Yellow River, China

Question 1

What is the sad reality of the water here?

Answer 1

• bad land management so agricultural damage
• air pollution
• sediment run off making river yellow
• 70 people in 5 yrs died of stomach cancer due to water
• more groundwater taken out so more conc. pollution
• 2/3 of water from aquifers so water table falling since 1970

Question 2

What are the positives of the current water?

Answer 2

Dams are providing HEP and jobs
High tech. solutions are being put in place (cloud seeding)
Also low tech. solutions -> wells

Question 3

What are the communist party fearful?

Answer 3

For a repeat of the Tiananmen Square incident with uproar

Question 4

What will business as usual result in here?

Answer 4

38 dams by 2030

Tibetan glaciers melting at 7% per year

Question 5

What will water crisis mean here?

Answer 5

30% lost through leakage
China has 20% of world pop. and 7% of world’s water
Village use doubled since 1970
Free to use in China

Question 6

What will sustainable water mean here?

Answer 6

Increase price would alienate middle class and industry
2010 aim to reduce consumption by 30% and pollution by 10%
Yellow River Conservancy Commission have a digital control system letting water in and out dams to stop floods and pollution

Question 7

What project have they put in place?

Answer 7

South-North Transfer Project

Question 8

What does the project involve?

Answer 8

Started in 2003
Would take 50yrs to compete
$62 bil.
3 canals linking Yangtze, Yellow, Huai & Han Rivers
Central gov. provide 60% of cost and rest from local authorities
Solve the problem of South being rich in resources but North not

Question 9

What were the positives and negatives of the project?

Answer 9

+ Water conservation, improved irrigation, pollution treatment, environmental protection
- ecological & environ impacts, resettlement, worsening quality, could be ecological disaster as already polluted