Immense Risks of China’s Three Gorges Dam’s Flooding

Still, the damage that has already occurred from the record deluge is significant, with numerous cities upriver from the dam already flooded. According to the Wall Street Journal: Some 40 million people in more than two dozen provinces have been affected by the flooding as of July 12, causing more than 80 billion yuan ($11.5 billion) of direct damage to the economy, according to China’s Ministry of Emergency Management. Around 28,000 homes have collapsed, while millions have been displaced and at least 141 people have been declared dead or missing in the floods.

All that would be dwarfed if the Three Gorges Dam failed. The dam was built from 1994 to 2006, at a cost of $31 billion and displacing 1.4 million people for its construction, precisely to lessen the risk of devastating flooding along the Yangtze, a perennial problem in China since ancient times. The river’s basin accounts for nearly half of China’s agricultural output, and it runs through major cities, such as Wuhan, with 10 million people.

Chinese authorities have already evacuated 38 million people downriver. The dam can hold back waters to a level of 175 meters above sea level; according to the Bureau of Hydrology of the Chanjiang (Yangtze) Water Resources Commission, the latest (Friday) height at the dam was 158.85 meters, down from 164 meters on Tuesday. Yet more rain is predicted, and if smaller, older dams upriver from Three Gorges overflow or fail, then the pressure on the main dam could quickly overwhelm either its capacity or even its structural integrity.

While an outright failure of the dam may not be the primary danger, nonetheless its geopolitical consequences are staggering to contemplate. It would be a black swan of epic proportions, China’s Chernobyl moment. A tsunami-like wave from a breach in the Three Gorges Dam could wipe out millions of acres of farmland right before the autumn harvest, possibly leading to famine-like conditions. As it is also the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, a failure would lead to huge power outages. Low-lying cities of millions along the Yangtze’s banks cities could become uninhabitable and the death toll could be staggering.

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[thomasisaac]

It should be renamed as "" Three Curses Dam.".

[Sacto]

The big problem with the Three Gorges Dam collapse: not only would it affect everything downstream from the dam all the way to Shanghai (!!), but hydrological simulations show it could affect everything upstream of the dam all the way well above Chongqing! 😲😒 We're talking something like 1/3 of the Chinese population adversely affected.

[stenlos]

All corse greedness build 1000 of dams now paying heavily

[clarissagafoor]

Has anyone seen what's going on in Western Europe with the flooding?

[harryviking]

It seems like the bad weather has reached Europe. Germany was hit by the worst rain/flooding ever!! Today it was Austria....

[sevenseven]

"Call on the Lord in the day of trouble,
And he will deliver you."
      - Psalm 50 :15