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Zipingpu Dam, Sep. 14, 2007 (AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image)

The tragic Sichuan Earthquake of May 12, 2008, which killed an estimated 80,000 civilians, also damaged hundreds of dams in Sichuan Province. Soon after the earthquake struck, the Chinese government reported that at least 391 dams had been damaged in the quake, including major cracks on the largest dam in the area, the Zipingpu Dam. Since then, the Ministry of Water Resources has reported that as many as 2,380 dams were damaged in the earthquake.

In its 2005 annual meeting, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee expressed its "grave concern on the impacts that the proposed construction of dams could have" on the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Area and downstream communities, and stated that any dam construction within the World Heritage property "would provide a case for inclusion of the property in the List of World Heritage in Danger."

Stop the Hutiaoxia Dam!

In the renewed hydropower boom in southwest China, Hutiaoxia (Tiger Leaping Gorge) dam is the leading project in the plans for a cascade of dams on the Jinsha River (Upper Yangtze River).