The Three Gorges Dam built along the Yangtze River has been put up to the greatest challenge since its completion in 2009. Floodwaters in the dam rose by 4m in height overnight and as of July 23, 2010, the Three Gorges Dam registered a record high level of 158.8m.
For years, the Three Gorges Dam had been labelled as the best way to end the centuries of floods that haunt the Yangtze River basin. It had put off complaints and feedbacks with regards to the environmental damage of the US$23 billion reservoir, which displaced more than 1.4 million people in order to facilitate its construction.
Source: http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/images/3g_map_graphic.preview.jpgIn view of the Three Gorges Dam close to exceeding its capacity, the Chinese officials have started to acknowledge the limits of the huge hydroelectric facility. Series of landslides were also triggered as a result of the torrential downpours that battered China. China is now confronted with the worst floods since 1998, which saw the death of at least 4,150 people and the evacuation of 18 million people and the destruction of more than millions of houses due to the 1998 floods in the Yangtze River.
The ongoing floods are set to worsen as China moves into the typhoon season. More than 230 rivers in China have risen above the warning points and two dozen of them exceeding historic highs. The flooding mainly affects the southern areas of China and has brought about economic losses of at least US$22 billion and affected about 120 million people.
