Water in Asia: the Policy Impact

The Three Gorges Dam:

Taming the waters of the Yangtze ­ creating social instability?

By Gørild Heggelund

The Three Gorges project (Sanxia gongcheng) is currently being constructed on the Yangtze River in China. The National People's Congress approved the dam project in 1992. Construction of the dam began in 1994, and its completion is scheduled for 2009. The project was approved after decades of controversy among bureaucrats, scientists and journalists in China. The purpose of the Three Gorges project is electricity production, flood control, and improved navigational facilities, which Chinese authorities claim will be beneficial for the population living in the areas surrounding the Yangtze River. One major reason for the controversy about the dam is the displacement of 1.2 million people (official figures; unofficial figures are 1.4­2 million). This article discusses past resettlement in China as well some of the challenges in the implementation process for the Three Gorges resettlement that may lead to social instability in the area.

Gørild Heggelund, Ph.D. (Doctor art., Oslo University, 2002) is a senior research fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. Her main research areas are China's environmental policy, energy and climate issues. Dr Heggelund is currently working on China's climate change policymaking including the developments of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Proto-col in China. In addition, she is presently carrying out research related to the UN global environ-mental conferences and the implementation of GEF projects in China. She has specialized in the Three Gorges dam project on the Yangtze River in China with focus on the decision-making process, and completed a Ph.D. dissertation entitled The Decision-making Process for the Three Gorges Project Resettle-ment in China in 2002.

It is generally acknowledged, even by Chinese authorities, that resettlement was unsuccessful until the 1980s, due to the lack of comprehensive resettlement plans. Officially, about one-third of the resettlement has been declared unsuccessful, which suggests that more than 3 million people have not been satisfactorily resettled and compensated. It is also generally acknowledged that among the three million that have been fairly successfully resettled there are still problems. The lack of success has been blamed on the emphasis being traditionally put on the construction of the project, rather than resettlement (zhong gongcheng, qing anzhi) (Zhu and Zhao eds. 1996).

The principal method of compensation employed in reservoir resettlement in China was the 'lump sum' (yicixing) type of compensation (Li Boning 1992). This was a simple method of returning to the peasants the amount of money that the land and house were worth, according to established standards set by the central government, with no thought of how the resettled people were to live in the new areas. In many cases, the re-settled peasants lived in poverty after being resettled, and they often returned to their home areas when they could not sustain themselves in their new areas. However, in 1985, the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power (MWREP) in-stituted new reservoir resettlement design requirements, and in 1986, re-quired projects to include res-ettlement funding in the overall project budget. Furthermore, based upon the experiences of past reservoir resettlement, a new resettlement plan called 'develop-ment type resettlement' (kaifaxing yimin fangzhen) was gradually developed during the discussions for the Three Gorges project. The purpose of the develop-

mental resettlement scheme is to solve the daily subsistence prob-lems of the resettled population. Thus, as opposed to old resettle-ment schemes where this was more or less ignored, the current resettlement policy intends to develop the economy and infra-structure in the reservoir in order to ensure the livelihoods of the resettled people. The Shuikou dam in Fujian province, funded by the World Bank, is a good example of approaching resettle-ment as a development challenge, where the resettlement funds were used to open up new land for cultivation, improve existing land, and establish new enterprises.

Implementation challenges for the Three Gorges dam
It is important to acknowledge China's efforts in identifying resettlement practices where systematic measures are initiated for preventing impoverishment, which may not be matched in other developing countries. The case of the Three Gorges project is special even in China, due to the large size of the dam and reservoir, the potential environ-mental impacts, the long contro-versy surrounding the project,

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Water in Asia: the Policy Impact

is discharged into the river without proper cleansing. Funding has been increased for environmental clean-ups in the area, whether or not it is sufficient, time will show.

Lack of Farmland. The serious environmental situation in the area leads on to the next issue, the lack of available farm-land for the resettled population. Lack of available farmland in the Three Gorges area is one of the biggest challenges for the success-ful rural resettlement in the reservoir area. The rural popu-lation is large in the reservoir area; 87.3 per cent belong to the peasants category (Zhu and Zhao, eds. 1996) The scarcity of farmland in the area is one of the most important factors that may cause problems in the process of resettling the rural population. Even if 125,000 rural residents are relocated out of the reservoir area as decided in 1999, it is questionable whether there is sufficient farmland for the remaining relocatees. Due to the lack of farmland, a number of farmers will have to change vocation. The educational level is low in the area and it may be difficult to find work. With no land at all to farm on, their daily subsistence is questionable.

Corruption. The growing corruption problem in China has also had implications for the Three Gorges project. Funding that was earmarked for resettle-ment and reconstruction of infrastructure has been em-bezzled and spent elsewhere. This may be unique for the Three Gorges project due to the large scale of the project. It not only involves the construction of a dam, but it also includes the construction of towns, roads and other infrastructure projects. This makes it easier to divert funding into one's own pockets or for other projects. Corruption is a phenomenon that is eroding the policymaking of the Three Gorges project resettlement to the

extent that the implementation of the resettlement is imperilled. The resettlement funding that has been mismanaged or pocketed by local officials will result in a reduction of the compensation to the relocatees as well as for infra-structure construction. It goes without saying that this may have grave consequences, and may lead to social instability as in earlier dam projects.

Lack of participation. Little or no public participation has been common for the Three Gorges dam. Some dialogue seems to exist between the authorities and the resettlers for the Three Gorges project, but this is mainly at the village level. At the village level, the heads of villages and resettled population may participate in the selection of resettlement sites, reallocation of land resources and the settlement of disputes between migrants and their hosts. Public participation in the early stages of the process, i.e. in the decision-making process, is next to nothing, and at the provincial level the possibility for relocatee participation is low. Lack of participation in the decision-making process may result in social instability, complaints and collective actions carried out by the relocatees in order to obtain better conditions following resettlement.

Lack of legal protection. There is a need for a law protecting the rights and interests of people displaced by water control pro-jects. The Chinese maintain that renzhi (rule by man) often still

the many interest groups, and the number of people to be re-settled. Despite the positive de-velopments in China's resettle-ment practices, the future of the relocatees in the Three Gorges project is uncertain. The con-struction of the Three Gorges dam may tame the waters of the Yangtze River, however, will the resettlement of 1.2 million (or more) people create social in-stability in the Three Gorges area? Some of the challenges to successful implementation are discussed below.

The Environment. Environ-mental capacity is the key to a successful resettlement of the rural population, as resettlement and environmental capacity are closely linked. The worst prob-lems for the Three Gorges area are considered to be erosion and bad water quality. Erosion covers between 58.2 and 65 per cent of the land in the reservoir area (Zhongguo Sanxia jianshe nianjian bianjibu 1996). This is mainly caused by two factors: agricultural reclamation and tree felling. The vicious circle of opening up new land and destroy-ing the forest for agricultural purposes has resulted in serious ecological degradation. The reclamation of land only increases the problems in the area, and the quality of the reclaimed land is often poor, which also makes it difficult to resettle the peasants.

Water pollution is not paid enough attention to, and even though the water in the Yangtze River is considered relatively clean compared to other rivers in the country, the water quality in the river is very bad in some sections. For instance, one-third of the water discharge in Chong-qing does not satisfy the national standards (Chen, Xu and Du 1995). When the natural river flow slows down in the reservoir, there is concern among re-searchers and officials that the reservoir will become a cesspool, as most waste water in the area

View on the Yangtze, below the Three Gorges Dam (Photo: Kjeld Oksbjerg)

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Water in Asia: the Policy Impact

prevails over fazhi (rule by law) (Dai 1989), and one may say that the rule by law and the com-prehension of the existing laws in China are still in their nascent stages. Legal issues are important in the Three Gorges project, as they relate to freedom of speech, a more open and free press, and supervision by the public. Arrests have taken place of rural citizens who have pointed to mis-management of the resettlement funding. Arresting these individuals, who have voiced their concern about the resettlement process, will only increase the anger among fellow resettlers and influence social stability.

References
Chen Guojie, Qi Xu and Ronghuan Du (1995), Sanxia gongcheng dui shengtai yu huanjing de yingxiang ji duice yanjiu [Research on the Three Gorges project impacts on the ecology and the environment and counter measures], Beijing: Kexue chubanshe.

Dai, Qing (ed. 1989), Changjiang, Changjiang - Sanxia gongcheng lunzheng [Yangtze, Yangtze ­ The debate about the Three Gorges project], Guizhou renmin chubanshe.

Li, Boning (1992), Kuqu yimin anzhi [Reservoir resettlement], Sanxia gongcheng xiaocongshu (the Three Gorges Project Collection), Beijing: Shuili dianli chubanshe.

World Commission on Dams (2000), Dams and Development, A New Framework for Decision-making, The Report of the World Commission on Dams, London and Sterling, VA.: Earthscan Publications Ltd.

Zhongguo Sanxia jianshe nianjian bianjibu [China Three Gorges Construction Yearbook Editing Department] (1996), Zhongguo Sanxia Jianshe Nianjian 1995 [The China Three Gorges Construction Yearbook 1995], Beijing: China Three Gorges Press.

Zhu, Nong and Shihua Zhao (eds. 1996), Sanxia gongcheng yimin yu kuqu fazhan yanjiu [Research on the Three Gorges resettlement and reservoir development], Wuhan: Wuhan daxue chubanshe.

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