History of Three Gorges Project

How was the first idea of Three Gorges Project proposed and what had been done?
It was Dr. Sun Yetsun who first proposed the idea of the Three Gorges Project. In 1919, he mentioned in one of his books-Industrial Plan that " we can use a lock to block the river to let boats move against the water as well as make use of water resources". Thus, he formally proposed the idea of improving the navigation channel of Chuanjiang and developing the hydro power of Three Gorges. In 1924, Dr. Sun Yetsun said in his book "People's Living" that "the water power at Quixia in upper stream of Yangtze river is great. Someone has checked and found out that water resource from Yichang to Wanxian can generate power such as 3000 horsepower, much greater than the power of the whole nation." He further explained his idea of developing the Three Gorges Project.
In October, 1932, Resource Commission of the Guomindang government organized a survey team of hydro power in upper Yangtze river. This team did some survey work, and made out a survey report of hydro power in upper Yangtze river. They suggested to build a dam at Gezhouba with a height of 12.8m and total capacity of 300,000kw, 10,000kw each. The dam has shiplocks for navigation.
In April, 1933, Yangtze River Committee proposed Power Generation Plan in Upper Yangtze. In 1936, Mr. Brown, an Austrian engineer and advisor of Yangtze Water Resources Committee, did some study about improving the channel of Three Gorges and developing water resources there. Owning to social and economic reasons, the study did not last long.
In 1944, Mr. Pansui, an American economist and advisor of China Wartime Production Bureau, suggested to build a hydro power plant with a capacity of 10.5million kw at the Three Gorges, and to use cheap power to build a fertilizer plant. America would invest and supply material and equipment, and fertilizer could be used to pay for the debts. In May, Resource Commission invited Mr. Savanch, a dam expert and chief engineer from US Bureau of Reclomation. After site survey, Mr. Savanch made out Preliminary Report of Three Gorges Plan in Yangtze River, suggesting to select the damsite between Nanjinguan and Shiba in upper stream of Yichang. The water height would be 200 meters and the capacity of the power station be 10.56million kw. Besides power generation, the dam would have benefits as flood-protection, irrigation and navigation. The estimated investment was 1billion US dollars. He also proposed a further plan of survey and design. His proposal was a comprehensive plan focused on power generation. Afterwards, Resource Commission and Mr. Savanch discussed about the general idea of technical cooperation and training Chinese technical people proposed by US Bureau of Reclomation and Administration Bureau of Tennessee River. They organized to do some survey and investigation work.
In 1945, Resource Commission invited related organizations and formed Three Gorges Hydro Power Plan and Technical Research Committee. Mr. Qian Changzhao was Chairman of the committee. The committee discussed a work plan of the Three Gorges Project, including navigation, irrigation, reservoir area flooding, resettlement, fertilizer making and reservoir survey. In August, Three Gorges survey team was formally established.
In 1946, Three Gorges survey division under Resource Commission worked out Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir Survey Report, Economy Investigation Report of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and Geological Report of Yichang Gorge. That same year, Resource Commission signed an agreement with US Bureau of Reclomation to entrust the latter to do engineering. The commission sent over 50 Chinese technical people to participate in the engineering of Three Gorges Project. In 1947, the Guomingdang government decided to stop the engineering of Three Gorges Project because of internal war in China.

On what conditions was the idea of Three Gorges Project proposed at the beginning of new China What has been done and what was the main conclusion?
In 1949, the downstream area of the Yangtze River was liberated. During the flood season, it rained a lot and water level raised high. On July 9, the water level of Shashi City reached 44.49 meters, the highest since 1931. On July 12, the water level of Hankou raised to 27.12 meters, and caused the breakdown of flood-protection banks. The worst situation happened in Jinjiang dam, and big landslip occurred near Qijiapo. This indicated the seriousness of flood protection of downstream Yangtze, especially of Jinjiang river.
In October, 1949, when New China was established, Ministry of Water Resources under the Central government proposed to set up drainage area organizations. In February, 1950, Changjiang Water Resource Committee (CWRC) was established in Wuhan, and it started to develop the Yangtze River.
In early 1952, according to CWRC's planning and design, State Council declared the decision of Jinjiang Floodway Project: strengthening Jinjiang bank and opening a flooding area in south bank to protect people of Hubei and Hunan provinces. In late 1952, Jinjiang Floodway Project was finished.
Starting from the second half of 1952, CWRC carried out research of building reservoirs at Jinshajiang, and three major branches of Yangtze-Minjiang, Jialingjiang, and Wujiang to protect flood of the Yangtze River. They worked out a research report in 1953. The result of the research showed that if in July, 1935, the rainstorm had occurred in Three Gorges area, the peak flood flow of Yichang would have reached 100,000m3/s. Therefore, even if we have reservoirs at the above-mentioned branches, we cannot solve the problem of flood protection at downstream Yangtze, especially at Jinjiang area. At that time, some experts suggested we build Three Gorges dam for flood protection. In the same year, Chairman Mao listened to the report about Yangtze River, and said: "Since we have put so much effort building reservoirs at branches and it is still useless to control flood, why shouldn't we build a dam at the Three Gorges area?"
In the 1954 flood, we used Jinjiang Floodway Project and took a series of temporary measures to save Jinjiang bank and cities nearby. However, the disaster was still serious. People began to realize that we should build a valley reservoir to control flood of downstream Yangtze river. After the 1954 flood, CWRC began the planning of Yangtze River. With the cooperation of other organizations, they carried out the work of survey, planning, engineering and research. They realized that flood protection is the major task of developing Yangtze river, and the Three Gorges Project is not only a big hydro power station, but also plays an important role in flood control in downstream Yangtze.

What was the decision when the government discussed the planning of Yangtze River valley and Three Gorges Project at Chengdu meeting in 1958?
In January, 1958, the Central Party Committee listened to Comrade Lin Yishan's and Comrade Li Rui's opinions of building Three Gorges Project. Chairman Mao proposed to make full preparation of Three Gorges Project, and entrusted Premier Zhou Enlai to be responsible for the planning of Yangtze and the construction of Three Gorges Project.
In February and March, 1958, Premier Zhou, together with responsible people from the central and local and experts, surveyed Jinjiang Bank and Three Gorges damsite. He chaired discussions during the survey, received opinions from all sides and made conclusions in Chongking.
In March, 1958, Premier Zhou made a report of Three Gorges Project and Yangtze River Planning in Chengdu. After discussions, delegates made out the opinion of Three Gorges Project and Yangtze River Planning. Its main contents are as follows:
Basic principles of Yangtze River Planning: overall planning and development with several periods, and thinking over the following seven relations: long term and short term, mainstream and branch, upper stream and downstream, large scale and medium size, flood protection, power generation and navigation, hydro power and coal power, power generation and power supply. Three Gorges Project is the main body of Yangtze Planning, but it is not the only thing.
Three Gorges Hydro Project: It is necessary and possible to build the project. As when to start, decisions should be made after full preparations of every aspect are ready. The normal water level of the dam should not exceed 200 meters in order to save land. Work of survey and research about Meirentuo and Nanjinguan, the two dam location should be done. We should discuss all major technical and economic problems, make overall comparisons and work out best conclusions.
Flood protection: We should take time to finish all floodway projects, and strengthen the Jinjiang Bank. Work should be done in 1959 for Danjiangkou project. Comrade Wang Renzhong is responsible for flood protection in Dongtinghu Lake. As for water system planning in Sichuang, Guizhou and Boyanghu Lake, and flood protection and irrigation in Anhui and Jiangsu, local responsible people should hold meetings and work out plans.
CWRC was renamed Changjiang Planning Office (CPO), a special organization under the to-be-established Changjiang Planning Committee (CPC).
CPO made corrections of the General Report of Yangtze Development and Planning (preliminary draft), and formally submitted the report and another report: General Report of Three Gorges Project Preliminary Design, in 1959. In 1960, Preliminary Design Report (draft) was completed and Sandouping was recommended as the damsite. The normal water level was recommended to be 200 meters. As the nation experienced economic difficulty and, later, Cultural Revolution, the construction of the Three Gorges Project was postponed.

What is the benefit of Gezhouba Project to the construction of Three Gorges Project?
Gezhouba Hydro Project was considered a part of the Three Gorges Project. It was planned to build Gezhouba dam after the completion of Three Gorges Project, or at the same time when Three Gorges Project was under construction.
In 1969, when some people considered flood control in Jinjiang and power shortage in Central China and East China, they put forward the issue of Three Gorges Project again. In late 1970, the central government decided to build Gezhouba project first, as an example for Three Gorges Project. Gezhouba Project is completed now. By work in Gezhouba project, we have accumulated rich experiences for the engineering and construction of Three Gorges Project in such aspects as silt research, deep-water cofferdam, river closure, shiplock, and mechanical construction. Meanwhile, we have got a qualified team for engineering, construction and research of large hydro projects.

How was the feasibility report of 150-meter for Three Gorges Project proposed in 1983? What was the comment of the State of Council?
The Party Central paid great attention to Three Gorges Project. In discussing the sixth 5-year plan, they raised the issue again.
In 1982, CPO studied the feasibility of 150-meter water level for Three Gorges Project. In March, 1983, they worked out the feasibility study report of 150-meters water level for Three Gorges Project. In May, State Planning Commission organized 300 experts for check and review. In April, 1984, State Council approved the report, and decided to prepare for construction in 1984. Major work should start in 1986. In late April, 1984, the Party Central decided to establish China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp. (CTGPC) to raise funds and organize people for the construction of Three Gorges Project. During the construction of the project, CTGPC is the owner of the project. After it is in operation, CTGPC owns all the assets, including debts and credits, and is responsible for the operation and management of the power station. Gezhouba Power Plant is a part of CTGPC. Profits from Gezhouba Power Plant will be submitted to CTGPC as part of Three Gorges Construction Investment. Preparation work for Three Gorges Project started formally in 1984.