Three Gorges Dam - Engineering run amok?

The vision - first proposed 88 years ago - is astonishing. Damming up the Yangtze River to generate billions of fresh kilowatts for an energy-starved Superpower represented a staggering engineering challenge. The $26 billion project came online recently months ahead of schedule, but at what cost?

To make way for the rising waters behind the massive structure, more than 1.3 million Chinese had to relocated, many against their will. Similar to the Aswan Dam issue in Egypt several decades ago, significant archeological sites will soon lie under fathoms of water. Excessive silt, thousands of yards of algae blooms and deadly mudslides as a result of the dam are already manifest.

As CNN quoted one Chinese professor trying to preserve the Three Gorges eco-system: "No one can guarantee the Three Gorges will be catastrophe-free." Built in part to control the annual Yangtze flooding, many experts feel that strange and unexpected flooding patterns could well make matters worse instead of better.

Looking at the U.S., one is reminded of the Hetch Hechy Dam in Yosemite National Park. Once a breath-taking mirror of the fabulous Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hechy valley was dammed up and essentially destroyed in the early 20th century. Why? The then-booming town of San Fransciso needed billions of fresh kilowatts for economic growth. California today could not readily sustain its economics without that dam, hidden away in the northern section of one of America's most precious parks.

A magnificent engineering feat for the People's Republic? Certainly. But the jury is still out as to whether Three Gorges will truly achieve its goal of improving the spectrum of life in China.