China has admitted that the massive, and massively controversial, Three Gorges Dam has all the makings of an environmental disaster. “If no preventive measures are taken, the project could lead to catastrophe,” unnamed officials are quoted as saying in state news source Xinhua. Critics have been saying since before construction of the dam began that it would cause huge environmental damage. Previously however China has played down these concerns, lauding the power it will generate and the protection against flooding it offers.

A two-day forum in Wuhan this week heard that erosion caused by the dam was already triggering landslides. Huang Xuebin, head of the Headquarters for Prevention and Control of Geological Disasters in the Three Gorges Reservoir, claimed waves up to 50 meters high had been triggered by landsides into the reservoir created by the dam (Xinhua). This claim of 50 m high waves is repeated by AFP, the Independent, and the Guardian, although it seems highly fanciful. Problems with pollution and erosion are also being reported.

Previous reports have highlighted the damage done to the environment and to archaeological sites by the damming process, which created a 40 cubic kilometre lake. Nevertheless, the confession that the still-unfinished dam is doing any damage is unusual. The Times calls it an “unprecedented admission of blame” and it has generated massive interest from the world’s press (WSJ, Guardian, Sidney Morning Herald, BBC, AP).

A full briefing on the dam from last year is on Nature News (subscription required). Some key numbers:

Length: 2.3 kilometres

Cost: US$25 billion (official estimate)

Completion date: 2009

Image: 60 km stretch of Yangtze River with construction site of the Three Gorges Dam to the left / NASA