[Scion]

pls lah, this Asia Nikkei website is biased and always bash China one

[Wt_know]

i think environmental protection activist around the world especially the ang moh ... all condemn this project ...  

q’ing the tag line “how dare you!” ... 😆

Edited August 24, 2020 by Wt_know

[Watwheels]

Here's China bashing with video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Th4ymz31Aw

[Lala81]

they just need to release the water right and allow controlled flooding right. 

Honestly, controlling something like mother nature is never perfect one lah. It may not have stopped flooding like it was originally intended.
But would it have some effect on flooding severity, could well be. Really hard to prove it one way or the other. 

 

[Angcheek]

Those countries down the river suffered the most .....  Thai almost changed the name of their Mee kong river to "Mai Kong" (dont say) river  

😁

[Xers007]

1 hour ago, Beregond said:

i no expert at dam building and flood control, but china have bad flood everyyear throughout history. building dam is part of and a main way of controlling flood.

they dun build dam to control, ppl will talk. they build already if flood ppl will still talk.

i dun know if without all these dam, how bad or worst this year flooding could be. 

after this year flooding i predict china will build even more and bigger dam, another 1 bigger then three gorges is already otw

ha, a dam to dam the dam... yah their yearly flood needs control but even with this dam also no use, the lower area still flood.

[Weez911]

Need help please let me know, motherland.

[Atrecord]

Sigh... China is facing one challenge after another. Got Virus, Got US targeting it to prevent it rising, got this flooding, even got rumour that Xi JP is facing opponents trying to topple him now...

Hope mother nature will be kind and let them have a breather, so that no need to have anymore loss of life and of course, also $$$.

The 3 Gorges dam was not easy to built, already flooded many cities before the construction. I am glad that I went on a 3 Gorges trip before the flooding starting when the big dam was built. Just hope damages can be kept to a minimum and life can go back to normal again soon.

[Victor68]

I am sure with or without dam there will still be flood, only how much control over the situation. When level too high, can't they release the water but to let dam fail? To me, fail mean without flooding, under normal operating condition, the dam cannot hold the water and burst. Not during flood.

I am sure if the rain fall is going to hit new record high, they may have to build new river to channel water away. Without the dam, would situation be better?

[Mustank]

When 

2 hours ago, Angcheek said:

Those countries down the river suffered the most .....  Thai almost changed the name of their Mee kong river to "Mai Kong" (dont say) river  

😁

Those guys should make big ass pipe to send the water to thailand and Sg

Edited August 24, 2020 by Mustank