Drought hits Three Gorges dam

Plans to raise the water level behind China’s massive Three Gorges dam to full capacity this month, which would mark the symbolic culmination of the decades-old project, have stalled amid a worsening drought and reports of increased landslide risks.

China has for years promoted the world’s largest hydroelectric project as the best way to end centuries of floods along the basin of the Yangtze River and to provide energy to fuel the country’s economic boom.

Officials have often steamrolled over complaints about the enormous environmental impact of the mammoth 410 mile-long reservoir that has displaced more than 1.4 million people.