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=__Why the Three Gorges Dam should not be built__=

Resettlement
The Building of the Three Gorges Dam will sink two cities, 11 counties, 140 towns, 326 Townships, and 1351 villages. That is about 23,800 hectares of land. Over 1.1 million people will have to be resettled. This accounts for one third of the cost of the dam. Many peasants have to move to less fertile land making farming harder. Also only downstream will profit, while upstream is ruined. This will create social unrest between two regions. In fact the bill to make the dam voted on in the mist of loud protests. Upstream towns will receive more refugees and benefit less from the dam. Downstream will benefit and not have as many refugees yet lose all fertile soil. It will also ruin the fishing business in that area. Many farmers will also loose their cultural heritage since the land they are loosing belonged to their ancestors. If you think the people don't protest because the agree with the dam you wrong. The people have afraid to protest since the Tianamen Square Massacre where protestors of the government were murdered.

Pollution
Silt from the dam outlets for river drainage. Also the dam has been adding a considerable amout of pollutants into the water.

Ecology
The dam will destroy most fish in that area. Threatened endangered species from an altered natural environment include the Giant Panda, The Chinese Alligator, The Chinese Tiger, The Siberian Crane, The Chinese Sturgeon, and the Yangtze Dolphin which is one of the most endangered species on Earth with only about 200 left. Extensive logging will also ruin the habitats of even more animals. Many enviromentalists argue that the dam violates several laws about endangered animals.

Archeology
Eight Hundred sites of historical importance will be flooded to create the dam. About 300 of these are above ground. These are in many works of art and literature. Examples include The Temple of Zhang fei, Qu Yuan Temple, the Han watch tower, and the carvings on Moya Cliff. This will create a loss of culture. And although some of these will be moved, some may just be duplicated!

Cost
It will cost $ 10.57 billion dollars to make the dam. That is more than any other construction project in history. The world bank is unlikely to help because they never fund hydroelectric power centers. Many countries have strong feelings against the dam as well and are unlikely to assist.

Enviroment
The dam will cause an increased risk of landslides and earthquakes. The Scenary that will be destroyed was voted number 1 on a list of the top forty most scenic places in China. It has also been the subject of songs, poems, paintings, etc. The scenary brought China $ 43 million. It also Attracted 437,000 foreign tourists. It is possible to make several smaller enviromentally friendly dams. The only downside is that they give less power. The dam will be bad for everyone. Downstream will be deprived of good soil. Upstream will be threatened by the very floods that the Chinese Government claim they are stopping. The only difference is that upstream the people are less used to floods. They are also not prepared or expierienced. The people that lived in the former flooding spot are used to floods.

__Sources__
__CNN. "CNN - China's Three Gorges dam - eco-boon or cesspool? - Nov. 4, 1997." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. 1997. 07 May 2009 <__ []