Concerns Rise with Water of Three Gorges Dam

Next year, China is expected to reach a milestone when the giant reservoir behind Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River reaches its maximum height.

Beijing has long touted the dam — the biggest hydroelectric plant in the world — as a way to stop flooding, increase river shipping and generate clean power.

But in September, officials publicly admitted that the project could lead to environmental disasters, prompting speculation that China's leaders wanted to distance themselves from the project.

Intentions for the Dam

The dam on the Yangtze, the world's third-longest river, is 600 feet high and nearly a mile and a half across. In 2009, when the dam is completed, it will have taken 17 years to build, at an estimated cost of around $24 billion.

About a half-century ago, Chairman Mao wrote a poem envisioning how the dam would conquer the river.

"The dam will cut through the clouds and rain of the Wuxia Gorge, and a smooth lake will appear amid the deep canyons," he wrote.

That's pretty much what it looks like now. The river's once fierce current has been turned into a placid lake, extending for about 370 miles upstream from the dam.

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