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Three Gorges Project, China. Environmental and social impacts
Article · February 2019
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Three Gorges Project, China
Environmental and social impacts
Clarendon Policy & Strategy Group Working Paper Series
Working Paper No. 8, February 2019
Duncan A. Rouch
BSc(Hons), MEnvSc&Tech, PhD, MRSB, AFIML
Contact:
Dr Duncan Rouch, Email: duncanrouch@[Link]
How to cite this report:
Rouch, D. A. (2019) Role of Geographical Information Systems in Promoting Sustainable Agriculture,
Working Paper No. 8, Clarendon Policy & Strategy Group, Melbourne, Australia.
1
Executive summary
The Three Gorges Project (TGP) located on the Yangzi (Yangtze) River in China is the world's largest
hydroelectric power project, including the Three Gorges Dam. The completed system encompasses a
dam, two powerhouses with a total of 22,500 MW of hydropower generation, and water navigation
facilities.
Environmental, demographic, and social impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project were
completed by the Environment Impact Assessment Department of the Chinese Academy of Science
(EIADCAS) and the Research Institute for Protection of Yangzi Water Resources (RIPYWR) in 1992.
However, since the Three Gorges reservoir began filling with water, to 135 m in June 2003,
significant environmental issues have emerged, including; prevalence of eutrophication and algal
blooms; reduced number of fish larvae and change in collective fish species; increased
sedimentation and downstream riverbed erosion; and reservoir-induced land-slides and seismic
hazards. Social impacts include increased poverty among people, especially women, displaced by the
reservoir.
A clear difficulty for managing the Three Gorges Project was the lack of a review after construction
and commissioning to compare outcomes to estimates from the official EIS report. This indicates a
substantial limit to the government’s EIA process, as the review would have provided evidence for
potentially promoting actions to mitigate the environmental and social issues.
The difficulty for optimal EIA reports and monitoring is that large-scale hydropower systems present
an especially difficult policy choice for China's leaders since the early 1990s. As a result of this
difficulty, the selection of the site for the Three Gorges Project clearly focussed on topographical,
geographical, and hydrological aspects, even though social and environmental impact assessments
were performed before construction. Furthermore, the carbon footprint of the project was not
evaluated. This is commonly neglected for hydropower projects, generally due to the lack of direct
data for the proposed site.
Nevertheless, modelling systems, utilizing comparable global evidence, can now be applied before
construction, to assess the two common dimensions of impacts: biophysical and socioeconomic. This
approach may well support better integration of aims for hydropower projects, to minimise negative
impacts for ecosystems, climate, society and economy.
This leaves addressing the geopolitical dimension. That is, it would be prudent for politicians to
agree to an evidenced-based approach to project planning, to address an integrated range of
difficult challenges, ranging from reducing carbon intensity to combat climate change, to
maintaining rural livelihoods and conserving local ecosystems.
2
Contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction to project ........................................................................................................................... 4
EIA process and modifications undertaken as a result ....................................................................... 5
Assessment of project outcomes by Sustainable Development Goals............................................... 7
Recommendations for EIA improvement ............................................................................................... 8
Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. 9
References .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Appendix 1. List of relevant Sustainable Development Goals and degree of compliance for the Three
Gorges Project....................................................................................................................................... 11
3
Introduction to project
The Three Gorges Project (TGP) located on the Yangzi (Yangtze) River in China is the world's largest
hydroelectric power project, including a large dam, Figure 1. The Three Gorges Dam stretches more
than two kilometres across the Yangtze, one of the longest and most fast-flowing rivers in the world
(Gleick 2009). The TGP began in 1993 and was completed in 2009. This project, however, has been
one of the most controversial projects in China due to its sheer scale and the consequent
environmental and social issues (Xu, Tan & Yang 2013).
Figure 1. The Yangzi River Basin and large dams on the Yangzi River, including the Three Gorges
reservoir area (Xu, Tan & Yang 2013). The Three Gorges reservoir area is located in the centre of the
map.
The idea of building a massive dam on the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area was first proposed
more than 90 years ago by Sun Yat-sen. After severe flooding along the river in the 1950s, Chairman
Mao Tse Tung claimed to start construction, but nothing significant happened for several more
decades. In 1986, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power asked the Canadian
government to finance a feasibility study to be conducted by a consortium of Canadian firms. The
consortium, known as CIPM Yangtze Joint Venture, included three private companies (Acres
International, SNC, and Lavelin International), and two state-owned utilities (Hydro-Quebec
International and British Columbia Hydro International). The World Bank was requested to supervise
the feasibility study, to ensure it would “form the basis for securing assistance from international
financial institutions” (Gleick 2009).
On April 3, 1992, the National People’s Congress officially approved the construction of the project.
The three main aims of the project were; (1) flood protection for downstream residents, (2)
substantial hydropower generation, and (3) improved water navigation (Tullos, D 2009).
On December 14, 1994, the Chinese government formally began construction. The first electricity
was produced in 2003, and the reservoir completed in 2009 (Gleick 2009). The completed system
encompasses a dam, two powerhouses with a total of 22,500 MW of hydropower generation, and
water navigation facilities (Tullos, D 2009).
4
EIA process and modifications undertaken as a result
Environmental, demographic, and social impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project (TGP) were
completed by the Environment Impact Assessment Department of the Chinese Academy of Science
(EIADCAS) and the Research Institute for Protection of Yangzi Water Resources (RIPYWR) in 1992.
This was reported in the publication entitled ‘Environmental Impact Statement for the Yangzi Three
Gorges Project’ (EIS Report). This EIS Report was utilised by the Chinese government at all levels, as
an authoritative guideline for TGP policy and plans (Xu, Tan & Yang 2013).
However, since the Three Gorges reservoir began filling with water, to 135 m in June 2003,
significant environmental issues have emerged, including; prevalence of eutrophication and algal
blooms (Bi et al. 2010; Xu et al. 2011); reduced number of fish larvae and change in collective fish
species (Duan et al. 2009; Gao et al. 2010); increased sedimentation and downstream riverbed
erosion (Yang et al. 2006); and reservoir-induced land-slides and seismic hazards (Yin et al. 2016;
Yunsheng et al. 2013). Social impacts include increased poverty among people, especially women,
displaced by the reservoir (Tan, Hugo & Potter 2005).
A summary of outcomes versus estimates from the EIS report for environmental factors is shown in
Table 1, and for social/economic factors in Table 2. I have grouped the 13 environmental factors
described by Xu, Tang and Yang (2013) under three general categories; reservoir properties (6), local
climate (3) and downstream impacts (4).
Table 1. Outcomes versus estimates from EIS report for environmental factors (Xu, Tan & Yang
2013).
Environmental factor Values compared to EIS report Summary of estimates
versus outcomes:
estimate; over (+),
under (-) or inline (^)
outcome
Reservoir properties
Sedimentation The volume of sediments averaged 142 million tons +
(Mt) per year, being equivalent to 40% of the
estimated 355 Mt per year in the EIS Report.
Soil erosion in the Both the extent and severity of soil erosion in the +
reservoir area Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) are smaller than
the estimates of the EIS Report.
Water quality: Eutrophication and algal bloom in many bays of the _
Eutrophication reservoir has become a prominent issue since 2003.
Four major domestic The stock of four major domestic fish species _
fish species dropped dramatically between 2005 and 2010,
reducing by 78.2% on the 1981 level, compared to
the estimated reduction of 50–60% in the EIS Report.
Reservoir bank stability On average, 31 bank collapses occurred per year in _
the reservoir in 2003–2007, compared to 19 bank
collapses in the Jingjiang section of the middle Yangzi
in 2001–2003.
Reservoir induced Reservoir-induced seismicity shows a high frequency ^
seismicity and low intensity pattern, lying within the range as
indicated by the EIS Report.
5
Local climate
Air temperature Annual mean temperature in the TGRA increased by _
0.2–1.0 °C over the 2003–2009 period, compared to
the average level in 1996–2002.
Precipitation Annual mean precipitation in the TGRA increased by _
2–9% over the 2003–2009 period, compared to the
average level in 1996–2002.
Fog • The number of foggy days per annum in the +
TGRA in 2003–2009 decreased slightly,
compared to incidences in 1980–2002.
• • The spatial range shrank due to global
warming and urbanization.
Downstream impacts
Downstream riverbed The annual erosion rate from October 2002 to _
erosion October 2010 averaged at 108.8 million m3, which
was much greater than the average 6.25 million m3
per annum in 1975–2002.
Downstream flooding The TGP has substantially improved flooding control ^
risk capacity in the middle and lower reaches of the
Yangzi River. The Three Gorges Dam withstood
catastrophic floods in July, 2010 and 2012.
Lake Dongting The effect of the TGP on water and sediment ^
exchanges between the Yangzi and the lake is close
to the estimate from the EIS Report.
Lake Boyang • The impact of the TGP on Lake Boyang was little _
addressed in the EIS Report.
• The new flow regime of the Yangzi downstream
of the Dam intensifies the fluctuation of water
levels between wet and dry seasons in the lake.
The water level of the lake remains particularly
low during the dry period from late summer to
autumn.
For three factors estimates were higher than measured outcomes. For instance, the volume of
sediments was 40% less than expected. Outcomes were in agreements for estimates of just three
factors, for example, improved flooding control capacity in the middle and lower reaches of the
Yangzi River. In contrast, for seven factors, across the three general categories, the EIS report
underestimated outcomes, such as prominent occurrence of eutrophication and algal bloom in many
bays of the reservoir since 2003.
For the two social and economic factors, displacement and land carrying, the EIS report substantially
underestimated outcomes, Table 2.
6
Table 2. Outcomes versus estimates from EIS report for social/economic factors (Xu, Tan & Yang
2013).
Social/Economic Factor Values compared to EIS report Summary of estimates
versus outcomes:
estimate; over (+),
under (-) or inline (^)
outcome
Displacement • About 9% more people were displaced than _
estimated (120,000 extra compared to the
planned number of 1,300,000).
• Some 190,000 rural people were resettled
beyond the TGRA.
Land carrying There was a shortage of human carrying _
capacity capacity of land in the TGRA, by 1.32 million and
1.64 million persons in 2003 and 2006,
respectively.
Abbreviation: TGRA, Three Gorges Reservoir Area.
Climate change was not considered in building the infrastructure for the Three Gorges project. For
this and related projects, however, the removal of buildings, structures, and solid wastes
contributed to the largest share (over 95%) of the carbon footprints. Total emissions for
construction of the Three Gorges system was estimated as 3.9 Mt CO2eq. (Li et al. 2017).
In terms of reducing greenhouse gas emission during operation the hydropower system produces
approximately 85 TWh of electricity per year, while saving approximately 59 Mt CO2eq emissions per
year compared to a coal fired power system that would provide the same level of power (Magee
2015).
The report by Xu, Tan and Yang (2013) indicates a limit to the government’s EIA process, in that
there was not a subsequent review, to compare outcomes to earlier estimates. This review would
have provided evidence for actions to potentially mitigate the environmental and social issues.
Assessment of project outcomes by Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides, “a plan of action for people,
planet and prosperity”. This includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which “are
integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the
economic, social and environmental”(United Nations 2015).
The five most significant goals relevant to the project are shown in Table 3. Poor performance was
seen under the social dimension, in particular for Goal 3, general equality, as depressed by increased
poverty among people, especially women (Goal 5), who were displaced by the reservoir (Tan, Hugo
& Potter 2005). The lack of reaching Goals 3 and 5 was also due to displacement of more than one
million people (Table 2).
7
Table 3. Sustainable Development Goals related the Three Gorges project.
Goal Number Description
3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 7. for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, relates to the hydropower
system, which produces a substantial amount of power, of approximately 85 TWh of electricity per
year, while making significant savings in greenhouse gas emissions (Goal 13), as described above
(Magee 2015).
For Goal 15, under the environmental dimension, there has been degradation of terrestrial
ecosystems, which are taken to include fresh water ecosystems. The effects include additional
downstream riverbed erosion, soil erosion in the reservoir area, eutrophication and algal blooms,
along with reduced stock of domestic fish (Table 1). A full list of relevant goals and degree of
compliance are shown in Appendix 1.
Recommendations for EIA improvement
A clear difficulty for managing the Three Gorges Project was the lack of a review after construction
and commissioning to compare outcomes to earlier estimates from the official EIS report (Xu, Tan &
Yang 2013). This indicates a substantial limit to the government’s EIA process, as the review would
have provided evidence for potentially promoting actions to mitigate the environmental and social
issues.
The difficulty for optimal EIA reports and monitoring is that large-scale hydropower systems present
an especially difficult policy choice for China's leaders since the early 1990s. The Three Gorges
Project was a highly political choice with implications for national pride, by the historical desire to
tame the river, as articulated by both by Dr Sun Yat-sen and Chairman Mao Tse Tung. These factors
effectively made it difficult for allowing the EIA report to address all project dimensions, to include
environmental and social outcomes as well as engineering values (Magee 2015).
As a result of this difficulty, the selection of the site for the Three Gorges Project clearly focussed on
topographical, geographical, and hydrological aspects, even though social and environmental impact
assessments were performed before construction. Furthermore, the carbon footprint of the project
was not evaluated. This is commonly neglected for hydropower projects, generally due to the lack of
8
direct data for the proposed site (Li et al. 2017). Nevertheless, modelling systems, utilizing
comparable global evidence, can now be applied before construction, to assess the two common
dimensions of impacts: biophysical and socioeconomic (Tullos, D 2009, 2010; Tullos, DD et al. 2013).
This approach may well support better integration of aims for hydropower projects, to minimise
negative impacts for ecosystems, climate, society and economy.
This leaves addressing the geopolitical dimension. That is, it would be prudent for politicians to
agree to an evidenced-based approach to project planning, to address an integrated range of
difficult challenges, ranging from reducing carbon intensity to combat climate change, to
maintaining rural livelihoods and conserving local ecosystems (Magee 2015).
Acknowledgement
I thank Dr Alfonso Martínez Arranz, RMIT University, for comments on the draft report.
References
Bi, Y, Zhu, K, Hu, Z, Zhang, L, Yu, B & Zhang, Q 2010, 'The effects of the Three Gorges Dam’s (TGD’s)
experimental impoundment on the phytoplankton community in the Xiangxi River, China',
International Journal of Environmental Studies, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 207-221.
Duan, XB, Liu, SP, Huang, MG, Qiu, SL, Li, ZH, Ke, W & Chen, DQ 2009, 'Changes in abundance of
larvae of the four domestic Chinese carps in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China,
before and after closing of the Three Gorges Dam.', Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol. 86,
no. 1, pp. 13–22.
Gao, X, Zeng, Y, Wang, J & Liu, H 2010, 'Immediate impacts of the second impoundment on fish
communities in the Three Gorges Reservoir', Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol. 87, no. 2,
pp. 163-173.
Gleick, PH 2009, 'Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China', in PH Gleick & MJ Cohen (eds),
The World’s Water 2008–2009, Island Press, Washington, DC.
Li, Z, Lu, L, Lv, P, Du, H, Guo, J, He, X & Ma, J 2017, 'Carbon footprints of pre-impoundment clearance
on reservoir flooded area in China's large hydro-projects: Implications for GHG emissions
reduction in the hydropower industry', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 168, pp. 1413-
1424.
Magee, D 2015, 'Hydropower and end-use electrical efficiency in China: State support and potential
contribution to low-carbon development', The Copenhagen journal of Asian studies, vol. 33,
no. 1, pp. 64-89.
Tan, Y, Hugo, G & Potter, L 2005, 'Rural Women, Displacement and the Three Gorges Project',
Development and Change, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 711-734.
Tullos, D 2009, 'Assessing the influence of Environmental Impact Assessments on science and policy:
an analysis of the Three Gorges Project', J Environ Manage, vol. 90 Suppl 3, pp. S208-223.
Tullos, D 2010, 'Perspectives on the salience and magnitude of dam impacts for hydro development
scenarios in China', Water Alternatives, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 71-90.
Tullos, DD, Foster-Moore, E, Magee, D, Tilt, B, Wolf, AT, Schmitt, E, Gassert, F & Kibler, K 2013,
'Biophysical, Socioeconomic, and Geopolitical Vulnerabilities to Hydropower Development
on the Nu River, China', Ecology and Society, vol. 18, no. 3.
United Nations 2015, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United
Nations.
Xu, X, Tan, Y & Yang, G 2013, 'Environmental impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project in
China: Issues and interventions', Earth-Science Reviews, vol. 124, pp. 115-125.
9
Xu, X, Tan, Y, Yang, G & Li, H 2011, 'Three Gorges Project: effects of resettlement on nutrient balance
of the agroecosystems in the reservoir area', Journal of Environmental Planning and
Management, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 517-537.
Yang, Z, Wang, H, Saito, Y, Milliman, JD, Xu, K, Qiao, S & Shi, G 2006, 'Dam impacts on the Changjiang
(Yangtze) River sediment discharge to the sea: The past 55 years and after the Three Gorges
Dam', Water Resources Research, vol. 42, no. 4.
Yin, Y, Huang, B, Wang, W, Wei, Y, Ma, X, Ma, F & Zhao, C 2016, 'Reservoir-induced landslides and
risk control in Three Gorges Project on Yangtze River, China', Journal of Rock Mechanics and
Geotechnical Engineering, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 577-595.
Yunsheng, Y, Qiuliang, W, Jinggang, L, Xueling, S & Yuyang, K 2013, 'Seismic hazard assessment of the
Three Gorges Project', Geodesy and Geodynamics, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 53-60.
10
Appendix 1. List of relevant Sustainable Development Goals and
degree of compliance for the Three Gorges Project
The relevant sustainable development goals for the project were grouped under three main
dimensions, environmental, economic and social, Table A1. The total system has supported Goal 9,
in part, to build resilient infrastructure. The hydropower generation has provided good outcomes for
Goal 13, to combat climate change and its impacts and Goal 7, for affordable, reliable, sustainable
and modern energy for all. The hydropower system produces approximately 85 TWh of electricity
per year, which saves approximately 59 Mt CO2eq emissions per year compared to a coal fired power
system to provide the same level of power (Magee 2015).
The reservoir should support Goal 6, for availability and sustainable management of water and
sanitation for all. However, in contrast, there were relatively poor outcomes for four Goals. For the
environmental dimension Goal 15, there has been degradation of terrestrial ecosystems, which are
taken to include fresh water ecosystems (not included under any other goal). The effects include
additional downstream riverbed erosion, soil erosion in the reservoir area, eutrophication and algal
blooms, along with reduced stock of domestic fish (Table 1). Poor performance was also seen for the
four goals under the social dimension, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11: to ensure healthy lives and promote well-
being for all at all ages, Goal 3; provide gender equality, Goal 5; general equality, Goal 10; and
productive employment, Goal 8; were not reached significantly due to increased poverty among
people, especially women, displaced by the reservoir (Tan, Hugo & Potter 2005). Furthermore, the
displacement of more than one million people did not support inclusive and sustainable human
settlements, Goal 11.
Table A1. Sustainable Development Goals relevant to the Three Gorges Project
Main Goal Description Project Assessment:
dimension Number Fully inline (++), partly
inline (+), poor outcomes (-
)
Environmental Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and ++
sanitation for all
Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts ++
Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote
sustainable use of terrestrial _
ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification, and
halt and reverse land degradation
and halt biodiversity loss.
11
Economic Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable,
reliable, sustainable and modern ++
energy for all.
Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure,
promote inclusive and sustainable +
industrialization and foster
innovation
Social Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote
well-being for all at all ages _
Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls _
Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full _
and productive employment and
decent work for all.
Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and
among countries _
Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and _
sustainable
12
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