The 3 Gorges Dam: Was it Worth the Cost?

The 3 Gorges Dam is a tourist attraction in the Yangtze River, China. The dam makes its energy from hydroelectric power. It is the biggest hydroelectric powered dam in the world, it has the generating capacity of 22,500 megawatts.

Having said this, in terms of economy, the 3 gorges dam immensely augmented the economy. With this fast growing economy, more job opportunities and employment can be given to work at the dam or to pick up trash that has been left by people in the river since it can no longer flow down the river. Trade has also increased and with more energy that it is making the more money they are receiving to build other dams. However, the damage caused by the dam has a price. There has been a decline in tourism because fewer people want to visit the 3 gorges, because of the dam it’s not as beautiful as it was before. As trade increases, there is more shipping traffic. People are having to move houses from the effects of the dam, resulting in paying for the damages. Although the economy advantages overcome the disadvantages the social and environmental advantages differ.

For the environment, I believe that we can all agree that there are many more disadvantages than advantages. Besides having the dam produce clean energy, fewer carbon emissions, and is sustainable. There’s a lot to say about the bad impacts. Relating back to what I said before about the floating trash in the river, it doesnt flow down the river so it remains there and can affect life underwater. Because of this, quality of water has become worse and since water doesn’t flow down the water level fluctuates causing landslides. Water level can rise up to 175m, Yunyang, Budong, Shibaozai, and Fuling are just some places that have now been submerged underwater. The Yangtze dolphin is now extinct due to the impact.

As for the social impacts, there is a connection between the other 2 impacts. Focusing on the advantages since there is the rubbish in the river this created an opportunity for someone in need and the energy made may be at use to the people. But just like the environmental impact, there isn’t much of a benefit. The floods that occurred forced people to move away to bigger cities, people are living in constant fear, cracks in houses that can only get worse, and not being able to afford to pay the damages. This can be a problem because temperatures can reach very low. Some homes have even been lost to the reservoir causing towns to go underwater.

In conclusion, I believe when building the 3 gorges, not much thought was given about how it may affect the people living there or what it could do to the environment, without the environmental advantages it can lead to social disadvantages because people live in that environment. I think it wasn’t worth it because it resulted in a lot of damage that could have been avoided and there is more evidence of it having disadvantages than advantages.