Description and Details

In Novem­ber 2020, the pres­i­dent of Pow­er Con­struc­tion Cor­po­ra­tion of Chi­na (Pow­erchi­na) announced they intend to build a mega dam on the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsang­po Riv­er, also known as the Brahma­pu­tra Riv­er in India, and Jamu­na Riv­er in Bangladesh. Accord­ing to the Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty (CCP), the dam would gen­er­ate three times as much pow­er as the Three Gorges Dam, and this giant hydropow­er sta­tion is part of China’s plan for seek­ing car­bon neu­tral­i­ty by 2060.

How­ev­er, when this plan was announced, it imme­di­ate­ly gained atten­tion and was called one of the riski­est projects in the world. The pro­jec­t’s com­plex­i­ty lies in the ter­rain, reli­gious beliefs, local ecosys­tem con­cerns, and inter­na­tion­al relationships. 

Tibetan rights groups have crit­i­cized the project since the riv­er is con­sid­ered sacred as it’s the body of the god­dess in their reli­gion. The Tibetan peo­ple can’t bathe or wash in the riv­er and they can only use the water after tak­ing it home. Before the annex­a­tion of Tibet from Chi­na, no dam could be built along the riv­er. Even though now they are under the con­trol of the gov­ern­ment, there’s still criticism. 

Anoth­er con­cern is the insta­bil­i­ty of the region’s land. The riv­er sits atop the Indo-Tsang­po Suture Zone, the inter­sec­tion between the tec­ton­ic plates of India and Eura­sia. This makes the area active in earth­quake activ­i­ties. Around 70 years ago, an 8.6 mag­ni­tude earth­quake occurred 200 km away in Assam. If a dam is built in this region, it is hard to pre­dict when the next large-scale earth­quake may occur. If an earth­quake occurs and has enough mag­ni­tude to destroy the dam, the result­ing flood would have a detri­men­tal impact on down­stream areas. The area is also prone to land­slides which would wors­en the impact of a dead­ly earthquake. 

While Tibet and seis­mic activ­i­ty are con­cerns, the great­est con­cern for the dam’s con­struc­tion is the ten­sion between Chi­na and India. Although it’s said that the dam will be run-of-riv­er type, which means it won’t store water, and only use the run­ning water for elec­tric­i­ty gen­er­a­tion, the Indi­an gov­ern­ment still wor­ries about Chi­na using water as a weapon. The Brahma­pu­tra Riv­er feeds mil­lions in India and also gen­er­ates India’s hydropow­er for nation­al sup­ply. If the riv­er gets divert­ed from Chi­na, which the Indi­an gov­ern­ment fears, India’s econ­o­my and liveli­hood would be threatened. 

One idea to con­sid­er is the posi­tion­ing of the coun­tries along the riv­er and their opin­ions on the use of the riv­er. Chi­na, with Tibetan being the ori­gin of the riv­er, has absolute con­trol over this resource. India, a large devel­op­ing coun­try, strong­ly con­demns upstream exploita­tion. Bangladesh is the fur­thest down­stream and expe­ri­ences the largest influ­ence of upstream dams, how­ev­er, they have had a lim­it­ed voice in the inter­na­tion­al debate. 

While the dam has yet to be built, this project may be a typ­i­cal exam­ple of DEI prin­ci­pled engi­neer­ing infra­struc­tures, along with many eco­log­i­cal, social, and polit­i­cal concerns. 

CEE sub­jects: Con­struc­tion Engi­neer­ing and Man­age­ment, Geot­ech­ni­cal Engi­neer­ing, Hydraulics and Hydro­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Struc­tur­al Engi­neer­ing, Envi­ron­men­tal Flu­id Dynam­ics, Envi­ron­men­tal Pol­i­cy and Sus­tain­able Infra­struc­ture, Envi­ron­men­tal Politics

Discussion Questions

  • This exam­ple shows some of the ten­sions sur­round­ing hydropow­er and the larg­er inter­na­tion­al pol­i­tics sur­round­ing renew­able resources and car­bon neu­tral­i­ty. What do you think of the ten­sion behind pro­mot­ing car­bon neutrality?
  • This project is a reminder of the unavoid­able fail­ure of engi­neer­ing infra­struc­ture in the future and the need for design/service life. What sug­ges­tions would you give for the con­struc­tion of the mega dam to ensure it meets its design life? Do you think we should be cre­at­ing large-scale infra­struc­ture in dis­as­ter-prone areas or switch­ing to a more local or regen­er­a­tive focus? What will be the future of engi­neer­ing projects if they are beyond our lifetime?
  • Are you in sup­port of build­ing this mega-dam? Why or why not?
  • How might envi­ron­men­tal or civ­il engi­neers aid in ensur­ing the goals of hydropow­er are achieved while mit­i­gat­ing water scarci­ty fears and nat­ur­al dis­as­ter impacts?

References

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