China turns on world’s second-biggest hydropower dam

It's odd that so much focus on dams is often directed at power generation, when flood and drought control is one of the primary purposes of these dams.

The Yangtze River likes to flood, and when it does, it can be highly destructive. Just last year we were seeing dramatic videos of floods from the area. But more significantly, a Yangtze flood is arguably the worst natural disaster of the 20th century:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yangtze-river-pe...

This dam, along with the three gorges, provide a huge amount of flood control and will dramatically alter the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

In related recent news, Congo selected Australia's Fortescue Metals Group to develop their proposed "Grand Inga Dam" project, which will be the world's largest power plant if it gets completed: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-fortescue...