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dam-l Further details on the Tsangpo Dam
The following is a translation of a feature broadcast on German TV in Jan
98. Translation is unofficial.
Below that is an article from the China Daily with details of a rafting
trip planned to explore the river. The rafting story contains some
astonishing figures on the the gorge where the dam maybe located. I also
find it pretty strange that part of the purpose of the rafting trip is
stated to be to pinpoint the headwaters of the Tsangpo. Anyone who knows
Tibetan geography knows that the source of the Tsangpo is in Western Tibet
close to Lake Manasarover. It has been well documented and mapped since
the early part of this century. I am pretty sure that the source of major
tributaries are also well mapped.
Happy reading.
Any comments or thoughts on the feasibility of this project, please direct
to me,
Lorne Stockman - lorncatherin@gn.apc.org
*************************************************************
ZDF (Second German TV)
Die Welt (The World)
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 1998
A giant project on the roof of the world / Effects on the environment
feared - Proponents want to prevent floods
London -
As soon as China finished the Three-Gorges dam at the Jangtsekiang
which displaced more than one million people another big project for
the next millennium began being prepared for: again, a river coming
from the Tibetan high plateau is to be subdued. The generation of
electricity using waterpower is planned to exceed the one at the
Jangtsekiang by about two-fold. However, this time the ecology of four
nations will be affected.
Professor Chen Chuanyu (Tschen Tschuanju), the chief planner and one of
the leading water experts of the People's Republic wants to utilize the
upper part of the Brahmaputra for a giant hydroelectric project and for
a gigantic irrigation project. As a side effect, the stream that is
more than 3000 kilometers (1860 miles) long and has claimed innumerable
human lives through its floods in the delta in Bangladesh could be
tamed by regulating its upper course.
The river which arises on the Tibetan high plateau at an altitude of
5600 meters (18,373 feet) out of three tributaries and carries the name
Jarlung Tsangpo for 1250 kilometers (776 miles) offers an ideal site
for the intervention. This is a loop, a hairpin bend. First, the river
turns North, then sharply Southeast and proceeds to a further turn
towards the Southwest to approach itself at a distance of 40 kilometers
(25 miles). Shortly afterwards it reaches the Indian state Assam, where
it is named Brahmaputra.
Chen sees the potential for his giant project in the gradient of 2400
meters (7872 feet) between the anti-parallel running river sections.
The plan is to divert the Tsangpo at the loop with a tunnel 15
kilometer (9.3 miles) long drilled into the Himalayas and then
connected to pipelines and canals. The planners estimate the capacity
of several hydropower stations to be 40,000 Megawatts. This would
provide enough electricity to pump the precious liquid over a distance
of 800 kilometers (497 miles) to Northwest China which is largely
infertile due to its arid climate. For this, other rivers east of the
Tsangpo could also be tapped.
The production of energy would probably not benefit China directly
since high voltage lines would lose a significant proportion of their
voltage along the enormous distance. However, Chen points out the
economic and political benefit of the geopolitical giant project: the
sale of the excess electricity to the closer neighboring states such as
India, Bangladesh and Burma may be well possible as he emphasizes.
Since the Brahmaputra alone draws on an area of 670,000 square
kilometers (258,000 square miles) worldwide protests by
environmentalists appear unavoidable. India and Bangladesh are already
suspiciously observing the imminent interference with their water
economy through the project developed over the last three years.
Cheng Shenqui (Tscheng Schengqui), deputy director of the commission
for national resources, emphasizes too: "The project is of such a
magnitude that many of its consequences cannot be foreseen yet. We
don't know anything about the ecological consequences on the high
plateau of Tibet, on South- and East Asia, and even on the Earth."
On the other hand, China needs more water to feed its growing
population. Chen underlined in a report of the London "Independent":
"Man should intervene with Nature and reorganize her for his purposes.
With this project the drought in the Northwest of China could be
terminated and the flood catastrophes in Southeast Asia could be
brought under control." Until now there are no cost estimates for the
new project. It is known, however, that the giant Jangtsekiang dam
costed some 48 billion Marks (some 26 billion dollars).
****************************************
Perilous river rafting trip planned
CHINESE scientists and explorers are planning a rafting trip down the
Chinese section of the Yarlung Tsangpo River later this year.
An advance team will conduct an exploratory trip down the river next
month to prepare for the rafting expedition. The first task of the advance
team will be to pinpoint the headwaters of the river.
The expedition will begin in June and will end on the Sino-Indian
border in July.
Plans for the trip were announced last Thursday by the organizing
committee for the '98 China Yarlung Tsangpo River Rafting Trip. The
committee was established by the Sports Commission of the Tibet Autonomous
Region.
The team will be the first to raft down the entire Chinese section
of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.
Informed sources indicate that the expedition team will focus on
environmental protection studies, and anthropological studies of local
life-styles and religious beliefs.
The Yarlung Tsangpo becomes the Bramaputra in India and is known as
the Jamuna in Bangladesh.
The river's headwaters are in China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; it then
traverses India, and flows into the Ganges in Bangladesh before emptying
into the Indian Ocean.
The Chinese section stretches 2,075 kilometres at the highest
elevation of any river in the world. Some 75 per cent of the Chinese
section flows through highlands at an average elevation of 3,000 metres
above sea
level.
This section of the river also features the greatest drop in
elevation of any river in the world, falling from an elevation of 5,070
metres above sea level in the west to 155 metres above sea level in the
east, for a total drop of 4,915 metres.
Man has never before entered various remote stretches in the river
valley due to harsh weather conditions and unique geological features,
which
include rugged peaks, deep valleys and dangerous rapids.
The unique geological and environmental conditions, as well as
abundant natural resources in the area, have long attracted the interest of
both Chinese and foreign scientists.
The deep valley the Yarlung Tsangpo River has cut in the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the major passage for the southern air stream
flowing towards the highlands in the north.
Chinese scientists have determined that the source of the river is
located in the northern foothills of the Himalayas.
The upper stream of the river is about 295 kilometres long. The
river bed is wide and shallow there.
The middle reaches are about 1,361 kilometres in length, dropping
from 4,550 down to 2,800 metres above sea level. The middle reaches, which
flow through areas of Tibetan culture and agriculture, include a number of
famous tributaries, such as the Lhasa River.
The lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River make a sharp turn
around Nam-jagbarwa peak, emptying into an astonishing gorge less than 100
metres wide. The exact length of this section is estimated at 200
kilometres.
This uniquely dramatic gorge looks like a waterfall when viewed from
the air. The river flows at a breath-taking rate of up to 84 kilometres per
hour , matching the speed of a train.
The gorge is known as the Great Turn Valley. It is listed in the
Guinness Book of Records as the world's biggest and deepest valley.
The Great Turn Valley starts at 2,800 and ends at 500 metres above
sea level.
The Yarlung Tsangpo river in this section drops 2,300 metres.
The Great Turn Valley is a great library of different species and is
rich in bio-diversity. It is a natural preserve of rare species and living
fossils.
No one in the world has yet been bold enough to raft down this
section of the river. The gorge area is embraced by high peaks which tower
more than 5,000 metres above sea level. For example, to the south of the
river stands Mount Namjagbarwa which is 7,782 metres above sea level, and
the peak of Gyarabaili to the north is 7,151 metres above sea level.
Sheer cliffs drop from the peaks to the river.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River ranks second in China in terms of water
resources, next only to the Yangtze. Two-thirds of the Yarlung Tsangpo
River's water resources are located in the gorge. As a result, the gorge
should be counted as No 1 gorge in the world in terms of water resources.
Rafters regard sections of the Yarlung Tsangpo River as the most
difficult rafting waters in the world.
The river is, in fact, much more complicated and dangerous than the
Yangtze River, the longest in China, according to team leader Yang Yong.
Yang completed the first and only Yangtze River rafting expedition
some 12 years ago, when eleven Chinese rafters lost their lives.
Date: 03/06/98
Author: Piao Liu
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