Worksheet 2 - Advanced Questions

INTRODUCTION

This seminar centres on the debate over whether Big Dams (over 100 m high) are still the way forward in terms of flood protection and water resource management. The construction of the colossal Hoover Dam in the 1930s heralded the start of the economic and political trend for large dams which still continues today. They were built for water supply, flood protection, or hydroelectric power generation.

The most topical and controversial large dam scheme is undoubtedly the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, China. This will be the largest man-made structure in the world. It has been constructed not only for flood protection, navigation and hydroelectric power generation purposes, but as a political statement to the world. However, such a large structure inevitably has considerable impacts on the local inhabitants and the environment.

This seminar will discuss the reasons for such a grand project, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for the region and China, in particular considering the environmental impacts, the various viewpoints and the world response (both political and from geomorphologists) to the project. Is the Three Gorges Dam project a pinnacle of human achievement or an ill-fated conception? What is the experience of large dams elsewhere?

REMIT

Ensure that you have completed Worksheet 1. Answer the following questions to discuss in class. You may need to consult more advanced texts and to search the on-line newspapers to find these answers.

Part A - The Three Gorges Dam

1. Consider the beneficial and detrimental effects of the project. Consider social and cultural, economic, political, archaeological and environmental aspects.

2. What is the response of world governments, in particular the USA to the project?

3. To what extent are non-Chinese engineering companies and international banks boycotting the project? What evidence can you find on the Internet?

4. What about the threat of earthquakes and landslides during construction and once the dam is completed and filled?

5. What are the security risks (terrorism, military attack) of such a scheme?  

Part B - The Wider Context

6. Despite the environmental evidence, why do some dam engineers and countries persist in constructing large dams? What do both parties want to gain?

7. To what extent has ideology clouded the debate over dam construction?

8. What role do large dams fulfil in the debate over sustainable development, in particular their place in arguments about water supply provision and renewable and clean energy generation?

9. Do the environmental impacts outweigh the socio-economic benefits derived from dam building?

10. What alternative strategies might be adopted to overcome problems, such as flood control and water supply?  

Other resources:

• Synopsis

• Three Gorges Dam - A Review

• Worksheet 1 - Introductory Questions

• Worksheet 2 - Advanced Questions

• Worksheet 3 - Role-play Game

• Worksheet 4 - Classroom Debate

• Notes for Teachers

• Further Reading

• Web Links

Adapted from:

• RiversWEB: www.smuc.ac.uk/RiversWEB/index.html

• Simm DJ (2002) Using the internet as a teaching tool: Three Gorges Dam, China. Teaching Geography, 27(2), 82-86.

© British Society for Geomorphology (Education and Outreach). Author: Dave Simm, Bath Spa University College (2004).