On June 1, the second phase of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River passed quality appraisal and began to store water.

A placid lake surrounded by lofty gorges took shape 10 days later after the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir reached 135 meters above sea level, a target set for the second phase of the project. The capacity of the reservoir has increased to 12.3 billion cubic meters from 10 billion cubic meters before water storage. The reservoir’s backwater has formed a 436-km river-course shaped reservoir upstream from the Three Gorges Dam to Chongqing Municipality’s Fengdu County.

       The World’s Largest Hydropower Project

Construction of the Three Gorges Dam began in 1993 after a resolution on the construction of the Three Gorges Project was adopted by the Fifth Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress in April 1992 following 38 years of repeated feasibility studies and deliberations.

The Three Gorges Project is the largest hydropower project in the world with unprecedented complexity and difficulty in construction. The axis of the dam extends 2,309.47 meters and the water-release dam is 483 meters in length. The dam is equipped with double-line five-stage ship locks. The total capacity of the reservoir is 39.3 billion cubic meters. With a flood-control capacity of 22.15billion cubic meters, the reservoir is able to reduce the flow capacity of flood peaks to 27,000-33,000 cubic meters per second. This can effectively control the floods on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and protect the 15 million people and 1.53 million hectares of land in the Jingjiang area on the lower-middle reaches of the river.

A number of reputable domestic engineering construction companies undertook the building of the project through bidding. About 25,000 people participated in the construction of the first phase. In the year 2,000, the builders created a world record of pouring 550,000 cubic meters of concrete a month. A total of 5.48 million cubic meters of concrete was poured that year.

By the end of April 2003, the builders had dug 142.23 million cubic meters of earth and stone, filled up 47.91 million cubic meters of earth and stone, poured 21.8 million cubic meters of concrete, and installed 181,000 tons of electro-mechanical equipment and metal structures. At present, the left flank of the dam has reached the designed height of 185 meters, while the concrete embankment on the right bank has equaled the designed height of 140 meters. The five-stage double-line ship locks have undergone tests.

The electric power generated by the project will be transmitted to east and central China and Guangdong Province. Construction of the Three Gorges power transmission project began in 1997. By March 2003, a total of 4,374 km of AC transmission lines had been installed, with 2,599 km put into operation; 15 sub-stations with a combined capacity of 10 million KVA had been put into construction, with 10 (7 million KVA) completed; and two AC transmission lines radiating 1,822 km from the Three Gorges to Changzhou and Guangdong had begun construction. The Three Gorges-Changzhou line began trial operation in May this year.

With the three targets set for this year realized, namely, water storage in the reservoir, navigation through permanent ship locks and power generation by the first generating unit, the project will soon produce benefits.

       Development-Oriented Resettlement

Maoping, a newly built country town featuring Anhui-Style dwellings with black tiles and white walls, is now home to former residents of Zigui, Hubei Province. Though the new settlement is far away from their hometown, the Zigui natives feel happy and content with their lives here.

Maoping is an epitome of the Three Gorges resettlement project that takes the interest of people first and stresses development.

Resettling the 1 million local residents in the reservoir area is an arduous task that has a close bearing on the smooth progress of the Three Gorges Project. The resettlement project was formally launched in 1993 on the basis of a pilot project initiated in 1985. By March this year, more than 720,000 residents in the reservoir area had been resettled, including 140,000 rural residents. The reservoir area has completed the construction of 32.44 million square meters of buildings of various types, and 1,067 industrial and mining enterprises in the area have been relocated, closed for forced to declare bankruptcy.

A Chinese saying goes: People are reluctant to leave their native land. To ensure that the inhabitants in the reservoir area move out willingly, settle down in their new homes contentedly and become affluent gradually, the government has persisted in the policy that takes the interest of the people first and gives priority to development in resettlement. While most of those resettled are encouraged to still engage in agriculture, different channels of employment have been created through the improvement in the layout and service of towns. In spite of their limited land and other difficulties, many coastal and riparian provinces and cities have provided new comers from the reservoir area with help in production and living conditions.

The past decade witnessed the swiftest economic development in the reservoir area. According to the statistics, in 2001, the GDP of the 21 districts and countries in the reservoir area was 3,55 times that of 1993, and the per-capita net income of farmers increased by 2.9 times. Meanwhile, government departments and enterprises in various parts of the country have provided the reservoir area with 13.07 billion yuan through the counterpart aid program, launched 2,613 economic cooperation projects with 11.35 billion yuan of fund paid in, and built 439 Project Hope schools for poor students. All this has propelled the area’s socioeconomic progress.

Structural readjustment and counterpart aid have improved the industrial structure of the reservoir area and fostered new economic growth points there. In addition, numerous reconstruction projects have been completed, including highways, wharves, and power transmission and telecommunication facilities. Reconstruction of the 13 completely and semi-immersed cities and county seats has also been completed. Urban functions are being restored gradually in these brand-new cities. Task fro the second-phase resettlement project have come to an end.

       Pollution Control, Disaster Reduction and Cultural Relic Protection

After many riverside buildings in Wushan County were dismantled, a sanitation team was organized to clean up the manure pits among the debris. The mature pits are the largest pollution source in the county. To prevent further pollution, the pollutants will be transported to a mountain 22 km away and left to dry in the sun. After that, they will be removed by trucks to a distant place for disposal.

Great importance has been attached to pollution control in the Three Gorges area. A massive clean-up campaign was launched in the reservoir area to clear away all rubbish, floating debris and radioactive pollutants before water storage began on June 1. By the end of March, 12 districts and counties in the reservoir area had invested 66.57 million yuan in clearing away 2.32 million tons of household rubbish and 2.43 million tons of industrial wastes, and removing and disposing of 17,300 tons of dangerous wastes and 16 radioactive pollutants. The area plans to build 28 sewage works and 20 garbage disposal facilities this year. Currently, construction of 17 sewage works is underway.

The Three Gorges area is prone to geological disasters. Experts warned that the reduction of flood peaks after water was filled in the reservoir might cause landslides. This indicates that the reservoir area faces a complicated situation in the prevention and control of geological disasters. According to plan, the area will harness 173 landslide sections. Up to now 79 have been completed and 94 are under construction. In addition, 74 collapsed bank sections will be reinforced, of which 18 have been completed and 56 are under construction. All projects under construction had completed the parts below the set 135-meter water level before water storage began.

Some people joked that Zhang Fei, a famous general of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period (221-263)，is the most extravagant “migrant”. The state has in vested 80 million yuan in resettling the cultural relics n the Temple of Zhang Fei in Yunyang County. Smooth progress has also been achieved in the protection of such key cultural relics as the White Crane Ridge in Fuling, Shibao Village in Zhongxian, Dachang Ancient Town in Wushan, Temple of Qu Yuan in Zigui and ancient dwellings in Xintan. The protection of cultural relics in the Three Gorges area has given priority to rescuing relics in danger and conserving and excavating key artifacts. Up to now, relevant authorities have initiated 302 ground cultural relic protection projects and 531 excavation items, completed archeological survey covering 8.852 million square meters and excavation covering 932,700 square meters. The effort has unearthed tens of thousands of cultural relics of various types.