In a wide-ranging interview, prominent scientist Chen Guojie says he is ‘extremely worried’ about the impacts on Shanghai of a number of colossal projects on the Yangtze River, including the Three Gorges dam.
Open letter puts pressure on Beijing over secretive dam plans
(September 7, 2005) Dozens of Chinese environmental groups and close to 100 concerned experts have joined forces to publish a dramatic open letter urging the government to release documents related to secretive plans to dam the Nu River in southwest China.
Call for public disclosure of Nujiang hydropower development’s EIA report in accordance with the law
(September 6, 2005) The text of the open letter endorsed by a coalition of Chinese environmental groups and experts calling for disclosure of the environmental impact assessment for proposed dams on the Nu River.
China ‘faces imminent power-overproduction crisis’
(August 9, 2005) Lin Boqiang, a leading Chinese energy economist with the Asian Development Bank, warns of the impending overproduction of power in China, a long-term problem that he says will be more serious than the short-term shortages the country has experienced.
Villagers isolated by a rising reservoir
Villagers on the Xiangxi River find it harder to visit loved ones, and to access vital services such as shops, schools and hospitals, since the filling of the Three Gorges reservoir caused their river to become much wider and more expensive to cross.
Translation by Three Gorges Probe The people of Wangusi village on the Xiangxi River, a major Yangtze tributary 45 kilometres up
(June 19, 2005) Eight years ago, Lu She Zhong and the other residents of Guan Yang, a hamlet in central Henan Province, were forced to move to this resettlement village about 40 miles away.
Small dam collapses as flood season starts early
(June 7, 2005) As the death toll climbs above 200 at the outset of an unusually early flood season, the rumour of a disastrous dam collapse has swirled in hard-hit Hunan province, and on the Internet. So China Youth Daily sent a reporter to investigate and try to set the record straight.
Yangtze dams driving ‘panda of the water’ to extinction
(June 3, 2005) The Chinese sturgeon is believed to have inhabited the Yangtze River since the dinosaur era. But since the first dam blocked China’s longest river in January 1981, the Yangtze’s oldest species has been decimated, and could soon be lost forever.
Artificial water reservoir-triggered earthquakes with special emphasis at Koyna
(May 25, 2005) Globally, about one hundred sites are known where filling of artificial water reservoirs triggered earthquakes. It is noteworthy that a majority of the sites where triggered earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 have occurred are in Stable Continental Regions.
Runaway hydro development needs to be reined in: water resources minister
(April 27, 2005) China’s minister of water resources says his ministry does not object to plans to dam the Nu River in Yunnan province but disagrees with the number of projects proposed, suggesting excessive hydropower development is not the way of the future for China.
Min River runs dry because of dams
(April 10, 2005) A series of dams and hydro projects have caused one of the upper Yangtze River’s largest tributaries to run dry in places, Sichuan Online reports.
The Story of the Dahe Dam: Conclusion
(April 4, 2005) This is the concluding instalment of Three Gorges Probe’s serialization of sociologist Ying Xing’s fascinating, detailed account of the years-long struggle for redress pursued by thousands of people who were plunged deeper into poverty by the construction of the Dahe dam.
Deformation monitoring and exploration on Shuping Landslide induced by ompoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China
(2005) The Three Gorges Dam construction on the Yangtze River in China is the largest hydro-electric project in the world. After the first impoundment in June 2003, many landslides occurred or reactivated. Shuping landslide is one of the most active landslides among them. In this paper, the deformation of the Shuping landslide monitored by GPS, extensometers, and crack measurements are summarized.
Environmental NGOs in China: Encouraging action and addressing public grievances
(February 7, 2005) Patricia Adams, Executive Director of Probe International, addressed a Congressional-Executive Commission on China roundtable in Washington on Feb. 7: ‘We believe projects like Three Gorges can be built only in the absence of good information about their real costs and benefits, and in the absence of an informed public debate.’ See her statement.
The Story of the Dahe Dam
Another feisty character who will play a lead role in the Dahe drama enters the fray, and senses danger in villagers’ plans to cause trouble at the hydropower station.
Probe International 