(1) Plan curbs Three Gorges pollution
Mar. 11, 2001 – The South China Morning Post reports that China will be able to solve the water pollution problems stemming from the huge Three Gorges dam project. According to a former chief of the State Environmental Protection Administration, Qu Geping, Beijing is trying to halt the flow of sediment and industrial pollution into a massive reservoir the dam will create on the Yangtze River. Mr. Qu told the South China Morning Post that China had spent more than ever on pollution control in its last five-year plan. He put the total from the central and local governments, along with state and non-state corporations, at about 360 billion yuan (HK$338 billion). He said that could double during the current five-year plan, which runs from 2001-2005.

(2) China speeds up plans for water diversion project
Mar. 07, 2001 – The U.K. Guardian reports that China will speed up a "mega-project" to divert billions of cubic metres of water from the Yangtze to the Yellow River, despite serious concern about the environmental consequences. One of the three routes through which the water is to be diverted requires the evacuation of 220,000 people, while the water on a second route will be badly polluted, the officials admitted. However, officials in Beijing insisted that the "complexities" of the project could be handled and that no time should be wasted. Environmentalists have warned that large-scale tampering with water systems may have untold adverse effects, and that much more effort should be made to save water first.

(3) Thousands to be moved for water transfer project
Mar. 07, 2001 — The South China Morning Post reports that Beijing plans to move 220,000 people to make way for a multi-billion-dollar project to transfer water from the flood- prone Yangtze river to the parched cities and farmland of the north. Officials in Beijing pledged to keep the project clean of corruption scandals which have plagued the relocation of more than a million people in China’s other huge water project – the Three Gorges Dam. However, environmental experts, both Chinese and foreign, say the new project will cause massive corruption, human hardship and environmental damage, and could dry up the Yangtze in 30 years. Environmentalists are urging Beijing to take simpler steps like raising water prices and curbing rampant well-digging.

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Three Gorges Probe welcomes submissions. However, it is not a forum for political debate. Rather, Three Gorges Probe is dedicated to covering the scientific, technical, economic, social, and environmental ramifications of completing the Three Gorges Project, as well as the alternatives to the dam.

Publisher: Patricia Adams
Executive Editor: Mu Lan
Assistant Editor: Lisa Peryman
ISSN 1481-0913