Case Study - Water Storage

Question 1

What is the water storage project (1)

Answer 1

• Three gorges dam

Question 2

Where is the three gorges dam (1)

Answer 2

• Yangtze River, China

Question 3

What are three advantages of the three gorges dam (1)

Answer 3

• Flood Control
• Power generation
• Boat navigation

Question 4

How does the three gorges dam help manage flood control (3)

Answer 4

• The flood storage capacity of Three Gorges Dam Reservoir is 22 Cubic Meters
• This capacity can reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every ten years to once every 100 years
• Dam will protect some 15 million people from such deadly waters, as well as 1.5 million acres of farmland.

Question 5

What groups of people are helped by the three gorges dam flood control (2)

Answer 5

• millions of people living downstream of the dam

- people living in Shanghai, situated adjacent to Yangtze River

Question 6

How does the three gorges dam improve power generation (3)

Answer 6

• Now the world’s largest power station of 22,500 MW
• 83.7 TWh in 2013 and 98.8 TWh in 2014
• generate enough electricity for 28 million people

Question 7

What groups of people are helped by the three gorges dam power generation (1)

Answer 7

• supported the whole nation’s electricity usage, including businesses and schools

Question 8

How does the three gorges dam improve boat navigation (2)

Answer 8

• The instalment of ship locks, helping cruises navigate through the Yangtze river
• Improves 660 kilometres waterway
• Enables 10000 tonnage fleets to navigate between Shanghai and Chongqing.

Question 9

What groups of people are helped by the three gorges dam boat navigation (2)

Answer 9

• Cruise ship owners, easier to navigate and reach your end goal, more pleased clients, more business
• Shanghai and Chongqing residents, more resources able to be interchanged and used by the population, improving QOL

Question 10

What are three disadvantages of the three gorges dam (3)

Answer 10

• Environmental
• Resettlement
• Garbage

Question 11

How does the three gorges dam affect environment in a bad way (4)

Answer 11

• Polluting industrial plants are now submerged under water, letting out toxins
• This means river water (which local residents rely on) is now impure and dangerous
• Transport used to construct the dam released fossil fuels, causing an increase in pollution levels in China
• Surrounding landscape has been changed, plants and wildlife disappeared, historical relics submerged

Question 12

What people would have negative views about the three gorges dam affecting environment (2)

Answer 12

• Millions of people who live along the Yangtze river, now much more polluted and unsafe.
• Environmentalists who don’t want China’s pollution levels to rise, or ancient relics destroyed

Question 13

How does the three gorges dam affect resettlement (3)

Answer 13

• 1351 villages removed, 23800 hectares resettled, more than 1.1 million people will have to be resettled
• At least 500,000 haven’t been compensated by the government
• Local residents don’t get the money needed to start a new life somewhere else

Question 14

How much rubbish has the dam stopped from flowing into the sea (1)

Answer 14

• ten million tons of plastic bags, bottles, animal corpses, trees, and other detritus that otherwise would have flowed out to sea

Question 15

How much did the dam cost, how long is it and how long did it take to build (3)

Answer 15

$27 billion
10,000 ft long
14 years

Question 16

What problems does having increased rubbish in the Yangtze river cause, and what types of people are likely to be affected by this (3)

Answer 16

• River biodiversity plummets as species eat the plastic and can’t digest it
• Litter attracts vermin and is a breeding ground for bacteria, which causes species such as algae to grow and block light so plants cannot photosynthesise
• People such as fisherman will see decreased output as species are dying