How many cities towns and settlements were flooded by building the Three Gorges Dam?
Building the Three Gorges Dam displaced more people than the three largest Chinese dams before it combined. The reservoir submerged two cities, 114 towns and 1,680 villages along the river banks.
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In 1998 flooding in the area expected to be controlled by the dam resulted in 4,000 dead, 14 million left homeless and $24 billion in economic loss. When the dam is completed, 13 cities, 140 towns and over 1,300 villages will be submerged by the Three Gorges Reservoir.
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.
Although it meets the water needs of millions of people, the river regularly overflows its banks. To protect residents and land in the lower Yangtze floodplains, China began construction on the Three Gorges Dam in 1994.
Tappan Lake's history is rather fascinating. Almost like the lost city of Atlantis, Laceyville, Ohio was submerged when the dam was built in the Muskingum Watershed. Parts of the Tappan Lake town underwater were abandoned rather than relocated due to the high cost of moving an entire town.
Building the Three Gorges Dam displaced more people than the three largest Chinese dams before it combined. The reservoir submerged two cities, 114 towns and 1,680 villages along the river banks.
The plant took 17 years to construct and was built in stages by state-backed sponsor China Yangtze Three Gorges Dam Project Development Corporation. Initial works began in 1993. Up to the end of 1996, approximately $2.3bn was invested.
Previous studies have shown that worldwide as many as 80 million people have been displaced by dams, while an additional 472 million people living downstream have had their family lives and livelihood disrupted – including many Indigenous Americans in Oregon, Oklahoma, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Arizona.
Above all, it was sustainable. The dam cut coal consumption by 6 million tons each year, according to the World Bank estimates. However, building it required access to international expertise and experts in the field capable of completing such a complex project.