How did the Three Gorges Dam affect local communities?

To make way for the dam's massive reservoir, about 1.4 million people were uprooted, their ancestral homes demolished, communities broken up and farmlands flooded. Building the Three Gorges Dam displaced more people than the three largest Chinese dams before it combined.



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The most important effect that the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has had on Chinese society has been the displacement of millions of people from the Yangtze river region. In order to establish the reservoir, hundreds (possible thousands) of towns and villages were evacuated and later submerged.

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Dam construction has played significant roles in flood control, irrigation, navigation, and energy supply; however, the enormous negative effects, such as landslides, ecological problems, and water quality decline, could surpass positive gains.

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These Three Gorges Dam problems mainly include:
  • More Sediment in Upper Riverbeds and Three Gorges Reservoir. ...
  • Threat to Downstream Riverbanks and Yangtze River Delta. ...
  • Many Aquatic Creatures Are Endangered. ...
  • Increased Geological Disasters. ...
  • Climate Change of Yangtze River Basin.


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Moreover, a couple of other studies demonstrated that the construction of the TGD had an adverse effect on agricultural environment, including the agricultural water and the land resources [14,27,30]. However, on the other hand, its effective flood control function is able to reduce the scale and frequency of flooding.

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The main objective for the dam is to supply water for the largest hydroelectric plant in the world and to help control the devastating floods that plague the lowlands downstream from the dam.

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Over 1,300 cultural and archeological sites and 100,000 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged by the reservoir, while also impacting the habitats of over 6,000 plant species, 500 terrestrial vertebrates and 400 species of fish along the Yangtze River.

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The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power producing facility, and the world's largest hydroelectric dam.

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