China and Its Dams: There Are Too Many Of Them By Far

June 10, 2008

(This article has been provided by a leading expert on international affairs.) China holds many world records: it has the largest population on the planet; Mandarin is the most widely spoken language; the Great Wall of China is the longest structure in the world.

There is one world record, however, that China probably now wishes it had never set. It has the greatest number of river dams, 85,000 to be exact, and until recently the Chinese leaders liked to boast about it. They would proudly say that China had the tallest dam in the world, the largest dam by the volume of water that passes through it, the highest ship lift and the largest electricity producing dam.

But things have changed since the earthquake in the Sichuan province last month which has created conditions when up to 28 dams could burst at any moment. In the worst case scenario huge quantities of water could start cascading downstream, destroying other dams in their wake. The impact could be as bad as the original earthquake. It has already damaged 391 hydroelectric dams in five provinces and 1.3 million people had to be evacuated to higher ground.

China is no stranger to dam disasters. The Banqiao dam, built in the 1950s, had been declared indestructible on its completion. Then, in 1975, Typhoon Nina hit the country and poured down 6 inches of rain an hour. A smaller, upriver dam, burst and a wall of water cascaded towards the ‘indestructible’ dam. The inevitable happened and the water from Banqiao swept away a further 60 dams. Over 200,000 people perished then: a third from drowning and the others from the resulting disease and hunger.

Dam building in China began in earnest after the communists took power in 1949. Before that there were only 22 dams in the country because they were considered to be an environmental risk. The mania for dam building began during the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) which was an attempt to propel China into communism. Over the next forty years China built over 80,000 dams by blocking every major river in the country. Dams were intended to solve the problem of generating electricity for China’s growing economy.

Despite opposition from scientists and environmentalists, the Chinese government embarked on the construction of world’s largest dam: the Three Gorges Dam. Investment so far has come to about $17 billion. The experts predicted disaster since it was impossible to calculate the impact on the environment of such a massive project. The reservoir is 400 miles long, 70 miles wide and holds five trillion gallons of water. The project required the relocation of 1.5 million people and ‘drowned’ 11 Chinese counties, 118 towns and 4,500 villages. Government officials admit that the dam is causing more problems than expected. For instance, silt is building up behind the dam and will cut the amount of electricity generated. Downstream, because there is less silt, water flows faster and this increases the risk of flooding because dikes, built to control the water, may give way.

However, a far greater problem is the rapid growth of algae. Less silt means that the sunlight can penetrate deeper through the water. This is accelerating the growth of photosynthetic algae and significantly expanding the area of large scale algal blooms on Chinese waterways. More and more pollutants, sewage and rubbish are building up in the dam and this, in turn, is turning toxic.

The dam, due to the enormous pressure which it generates, is provoking landslides and this may mean that another 3 to 4 million people would have to be moved to more secure areas in the future. Then there is the great pressure of the silt and rubbish building up behind the dam. One scenario is that eventually the dam will be breached with horrific consequences. One Chinese source calculates that 30,000 of China’s dams are in a ‘critical condition’ and they threaten over 400 cities and about 150 million people. On average, over the last 50 years, around 70 dams collapse annually.

China’s dam building is beginning to affect its neighbours. It is planning to build 15 dams on the mighty Mekong River. Two have already been completed and they produce electricity equivalent to that of three nuclear power stations. However, it is the third dam which is causing concern. Once completed in 2013 it will be the tallest in the world. The two dams that have been built are already affecting the flow of the Mekong to Cambodia. Fish catches have declined dramatically in Lake Tonle Sap. Normally the water is about three feet deep and covers an area of about 1,000 square miles. In the flood season it is ten times as deep and the lake expands to five times the size. But now, with the appearance of the third dam, the flow of water will be evened and that will reflect on the numbers of fish in Lake Tonle Sap.

Vietnam also suffers from dam building in China. The suggestion that the Mekong could run dry appeared preposterous just a short time ago but scientists have pointed out that the mighty Yellow river in northern China is now dry 200 days a year. The Vietnamese have noticed that sections of the Mekong are now almost at ‘rock bottom’ levels.

Many schools in Sichuan province collapsed because they were ‘jerry’ built. Corrupt contractors had used defective materials. The same applies to many of the dams built during the Mao era. The Sichuan earthquake may force the Chinese leadership to rethink the policy of building more and more dams. If this happens, it will be the only good thing to come out of the earthquake disaster.

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