Complete this paragraph:

1
Complete this paragraph The Three Gorges Dam is
built on the River .. in the .. of
China. The town nearest to the dam site is called
. . The big city at the mouth of the
river is called .. . The river flows
into the . Sea.
2
The lake may become badly polluted with human and
industrial waste
A massive area flooded millions of people are
displaced
A city of 15 million people will become a sea
port
3
The river is a major tourist attraction. The most
beautiful section, the
Three Gorges (narrow limestone canyons, 200 kms
long), provides some of the most stunning scenery
in China and attracts many foreign visitors each
year
4
For thousands of years, the silt from the river
has been deposited on the flood plain. The
Yangtze basin is the granary of China, growing
70 of the countrys rice harvest and 50 of
Chinas food production. Barley, wheat corn and
cotton are all important crops grown on the
fertile flood plain. (arable)
There is a very high population density on the
flood plain.
5
The Yangtze is one of the worlds busiest rivers.
Thousands of boats carry passengers and cargo.
Deep water allows ocean going ships to sail as
far as Wuhan 1100km inland.
Our ship is approaching the Wuhan port.
6
Farming along the Yangtze River
Suggest What crop? What building?
Water from the river irrigates crops and provides
a domestic supply of fresh water to millions of
people
7
Chongqing is a city of 15 million people. The
river provides it with water and is also an
outlet for effluent from industry and housing
Suggest Why the orange stained colour?
8
The sign readsTGP Permanent Ship-Lock Ground
Works Constructed by Chinese Armed Police Troops
For Hydroelectric Engineering Construction. Severa
l HEP stations use the flow of water to generate
electricity
What does the armed police involvement tells us?
9
The HEP station will generate electricity
equivalent to 18 nuclear power stations. 14 of
Chinas power. It will reduce coal burning by 50
million tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 100
million tones) A massive new grid will have to be
built to transmit the electricity to other
cities.
How improve Quality of Life? (Social) How reduce
pollution? (Environmental) How help create
factory jobs? (Economic)
10
Floods on the Yangtze killed more than 300,000
people in the twentieth century, with many more
dying from starvation which followed crop failure
in the flood plain.
Why does flooding lead to famine?
11
The most serious floods in recent years were in
1998. Then 14 million were made homeless, 5
million houses were destroyed, 25 million
hectares of farmland were affected, 20 billion
worth of damage was caused and more than 3000
people died.
This will stop - BENEFIT
12

• Floods are now more frequent and more disastrous
  because
• More people live on the flood plain
• 85 of the Yangtze basin has been deforested
• much industry and housing has been built on the
  flood plain

13
Navigating the river is very dangerous especially
through the Three Gorge Section when water levels
are low. When the river is in flood , it flows
dangerously fast.
This will improve BENEFIT
14
Boats 10 times bigger than at present will be
able to navigate the river. The city of Chonqing
at the head of the new lake will become the
worlds biggest sea port taking ocean going
ships.
The main building of the port is in the shape of
a huge ship.
Good for trade BENEFIT
15
66 of Wanxian city will be flooded. Some 900
factories and 250000 people will have to move.
The city will be more accessible a new airport,
road and railway will be built. Altogether 1.2
million people need rehousing 2 cities, 11
major towns, 114 smaller towns and 1700 villages.
The quality of life in the region is below
Chinas average at present.
COSTS and BENEFITS
16
60,000 hectares of fertile farmland will be
flooded and 600,000 farmers will have to move
A COST
17
The lake will change the local climate, making it
cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
Environmental change - Good or Bad Why? It is
expected that fruit production will expand in the
more moderate climate Economic Benefit.
The lake offers opportunities for tourism. It
will also provide a huge fishing industry. Why?
18
The government hopes to impress other countries
with its construction achievements. It is like
the Millennium Stadium to Wales.
19
The dam traps the pollution in the reservoir it
becomes badly damaged like a sewer.
China's Three Gorges dam - eco-boon or
cesspool? CHONGQING, China (Reuters) -- It is
already one of China's filthiest cities, but some
say this teeming Yangtze River metropolis is now
destined to sit on the shores of an immense
cesspool formed by a dam hundreds of miles (km)
downstream
20
Sediment will be trapped in the lake, instead of
flowing downstream. It will eventually silt up
the harbour at Chongqing and ruin the HEP
turbines. The river downstream will flow faster
and deposit less sediment. NOT SUSTAINABLE in
the LONGER TERM.
21
828 religious cultural and archaeological sites
will be flooded including important Buddhist
carvings. Thousands of important archaeological
sites along the river will be lost forever.
Social COST
22
E N V I R O N M E N T -
C O S T
Here are 40 unique species of fish in the Three
Gorges section of the Yangtze and 36 rare plant
species. Downstream, the rare Chinese river
dolphin lives in the silt laden river bed of the
Yangtze. There are only 100 river dolphins left.