ABSTRACT
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in the Three Gorges reservoir area alone "there are over 3,000 industrial and mining enterprises which release more than one billion tons of wastewater annually, containing more than 50 different pollutants". Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Science Research Institute and Environmental Evaluation Department, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changjiang sanxia shuili shuniu huanjing baogaoshu. New studies are underway to evaluate the overall water quality of those portions of the Huangbai River affected by the Gezhouba dam. Hopefully, these studies will not only help save what's left of the Huangbai, but will also serve as an example of what may happen to the Yangtze River, the Jialing and Wu rivers and the Daning River's Small Three Gorges. The pure waters of the Small Three Gorges are just about the only place left that leads to appreciate the old adage about how "the waters of the Shu River are clear enough to reflect the Shu Mountains".
