A report from the dam site by Gao Ming, New Beijing News (Xin Jingbao), May 18, 2006. (Translated and summarized by Three Gorges Probe.) New policy issued to support the migrants “Resettlement related to the construction of the Three Gorges dam has generated worldwide interest, and is a key to the success or failure of the big project,” Li Yongan, general manager of the Three Gorges Project Corp., told a press conference at the dam site near Yichang in Hubei Province. According to Li Yongan, 1,127,800 people had been moved by the end of March 2006, with 51.5 billion yuan (US$6.43 billion) spent on the resettlement operation.¹ Groups relocated because of the Three Gorges dam enjoy better conditions after resettlement, with a living area of 40 square metres each, he said. “The central government is going to announce a new policy to boost financial support to the groups affected by Three Gorges dam. The plan is designed to provide relocated people with financial support for 20 years after their displacement,” Mr. Li said. Cao Guangjing, vice general manager of the Three Gorges Corp., has explained that the funds will be drawn from the annual revenue generated by the Three Gorges project. “These financial resources will be used to subsidize the living expenses of people resettled for the Three Gorges project. In this way, affected groups will benefit from the hydropower station,” Li Yongan said. The project not yet completedNo top leaders from Beijing were due to attend the “brief and simple” ceremony May 20 marking the completion of the dam structure. However, more than 300 reporters from 100 domestic media outlets did gather at the dam site for the event.Ding Qihua, director of the construction and technology department of the Three Gorges Corp., said that completion of the dam structure does not mean the project as a whole has been finished, and that powerhouses and navigation facilities are still being built. Construction crews are working hard on the right-bank powerhouse, where the first of 12 turbine-generating units scheduled to begin producing electricity next July and all 12 units due to be operating in 2008. The six units in the underground powerhouse will also go into operation in 2008, he said. Mr. Ding estimates that almost 80 per cent of the dam project has now been completed. The cofferdam on the right bank is to be blown up June 6 and the reservoir will be filled to 156 metres above sea level after this year’s flood season. Question period At the May 17 press conference, Li Yongan and Cao Guangjing took questions from reporters from around the world who had gathered at the dam site. Q: Is the Three Gorges dam triggering seismic activity in the reservoir area? If so, do the tremors pose a threat to the project? Cao Guangjing: Earthquakes induced by dam construction are an issue [faced by dam builders] around the world. However, the Three Gorges project feasibility study showed that the dam site and the reservoir area are geologically stable. Since the filling of the reservoir [in June 2003], there has been an increase in seismic activity, but the biggest tremor recorded was 3 on the Richter scale. A digital monitoring network has been set up at the dam site and in the reservoir area. In addition, 4 billion yuan (US$500 million) has been spent on strengthening the riverbanks since the reservoir was filled to 135 metres above sea level. An additional 8 billion yuan (US$100 million) will be budgeted to deal with the problem when the reservoir is raised to 156 metres this October. Q: Two German companies have reportedly won the bidding to do the work on the shiplift. How is the shiplift progressing? Cao Guangjing: A German company is in charge of the shiplift design while another company from Germany will be responsible for the supervision work. Chinese companies will do the rest. As you know, the shiplift is complicated and difficult because it is the biggest of its type in the world and, as a result, work on it has been delayed for half a year. The shiplift design is expected to be completed at the end of this year, at which point construction will begin. The shiplift is not needed urgently at the moment so quality and safety are the top priorities. Q: What role will the dam project play from a long-term point of view? Li Yongan: The first priority is flood control, followed by power generation and improved navigation. The Yangtze basin contributes one-third of the nation’s GDP, and the Three Gorges project will create a safer environment for development of the region below the dam. Annual cargo transportation volume has tripled since the filling of the reservoir [in June 2003] to 43 million tonnes. Once it is completed, the Three Gorges project will play a greater role in the economic development of the Yangtze valley. Q: Can the Three Gorges project withstand a terrorist attack? On a tour of the dam this morning, we noticed a shortage of security personnel around the site. Does the government have effective anti-terrorist measures in place? Cao Guangjing: The Chinese government has paid a great deal of attention to this issue. We have sufficient security personnel and equipment to ensure the safety of the big project, the shiplock in particular. We had an anti-terrorist military exercise at the dam last November and came up with various plans to deal with different attack scenarios. The Three Gorges project is a concrete gravity dam so an ordinary terrorist attack or an ordinary weapon will inflict no damage. A nuclear attack could cause significant damage, but we can discharge the water from the reservoir in advance. We are able to empty the reservoir in two or three days, or in four or five days anyway, even if the process is going a little slowly. During the feasibility study, several research institutes conducted a series of experiments and found that if the dam collapsed, only the Yichang and Jianghan Plain areas below the dam would be affected, but there would be little impact on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, let alone Shanghai. Q: Will the Three Gorges project cause environmental problems in the reservoir area, such as pollution and siltation? Cao Guangjing: Everything has advantages and disadvantages. When we did the feasibility study, we concluded that the benefits of the project outweighed the downsides. The Three Gorges dam wont change the river very much because the project operates seasonally, and in the flood season, silt will be discharged from the reservoir when the water level is lowered to 145 metres. Furthermore, the reservoir itself does not produce any pollution. Its true that with silt being deposited in the reservoir, as so many people are concerned about, the water discharged from the dam could cause riverbank collapses because of the stronger scouring force of the clearer water. However, riverbank collapses also occurred before the dam was built, and we have to say that this problem has been exaggerated. Q: We have been told that when the reservoir is raised to 175 metres above sea level, the water level will actually increase by seven metres every 100 kilometres, so the level will be 210 metres at Chongqing.² If true, what impact will this have? Cao Guangjing: The reservoir will operate at a low water level, 145 metres rather than 175 metres, during the June to September flood season. Should a “1,000-year flood” occur, the reservoir would reach its highest water level Ð say, 180.4 metres Ð at which point the water level would be 196 metres at Chongqing. This has been scientifically calculated by taking a variety of factors into account. What you have said [about a greater slope to the reservoir] is untrue.

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Footnotes: ¹ These figures do not include the 80,000 people to be moved before the reservoir is raised to 156 metres above sea level after the current flood season. ² For a discussion of this issue, see The slippery slope: Confusion surrounds shape of the reservoir.