SHANGHAI - As China counts the costs of its most punishing flood season in more than three decades, the role played by the massive and controversial Three Gorges Dam - designed to help tame the Yangtze river - has come under fresh scrutiny.
"One of the major justifications for the Three Gorges Dam was flood control, but less than 20 years after its completion we have the highest floodwater in recorded history," said Professor Emeritus David Shankman, a geographer with the University of Alabama who studies Chinese floods."The fact is that it cannot prevent these severe events."
The company running the Three Gorges Project also said on Saturday that downstream water discharges had been halved since July 6,"effectively reducing the speed and extent of water level rises on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze". Dr Fan Xiao, a Chinese geologist and longstanding critic of giant dam projects, said the storage capacity at Three Gorges amounts to less than 9 per cent of average floodwater.
"When people only consider using reservoirs to solve flood-control problems, they often overlook or even weaken the natural ability of rivers and their lakes to regulate floods,"he said.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Raising stakes, US brands China claims in South China Sea illegalSecretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States would treat Beijing's pursuit of resources in the dispute-rife South China Sea ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
China raises flood alert to second highest levelChina on Sunday raised its flood response alert to the second highest grade as downpours continued to batter regions along the Yangtze River, with ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
China raises flood alert to second highest levelChina on Sunday raised its flood response alert to the second highest grade as downpours continued to batter regions along the Yangtze River, with ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
China President Xi Jinping urges all-out effort in flood controlBEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - President Xi Jinping has called for a more effective flood response and an all-out effort to protect human lives and assets from the disaster as China raised its national emergency response for flood control to level II, the second-highest in the country's four-tier response system.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Hundreds of rivers swell as China summer flood season revs upFloods across large swathes of central and eastern China that have left more than 140 people dead or missing are hitting record levels, with ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
China raises flood alert to second-highest levelBEIJING (REUTERS) - China on Sunday (July 12) raised its flood response alert to the second highest grade as downpours continued to batter regions along the Yangtze River, with the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Jiangxi among the worst hit, state media reported.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »