Three Gorges Dam in danger: Most serious flood in China raises concerns over its economy.

Three Gorges Dam in danger: Most serious flood in China raises concerns over its economy

Three Gorges Dam

 The water level in the giant dam’s reservoir increases beyond the flood-limit level after two months of heavy rain, 40 million people are affected.

The severest flooding in six decades in China is relocating millions and straining the Three Gorges Dam. WSJ’s Jonathan Cheng describes how the natural disaster is hindering the country’s struggles to restart an economy already smashed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Two months of extraordinarily strong rains in central and southern China have expanded the Yangtze River, triggering the most serious flooding in decades and increasing attention about the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s greatest hydroelectric facility. Last week, several days of fresh rain brought the water level at the dam, located several hundred miles upstream from Wuhan in central Hubei province, to its highest point since construction was finished in 2009.

Cities in the country’s central region along the Yangtze River — China’s longest river — have been submerged in the past week due to huge rains this monsoon season. It was announced to be the most serious flood since 1998, and not 100 years as some in Beijing have said. All told, more than 400 Yangtze tributary rivers have overflowed, with almost 200 people dead and properties underwater. The average rainfall is about 12% higher than the last monsoon season. The economic destruction from flooding is supposed to reach 86.2 billion yuan ($12 billion), according to some government calculations executed on Friday.

On Sunday, the AP reported from Beijing that authorities destroyed down an entire dam to discharge rising waters behind it and let it run. State broadcaster CCTV reported the dam on the Chuhe River in Anhui province was blasted to bits with explosives early Sunday morning drop by two feet.

Floods are supposed to pose a threat to parts of  Henan, Shanxi, Anhui, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces this week, while heavy mountain rains will likely hit parts of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, according to the AP, though this shouldn’t have any influence on the strength of Three Gorges.

The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s biggest hydroelectric power station, with an installed potential of 22,500 megawatts of power production. The thing is, that the power station is down the Yangtze River from a few other dams that are at a higher altitude than the Three Gorges. And because of the floods and difficulties at those dams upstream, Three Gorges is buckling under the stress of extensive flows of water.

The last thing is that if the dam collapses it would be a bitter pill for Beijing.