Influence & Significance

The Three Gorges Project along the Yangtze River is ranked as being one of the most advanced projects in the world in terms of the scale of project, the technology it adopted, and the overall efficiency. The project not only brings large economic benefits, but also makes great contributions to the development of hydroelectric power technology worldwide.

 Since the project has been finished, it has had the following beneficial aspects: 
 Flood Control 
A huge reservoir has been formed after Three Gorges Dam was finished. The reservoir, with the highest water level of 175 meters (191 yards), has a flood-control storage of 22.15 billion cubic meters. It can efficiently control floods upstream from the Yangtze River and improve the capacity of fighting against floods in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River areas, such as Jinjiang River, Dongting Lake, and Hanjiang Plain. At the same time, the Three Gorges Project helps to reduce the losses and damages caused by floods, such as massive casualties, destruction of railways, diseases, pollution, and famine. Statistics suggest that the direct economic benefit from the Three Gorges Project averages to CNY 2.2 – 2.52 billion annually.

 Power Generating 
As the world’s largest hydroelectric power station in the world, the Three Gorges Power Station has a total capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts and an annual energy output of 84.7 billion kilowatt-hours. This meets the electricity needs of Central China, East China, and Guangdong areas. Compared with thermal power, hydroelectric power is substantially cleaner since it creates less waste, harmful gases and dust.

 Shipping 
Located at the conjunction between the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Project is bound to regulate the water level of both upper and middle reaches thereby improving the naval navigation conditions of the river. Now the capacity of navigation of the upper and middle reaches has been increased to 50 million tons, and 10,000-ton vessels are able to cruise directly from Chongqing to Shanghai.

 Tourism 
The water level of three gorges area has risen after the Three Gorges Reservoir impounded water, and natural scenery that used to hide in deep valleys has now been revealed. Along the 650 km (403.9 miles) Three Gorges Areas, the discovery of 37 valleys, 15 karst caves, 11 lakes, and 14 isles has been attributed to the Three Gorges Project. Visitors will see a more charming Three Gorges.  In addition, Yichang City, where Three Gorges Dam is located, has become a world famous city for beautiful scenery of Three Gorges and the great project itself. It is recorded that in 2007, over 10 million tourists visited Yichang and 1.25 million of them took a visit to the Three Gorges Dam.

 However, every sword has two sides. The Three Gorges Project also has adverse effects:
 First, over 20 districts, counties and cities in Chongqing and Hubei were submerged under water after the project was finished, so 1.13 million people had to leave their hometown and move to other cities and towns. Jobs, houses, and insurances became the major problems for migrants.

 Second, many cultural relics in the Three Gorges areas became submerged under water since the water levels rose. Though part of the relics have been moved to other places, many ancient sites and relics have become submerged underwater forever.

 Third, Three Gorges Project has had adverse effects on the local environment, including more pollution to the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, destroying to the habitant of many rare flora and fauna, as well as more geological disasters.