Three Gorges Dam at near capacity

Near full capacity

Controversy is once again courting China's epic Three Gorges Dam. Not only responsible for the displacement of thousands of citizens and, possibly responsible for devastating earthquakes, the dam is now being pushed to its limits as heavy rain has pushed the dam to near capacity.

Flooding has occurred all along the Yangtze River, nearing last year's record surge but still causing trails of devastation. To date, the flooding has killed at least 823 people and left 437 missing.

However, the flood water has caused the reservoir to fill to near capacity putting extreme pressure on the structure of the dam.

It was announced at 0800 local time today that the reservoir water level is currently at 158m, while the maximum capacity is only 17m away at 175m. If the water levels continue to rise, the authorities may be forced to release mass torrents of water endangering communities downstream.

Flood devastation

Ironically the Three Gorges Dam was constructed, in part, to ‘tame' the Yangtze River, but heavy rain has weakened embankments causing tributaries to flow into the main river at dangerous levels.

The flow into the dam's reservoir, however, is lower than last week's peak of 70,000 cubic metres per second.

The dam has managed to limit the amount of water, but due to the fact that sluices are remaining open, huge torrents are still flowing down river.

The damage from flooding is expected to cost China more than US$22 billion. While the country suffers heavy rainfall every year, this year's has been the heaviest in more than a decade, weakening bridges and causing mass evacuations all over the region.

The dam is being monitored by engineers and authorities, but Chinese newspaper Xinhua has reported that current water levels are not as high as the 70,000 cubic meters per second on July 20 - the highest level since the dam was completed last year.
It has also been reported that the dam has prevented a repeat of the 1998 floods that killed 4150 people.

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Is Three Gorges Dam causing quakes? |Asian energy consumption | Megaprojects of Asia | Asia's green megaprojects

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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