Hubei -- China is struggling to find a solution on how to treat the huge
amount of floating debris which is clogging up the Three Gorges Reservoir.
Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges
Project Development Corporation, said, "We are trying to find an efficient
method to develop and use this floating flotsam, but so far we have made little
progress."
According to Zhang Weige, director of the department responsible for
monitoring debris in the reservoir, about 1,000 tons of floating debris had been
collected since Sept. 20 when the water level began to rise to 156 meters from
135 meters.
The floating debris consists of plant roots, straw, rotten leaves, branches
and both household and industrial refuse. Currently, most of it is being
salvaged and dumped on land higher than 175 meters - the final height of the dam
- where it is either burned or buried. But this is not a viable long-term
solution.
"The floating debris doesn't contain much flammable content, nor is it
economical to use them to generate electricity, " said Feng Zhengpeng, director
of the administrative department with the China Yangtze River Three Gorges
Project Development Corporation.
"Also, the land will sustain permanent damage if the flotsam is buried," said
Feng. "There seems to be no good way of handling this situation."
China has built or plans to build about 200 trash disposal grounds in the
Three Gorges Reservoir area, in addition to three holes created in the dam for
discharging debris.
About 200,000 cubic meters of floating debris flow into the mainstream of the
Yangtze during a normal year.
"However, the flow of water has slowed down since the Three Gorges Dam was
built," said Feng.
"The debris has affected shipping and power generation," said Feng, "and the
problem has grown even worse since 2003 when the water level of the Three Gorges
reservoir began to rise."
The dam's developers have entrusted local authorities along
the reservoir in Chongqing Municipality and Hubei Province to clean upthe
mainstream of the Yangtze and the upstream tributaries. It has also allocated an annual
sum of 7.5 million yuan (US$937,500) to the Three Gorges Bureau of the
Yangtze River Hydrological Bureau for monitoring flotsam cleanup results.
The developer has also spent 30 million yuan on a ship specifically designed
to collect debris, with a capacity of 300 cubic meters. The ship will soon be
put into service.
About 1.16 million people have been relocated since construction of the Three
Gorges Project began in 1993. The project consists of a dam which is 2,309
meters wide and 185 meters high, twenty-six 700,000-kw power generators that
will line the two banks of the river, as well as a five-tier and dual-track ship
lock.
When completed in 2009, the reservoir of the 203.9 billion yuan
project (US$25.5 billion) will have a capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters and 84.7
billion kwh of electricity will be produced annually.
Workers have completed the dam, the 14 generating units on the northern bank
and most of the ship lock system, which is in service. Construction of the 12
generating units on the southern bank of the river is underway.