Dam Safety

Three Gorges resettlers (Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum)

"Battling with heaven is endless joy, fighting with the earth is endless joy, and struggling with humanity is endless joy," Mao Zedong once proclaimed. The Three Gorges Dam, which the great helmsman had conjured in one of his poems, is one of the manifestations of this philosophy. Nature inevitably strikes back against those who fight it. In the case of the Three Gorges Dam, we just learned that at least 300,000 more people need to displaced so that the environmental impacts can be kept under control.

Rescue Efforts to Locate 3 Men on the Remote Río Cuervo Have Been Futile

With "open season" declared on Patagonia's rivers, the costs and risks of building dams in Patagonia are now fatally apparent.

New Fengdu by night

When my wife and I traveled down the Yangtze Valley and Three Gorges Reservoir last week, we were surprised by what we saw in New Fengdu. The town of 100,000, which was built eight years ago as a resettlement colony for the reservoir oustees, looks well-planned, hospitable, and prosperous. People gather in the park for their morning exercises, go about their business, and populate the beer gardens in the evening. Sure, we learned, the displaced people had not received sufficient compensation to pay for their new apartments. But New Fengdu has ample tourism and mineral resources, and over time, the inhabitants were able to join China's economic growth model and make up for their losses.

Aftermath of Algodões I Dam Failure (  archive  )

In the wake of the Algodões I Dam tragedy, a specialist who works for Brazil's National Water Agency has estimated that 200 other dams could be in danger of failing.

Algodões I Dam, Piauí, Brazil after it Burst (  Archive)

The death toll from the rupture of Algodões I Dam has risen to seven, with at least three other people reported missing. Thousands are still without power, and 3,000 are homeless as a result of the tragedy.

 

Cocal, Brazilian City Flooded after Algodões I Dam Burst (  TV Canal 13)

Algodões Dam in northeast Brazil, weakened by weeks of heavy rains, burst yesterday afternoon, leaving the city of Cocal da Estação, with 30,000 inhabitants, under 20 meters of water. At least six people have reportedly been drowned, and 500 homes destroyed.

Rescue efforts near Jakarta are difficult in the thick mud (BBC News)

On Friday, March 27th at around 2 AM local time, an old, poorly maintained 16-meter high dam burst, sending a flash flood through a densely populated neighborhood southwest of Jakarta (see photos and video footage). Since most people were still asleep, many became trapped amidst the mud and debris. The death toll had risen to 100 people, with hundreds more missing, according to the latest news reports. Scientists on Tuesday said the absence of early detection and warning systems for the Situ Gintung dam was to blame for the dam's failure during heavy rain. Residents say they had been worried about the aging structure for years and had alerted authorities to cracks in the dam a year ago. The Jakarta Post is calling for a national program of infrastructure assessment and repair, and restoration of floodplains.