The headwaters of the Yangtze River
are on the Qinghai - Tibet – Plateau in an altitude of about
4 900 m above sea level. In Yibin, at half of its 6 300
km long journey to the ocean, and at the final destination
of the regular river navigation, the river has an altitude
of only about 305 m above sea level. In Chongqing, the starting
or ending point of every Yangtze River Cruise, the average
water level is about 160 m above sea level.
At the “Three Gorges Dam”, 600 km downstream, the water
level will rise from 135 m to a high of 156 m above sea
level during the summer river flood, after completion of
the dam’s concrete construction work in May 2006. At the
end of the year 2006, the water level will be at about 165
m above sea level. After ending the whole construction work
of the dam and its related units in 2009, the water will
rise to an average level of about 175 m above sea level
(maximum 180.4 m, minimum 145 m above sea level). If the
water gets to the maximum level, it has risen for about
100 m.
During the summer river flood, the average increase of the
water level in the gorges, which are surrounded by 800 to
1500 m high mountains, was about 70 m. In relation to the
high of the gorges, the future changes of the water level
will be insignificant. The gorges do not loose any of its
beauteousness.
The Daning River, an untamed small tributary, which meets
the Yangtze in the Wu Gorge, the second of the three gorges,
and its so called “Little Three Gorges“, as well as the
Shennong Beck and its Mianzhu Gorge, will loose their wild
character in the lower parts due to the rising water. But
then, there will be an easer access to these small rivers
and their distant, untamed and hidden parts.
Of course, some places of interest along the riverside will
be flooded.
Some will be removed and will be put to the new built “Three
Gorges Museum” in Chongqing and some will be rebuilt at
higher places like Zhang Fei Tempel. Others will revive
as a complete new attraction like the famous stone carvings
in the riverbed at Fuling, which will be shown in an underwater
museum. In addition, many new attractions will open up in
the future.
The three most important aspects of constructing a dam
– flood protection, clean power generation and improvement
of the river navigation, which also helps to develop the
western part of the country – already show their effectiveness.
|
