The Three Gorges Dam Case Study: the Impact of the Project

The Three Gorges Dam Case Study: The Impact of the Project

Whenever people make changes to (develop) their environment it is important to consider how sustainable these changes are.

Sustainable development has three elements:

Social development – the health and happiness of people. This includes their freedom, ability to choose where to live and ability to live close to their friends and family.

Economic development – the wealth and income of the area or region. This also includes the number and quality of jobs and the skills which people have.

Environmental development – the quality of the built or natural environment. This includes the transport infrastructure, power and water supplies as well as the quality of landscapes and habitats of wildlife.

Listed below are some of the likely or actual impacts of the Three Gorges Dam. Sort them out into Social (S), Economic (Ec) or Environmental (En) impacts.

Then sort them into advantages or benefits (+) or disadvantages or drawbacks (-).

|1.3 million people must be relocated as the valley in which |-S |The dam will trap large quantities of silt causing the |-En |

|they live will be flooded | |reservoir to silt up | |

|Hydro-electricity will be generated |+Ec |Much good quality farmland lost due to the deliberate |-Ec |

| | |flooding of the valley | |

|Reduced flow of sediment downriver will harm agriculture as |-Ec |100 million people living downriver will be protected from |+S |

|farmers rely on silt for fertile soils | |flooding |...