1998年Text 1

Few creations of big
technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is
humankind’s long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that
makes the idea of forcing the waters to do our bidding so
fascinating. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind.
Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than
good.

在重大技术工程中，很少能像巨型水坝这样令人心驰神往的。可能正是因为人类长期听任旱涝灾害的摆布才使得人们如此痴迷于治理江河、使洪水听从人类调遣的理想。但使人着迷的同时也就造成了人们的盲目。有几个巨型大坝项目就颇有弊大于利的危险。



The lesson from dams
is that big is not always beautiful. It doesn’t help that building
a big, powerful dam has become a symbol of achievement for nations
and people striving to assert themselves. Egypt’s leadership in the
Arab world was cemented by the Aswan High Dam. Turkey’s bid for
First World status includes the giant Ataturk Dam.

建造大坝的教训是：大的未不总是美好的。但这个教训也无法阻止以下事实，即修建高大雄伟的大坝已成为那些努力得到自我肯定的国家和人民的伟大成就的象征。埃及由于建造了阿斯旺大坝而巩固了其在阿拉伯世界的领导地位。土耳其在力图跻身于第一世界的努力中也包括修建阿塔特克大坝。



But big dams tend
not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the
Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods
left -- all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now
so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.

但一些大坝不会像预期的那样发挥功效。以阿斯旺大坝为例，它阻止了尼罗河洪水泛滥，但也使埃及失去了洪水冲击过后留下的肥沃土壤，换回来的是这么一个疾病滋生的水库。现在这个水库里积满了淤泥，几乎已经无法发电了。



And yet, the myth of
controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of
civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of
sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube.
The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big
dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and
now needs a dam to prove itself.

不过，制服洪水的神话仍在继续。本周，在欧洲文明的腹地，斯洛伐克人和匈牙利人就为了多瑙河上建一处水坝发生争执，差点动用了军队。这个大型工程可能会引起建大坝出现过的所有常见问题。但斯洛伐克正在努力脱离捷克而独立，因此现在他们需要修建一个大坝来证明自己的实力。



Meanwhile, in India,
the World Bank has given the go-ahead to the even more wrong-headed
Narmada Dam. And the bank has done this even though its advisors
say the dam will cause hardship for the powerless and environmental
destruction. The benefits are for the powerful, but they are far
from guaranteed.

与此同时，世界银行已经贷款给印度来那个问题诸多的纳尔马达大坝。尽管世界银行的顾问说，该大坝将给平民带来苦难，而且也会不可避免地破坏那里的环境，但世界银行仍然一意孤行。大坝会给有权势的人带来巨大利益，但却不考虑任何保障。



Proper, scientific
study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of
controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts.
Hydroelectric power and flood control and irrigation are possible
without building monster dams. But when you are dealing with myths,
it is hard to be either proper, or scientific. It is time that the
world learned the lessons of Aswan. You don’t need a dam to be
saved.

对于建造水坝的影响以及对水坝控制水流的成本和收益进行恰当的科学论证能够有助于解决这些矛盾。水利发电，治理洪水以及灌溉并一定非要靠建大型水坝才能实现。但如果你相信神话，那就很难做到合理或科学。现在是全世界吸取阿斯旺大坝教训的时候了。人类并不需要建一座大型水坝来拯救自己。