Geography Three Gorges Dam

¶ … bureaucracy can occur anywhere in the world, despite wide cultural and political differences. The United States, Europe, China -- it makes no difference. The Three Gorges Dam offers a prime example. Over the many years of this project, the Chinese government, displaced residents, special interest groups such as environmentalists and anthropologists, and contractors have become so mired in on-again-off-again decisions, regulations and continuous controversies that the original ideas for this massive undertaking are completely lost. It seems logical that the entire venture should be delayed and then analyzed for future goals.

It appears by recent newspaper articles that this just might be the case. In the middle of January, 2005, the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) ordered 30 large-scale projects being done for the dam to be stopped because of a lack of mandatory environmental impact assessments. Any firms continuing their work would be fined (although not heavily by relative standards). Despite this edict, on February 1, 2005, the China Three Gorges Project Corporation reportedly ignored the government's order to halt construction.

SEPA posted information about the offenders and the applicable laws on its official website. The dispute was picked up by newspapers around the country. However, the company still denied the projects were in violation of the law. "The corporation has all along abided by the law and has built our projects in accordance with the law, there has been no violation of the environment law in the three power station projects," the company's general manager surnamed Li stated. (China View).

Until recently, as the country's growth soared, developers completely ignored environmental regulators, despite new laws giving the latter increased authority. Power plants, in particular, have been untouchable.

Yet on February 3, work was ceased on all 30 projects. This was recognized as a major breakthrough in environmental enforcement. In fact, it is actually the first time that the state environmental agency has won legal backing for a major effort since the National Environmental Assessment Law went into effect in fall 2003. According to a February 10, 2005, article in Christian Science Monitor (Marquand), this enforcement by SEPA is continuing. It appears, notes Marquand, that "Chinese leaders appear to be throwing their clout behind laws requiring environmental-impact statements for large energy-related projects." Apparently, even if the projects soon get clearance to go back to work, the government's public support of SEPA seems to be changing and giving in to growing numbers of Chinese who support stronger environmental policies. There are about 70 different local environmental groups in the country. Moreover, the environmental lobby in China has been given the opportunity to print its views in the state-run media, and in smaller private newspapers.

Leon of the Belfast Telegraph Digital reported a couple of days ago that this action by the government "calls the bluff of President George Bush, who has cited growing pollution in China as justification for refusing to join the Kyoto Protocol, which enters into force on Wednesday." Many attribute this change in China is due to the growing interest in the environment by premier Wen Jiabao and other national leaders. "Many of the children of top Chinese politicians and officials are members of the environmental pressure groups," states Leon in the news article.

However, environmental concerns are only one part of the problem with the dam. There have been reports of corruption by the companies contracted to do the work, so an audit would be advisable. In addition, is the displacement of numerous Chinese residents and loss of fertile lands for cultivation. How will this be resolved? Further, there are a number of other interest groups concerned with the dam design, such as archaeologists who say the project will cause the destruction of unique Chinese pre-historical sites. Will anyone address these concerns? In addition, numerous questions still remain regarding whether or not the initial plan and intentions are 1) feasible; 2) effective for energy needs and 3) accurate. There are also many questions regarding shipping, flooding, possible earthquakes, type of energy to be generated, and the overall effect on the economy.

The other side of the issue is not any easier to resolve. A great deal of work has already gone into the project. It is believed that the 6th-stage project of a power station in Yunnan province has already started to generate electricity and the 7th-stage project could start operation soon. The shortage of electricity in rural areas could become worse. Also, some economists are concerned about the financial end: Shutting down the undergoing projects would have an enormous negative effect on the power enterprises and, at the same time, increase the loan risks for banks. This could potentially lead to a financial crisis, they say.