Dams are a symbol of modernity. America has it's Hoover/Boulder Dam, Egypt has its Aswan High Dam, etc. The Chinese want their dam to symbolize China's movement into the modern age, and the bigger the better. Of course, China is not alone in wanting to build a dam for the purpose of modernization. Belize for example is pushing forward with the Chalillo Dam, despite massive court battles over predicted environmental damage.SSJVegita0609 wrote: Anyways, EC, what are your feelings on the Yang-see (sp?) dam project in China?
While, I do not question the Chinese and their ability to engineer a dam, however I do question the soundness of the plan in its relation to the Three Gorges of the Yang-tze.
A dam's life expectancy is most directly linked to sediment buildup in the reservoir. As the resevoir fills up with sediment, than the dam's functionality is reduced. Now, the Yang-Tze is one of the world's most sediment heavy rivers. Indeed, some years it releases the highest sediment loads of any river. However, the dam blocks back these sediments which accumulate behind the dam. I've seen various projections related to the actual life span of the dam in relation to sediment accumulation and most seem to float around 50 years. This is, of course, if the Chinese do not dredge sediments in order to prolong the life of the dam. Dredging however, is relatively inefficent and expensive, and if the dam were expected to be self-sufficent would have to be factored into the cost of the generated electricity, raising costs, and making it rather pricy for the average chinese farmer to purchase. Additionally, there will be costs of laying out the infrastructure for the transmition of the power from the relativel remote dam site, etc, all of which will further add to the cost. From an investor's stand point, the Dam hardly seems like something to risk sinking money into. Thus the government will have to supplement costs, make up for budgetary shortfalls, and so on.
From an economic standpoint the Dam is going to be a money pit for the Chinese government, but considering the pride of the communist party, it seems unlikely they will back down and admit to any foibles in the budgeting of the project. Indeed, one of the main criticisms directed toward the Dam project from foriegn investors is the fact that the Chinese government hasn't been overly forethcoming with all the details related to dam operations.
