Disclaimer: The content of this article is written with authoritative information combined with personal opinions, and the source of the literature and screenshots have been marked at the end of the article, please be aware.
As we all know, as a water conservancy hub, blocking water during the flood season and releasing water downstream during the dry season are all basic operations. The Three Gorges Dam, however, is a counterexample.
For a long time, the Three Gorges Dam discharged water directly during the flood season and stored water to generate electricity during the drought season. What is the Three Gorges Dam for? Don't you even understand the truth of "storing water and releasing water"?
Three Gorges or counter-facing operation?
Recently, according to hydrometeorological forecasts. In the next 10 days, Sichuan, Chongqing, the Three Gorges Reservoir area and other places will have continuous heavy rainfall. Tributaries such as the Min River and the Jialing River will have multiple rounds of flooding.
In mid-July, the water in the entire Three Gorges reservoir area will also rise twice, and it will rise sharply. In short, the Three Gorges area is about to usher in the next flood test, which makes people's hearts tight.
It is also at this juncture that CCTV News reported that the Three Gorges Reservoir will open its floodgates for the first time this year.
Flood discharge during the flood season is the normal operation
Strictly speaking, these operations of the Three Gorges Dam are not abnormal, but routine.
For example, "the dam should store water during the flood season" in the mouth of netizens, this sentence is inherently problematic. The water is full, what will happen to the next flood? Therefore, the Three Gorges must release water when the flood season comes, otherwise it will not be able to stop the next round of floods.
In principle, the Three Gorges Dam had already blocked a number of major floods upstream before it was released.
During this period, the Three Gorges adopted an intermittent water release mode and carried out off-peak water discharge with downstream facilities. Wait until the reservoir is at its lowest level before stopping the release of water so that you can meet the next flood.
In any case, the Three Gorges Dam is about slowly pouring down, not arbitrarily pouring down. When the water is almost gone, the risk of flooding is reduced.
The dry season did not go unwatered
As for the statement that "water is stored in the dry season", there is actually a certain fallacy. According to relevant data, the Three Gorges Dam actually released water during the dry season.
According to data from the official website of the Ministry of Water Resources, from the end of 2017 to the middle of 2018, the Three Gorges went through a round of dry season scheduling, and its outflow was greater than that of the inflow.
The water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir has dropped from 175 to 160 meters due to the continuous release of water. At this time, it really can't be put anymore, and if you put it again, you won't be able to generate electricity.
In all, after that period of water release, the Three Gorges Reservoir has accumulated more than 22.7 billion cubic meters of water downstream. It can be seen that during the dry period, the Three Gorges Dam did not store its own water, but spread the world and blessed all things.
The controversial Three Gorges Project
Of course, as a super project, the Three Gorges has suffered countless criticisms. Back in the 70s, before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam began, some experts jumped out against this infrastructure.
After all, Sino-Soviet relations were not good at that time, and the Soviet Union had threatened to use surgical strikes against China, so many experts were worried that the Three Gorges would be blown up. Once the Three Gorges is bombed, it will be even more terrifying than the bursting of the embankment at the mouth of the garden back then.
You must know that when Chiang Kai-shek dug up the Huayuankou embankment, he rushed out of the yellow flood area of more than 400 kilometers in an instant. From northwest to southeast, the entire Yellow Flood area spread to 44 counties in Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.
Because the flood was so rapid, tens of millions of people lost their homes and property, and countless people died. It can be said that the dam of any major river collapses, and it will cause a tragedy of human suffering in an instant.
It is even more difficult to change to the Yangtze River, which passes through 11 provinces, which is larger than the scale of the Yellow River. Once the Three Gorges Dam is blown up, the consequences are unimaginable. Therefore, many people at that time opposed the construction of the Three Gorges Dam to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of the Huayuankou embankment.
In the 90s of the last century, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam was opposed by a group of people. It is said that more than 400 experts disagreed at the time, and even nine experts were reluctant to sign the construction agreement.
As for the reasons for opposition, the experts also listed them one by one. For example, the cost of relocation and resettlement is too high, and the local ecology will be destroyed, and the spawning fish will not be able to migrate.
What's more, some experts also believe that the Three Gorges Dam is simply "a waste of money and labor" and that it will cost 200 billion yuan to build a cement dam, which will not be done at all.
The benefits of the Three Gorges Project are beyond imagination
However, judging from the current situation, those experts were indeed a bit unfounded at the beginning.
Taking the input-benefit as an example, the Three Gorges Dam can generate 100 billion kWh of electricity per year. Even if it costs 5 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, the Three Gorges Dam will generate 50 billion yuan a year, and it will only take 4 years to pay off.
What's more, the economic benefits brought by the Three Gorges Dam are not just as simple as generating electricity. It also helps local agriculture by regulating the amount of water. In addition, the Three Gorges has also enhanced the capacity of large ships to pass through.
You must know that before the Three Gorges was built, the water depth of Wuxia was only 1 meter. After the completion of the Three Gorges, its water depth reached 80-100 meters. With such deep water, it is no problem to pass a thousand-ton ship. Relying on these ships, the Three Gorges has directly driven the relevant economic output value of nearly 100 billion yuan.
Most importantly, the electricity generated by the Three Gorges Dam once supported the GDP of 15 trillion yuan in the receiving areas. This continuous supply of electricity not only helps the development of local industries, but also represents clean energy.
Since Three Gorges Hydropower replaces some coal-fired power units, it can reduce coal consumption by 480 million tons, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.25 billion tons. In this way, on the road to "carbon neutrality", the Three Gorges Dam is also a well-known big brother.
In 2009, with the completion of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River, the whole country rejoiced for a while. After all, this project can not only generate electricity, but also navigate, and the scale is also the largest in the world. In the face of such a behemoth that benefits the country and the people, everyone sincerely expressed their admiration.
Flooded a lot of places when the Three Gorges were built?
It is worth mentioning that after the Three Gorges Dam was built, some netizens said: "In order to build the Three Gorges Dam, many places were flooded." Is this really the case?
Regarding this issue, netizens are not wrong. When the Three Gorges Project normally impounds water to a water level of 175 meters, the dam will form a reservoir inundation area, also known as the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.
With the gradual spread of the reservoir area, the flood once inundated 2 cities, 11 county seats, and 116 townships, with a total inundation area of 632 square kilometers.
Of course, before the flooding, the inhabitants of these places were immigrants.
Judging from the situation at that time, the state spent a total of 85.6 billion yuan to complete the resettlement project of 1.31 million local people. Of this amount, more than 40 billion yuan was allocated to the migrants as resettlement fees.
It can be seen that the "flooding" is true, but the compensation is also in place. We did not sacrifice the happiness of the people because of the construction of the great power project.
As for the problem of fish migration, the project leaders also addressed it.
For example, construction crews have built fish ladders on both sides of the dam to serve as a migratory passage for fish. At the higher part of the channel, there is also a fish pond where the fish can rest and buffer the water flowing down from the heights.
In short, when the project is under construction, all kinds of problems are taken into account by the relevant person in charge. After all, this project is very fragile, and it will definitely not be able to start without a comprehensive plan.
The fact that the Three Gorges Dam is now being built and operating as safely as Mount Tai is enough to justify the dam.
It is like a modulator in the main stream of the Yangtze River, relying on its "small" body to leverage the economic efficiency of the entire Yangtze River. This is the Three Gorges Dam, an obscure but powerful national project.
Information sources:
Chinese Government Network [[Master Plan] Inundation of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area]
CCTV News [Heavy rainfall continues in many places, and the Three Gorges Reservoir opens its floodgates for the first time this year]
Strange Luo Kop [The Three Gorges Dam has a drop of 110 meters, how do the fish downstream complete the migration?] Have you been living apart? 】
Bogu Literature and History [Spent 95.4 billion yuan to build the Three Gorges Dam, but was opposed by 9 experts when it was first built? Will there be a threat of war? 】
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