Sense and Non - sense of Dam Development

摘要

The world has had a very long love affair with dams. In the 1930s dam-building helped kick - start a depressed U.S. economy, whilst the Egyptian economy was transformed by the Aswan dam on the Nile. Dams are constructed to play a vital role in a region' s economic development. Many of the rivers in the world, from great rivers to small streams, have been dammed for the benefit of human. But the issue "Dams or no dams" has been popularly debated in recent years. It seems the love affair is over. What should we do with the existing dams and how we can make a decision about further dam development? In this literature study, the authors attempt to answer the above questions through examining the sense and non — sense of dam development, and discussing the case of the Three Gorge Dam Project" , the largest dam in the world located in China. The main conclusion of this study is that dam development should be sustainable, based on the current status and the future needs in the relevant regions.