The Three Gorges Dam, a project of great weight to Chinese nation, has been completed and so far begun to bring benefits to Chinese people in mainly four aspects: flood control, power generation, navigation and tourism.

One of the major objectives of the Three Gorges Dam is to control water levels due to frequent floods causing a historical problem around the Jinjiang River and Dongting Lake area. The project can efficiently control the water from upper stream and reduce the flood and sand pouring into Dongting Lake during the flood season, thus the sediment accumulation rate of Dongting Lake can be postponed and the threat of flood to it can be relieved.

The normal storage level of the Three Gorges Dam can be reached to 574 feet and its flood control capacity is as large as 29 billion cubic yards which will protect the Jingjiang River and the middle or the lower reaches of Yangtze River. If severe floods happen, the big dam can hold the water and discharge the flood, which wins time for transferring personnel to avoid loss of life.

Power Generation

The total capacity of the Three Gorges Dam Project is 18.2 million kilowatts and the annual power generation is 84.7 billion kilowatt hours, which greatly relieves the electricity pressure in middle and eastern China. Located in the middle of China, the Three Gorges hydropower station supplies power to the middle, eastern and southern China, that within 400 to 1,000 km economic transmission distance of the load. The big power supply system associated by middle, eastern and southern China is formed, which creates multiplier effect between different regions, regulating effect between hydropower stations and capacity conversion effect between hydropower stations and steam power plants.

Hydropower is clean energy and environmental friendly. The operation of the Three Gorges hydropower station can reduce the emissions of ten million tons of carbon dioxide, one to two million tons of sulfur dioxide, 300,000 to 400,000 tons of oxynitride, 10,000 tons of carbon monoxide and 150,000 tons of dust. From these data, the huge contribution of the Three Gorges hydropower station to the environmental protection is definitely affirmed.

Navigation

Located in the middle reach of Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam will largely improve the waterway conditions from Yichang City to Chongqing City. In the dry season, the water in the lower reaches of Gezhouba Water Control Project can get ample supply, and the navigation in the upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River will be well developed. The ships of ten thousand tons can sail directly from Chongqing to Hankou and further to Shanghai. Besides, due to the improvement of the navigable waterways, the ship size and fleet size are accelerated standardization and large-sized, and the transport costs can be reduced.

Tourism

After the completion of the Three Gorges Dam Project, visitors will be delighted to see a wonder in the Yangtze River where a calm lake sits among the steep gorges. As the rising of the water, many scenic spots which originally hard to enter are now reachable. For example, in Dangyang River, the branch of Madu River, a new sight of “small three gorges” appears. The White Emperor City, which was hidden in the thick forest in the past, becomes a beautiful island standing in the center of the river. The big scenery change will attract more and more visitors to explore the Three Gorges.