Shanghai.  May 14. INTERFAX-CHINA - Cracks were found in a dam operating
as part  of  a major hydropower plant in Sichuan Province, and buildings
on the plant’s  site  collapsed  after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck
the province on Monday, state media reported today.
A team from  China’s Ministry of Water Resources has been sent to repair
the damaged  dam,  which  is part of the Zipingpu hydropower, irrigation
and flood control project located between Wenchuan County and Dujiangyan
City, Xinhua reported.
The report,  by  state-run Xinhua news agency, did not detail the extent
of the cracks, nor any potential for dam failure.
Fan Xiao,  a  hydropower expert with the Sichuan Bureau of Geology, told
Interfax  that  the  reservoir’s  water  level  rose  quickly  after the
earthquake due to blockages.
Fan said  that reports about other dams located in the area have not yet
come in  because  of  communication  disruptions,  and that if such dams
collapse, it could mean more trouble for the Zipingpu project.
If Zipingpu’s  dam  was to give way, the entire downstream Chengdu Plain
will be flooded, Fan said.
Operations  at  the  Three  Gorges Dam, the country’s largest hydropower
project,  are  normal  due  to  the  distance  between  the  dam and the
epicenter  in western Sichuan Province, the state-run Xinhua news agency
reported.

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