Agence France-Presse
September 22, 2006

As the water in the reservoir is set to rise to increase the hydroelectric potential of the dam, a lot of garbage on the banks will end up floating in its huge reservoir, a top Three Gorges Corp. official says.

Beijing: Massive amounts of floating garbage are accumulating behind China’s giant Three Gorges Dam due to a drought and a host of other factors, state press said Thursday. Several months of drought in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China’s longest, had reduced its capacity to clean itself, Xinhua news agency quoted Cao Guangjing, vice manager of the Three Gorges Corporation, as saying. Now as the water in the reservoir is set to rise to increase the hydro-electric potential of the dam, a lot of garbage on the banks will end up floating in its huge reservoir, he said. … To make matters worse, a specialized boat to clean up floating debris is inoperable due to a lack of spare parts, he added