Three Gorges Dam

I have read that the dam is necessary but it makes me so sad... Millions of peoples homes will be underwater and entire cities will be covered. Anslee's home town of Fuling will be mostly underwater. Her orphanage, Yehi Primary School where she was found, and probably her birth parents home where she was born (but we'll never know where that was) will all be gone. We are going to take her back to China one day and it makes me sad that she won't be able to see these places.

Three Gorges Dam opens with bang
Jun. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
CHRIS HAWKE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING—Chinese engineers yesterday blew up a temporary barrier used during construction of the Three Gorges Dam, unleashing the full force of the Yangtze River on the world's largest hydroelectric project.
The 2.2-kilometre-long Three Gorges Dam now assumes its role in controlling the deadly floods that have regularly ravaged China's farming heartland.
The 12-second series of blasts sent the 30-metre top section of the cofferdam tumbling into the river, the official Xinhua news agency reported. A cofferdam is a watertight chamber pumped dry to allow building work to be carried out under water.
The blast created 190,000 cubic metres of concrete fragments, said Li Yong'an, general manager of the Three Gorges Project, Xinhua reported.
Officials zapped the water with electric pulses to drive away fish ahead of the blast, it reported. Ultrasonic monitoring showed 90 per cent of the fish fled, it said, citing professor Tan Xichang from the Water Biological Engineering Institute.
The Three Gorges Dam was completed last month, but it will not be fully operational until 2009. It is designed to eventually produce 22.4 million kilowatts of electricity — enough to light up Shanghai on a peak day with power to spare. Some 190 tonnes of dynamite were laid inside the temporary dam, which was 580 metres long and 140 metres high, it reported.
The water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir will rise from the current height of 135 metres to 156 metres after the summer flood season is over, it reported. At its full height, waters are likely to rise to 175 metres.