So, what's the problem, you may ask?
What do you mean, "What's the problem?"!
This engineering marvel, begun in 1994 at Sandouping in Hubei Province, will eventually submerge "13 cities, 140 towns, more than 300 villages and 1600 factories," wrote Childs-Johnson in her article "Race Against Time", which was published in Archaeology Magazine in the November/December 1996 issue. Over 1.5 million people will be forced from their homes and made to abandon their ancestral lands, farms and holy places. The Qutang, Wu and Xiling Gorges and the exquisite scenery within them will be flooded by the building of this dam, forming a reservoir rivaling the size of Michigan's Lake Superior, or, the entire country of Sweden.
"The prevailing sentiment in China is multi-faceted. Certainly people whose livelihood has depended on the fertile banks of the Yangtze in the Three Gorges area of eastern Sichuan and western Hubei are dramatically affected and very emotionally against the dam," said Childs-Johnson in a recent email interview, ". . . On the other hand, those whose livelihoods depend on small industry or mercantile interests are promised money, the lure of hot and cold water, plumbing, gas stoves, new apartments, etc. and since these modernized amenities are attractive, these relocated people are more positive."
Childs-Johnson indicates that while great consideration has been taken in the matters of population relocation, flood control and possible pollution or ecological hazards resulting from the dam, little has been done to ensure preservatoin of an important piece of China's cultural heritage.
Originally, 3-5% of the dam's total budget, or $212 million, was estimated to be the amount needed for preservation of archaeological sites in the Three Gorges area. However, many problems have arisen, depriving the excavation proceedings of much needed funding and resources. As of the 1995/96 season, only $37.5 million had been allotted for this archaeological rescue mission of over 2,000 sites. (The total for saving the Egyptian temple at Abu Simbel from rising waters caused by the Aswan Dam was $40 million alone.) Unfortunately, these funds come out of a larger piece of the pie, those allotted to population relocation. Between accusation of serious fraud and a bureaucracy slow to determine which sites deserve priority, the excavations have ground to almost a complete halt.
What Can Be Done?
"What is needed to save this area from destruction is international help, and as my senior archaeology colleague has noted, the best solution is to found a non-government international foundation 'The Three Gorges International Fund for Cultural Heritage'," continues Childs-Johnson.
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