Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankinds long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the ideal 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.

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

　　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.

　　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.

　　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.

　　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 dont need a dam to be saved.

　　參考譯文：

　　巨型水壩很少有大型技術(shù)像巨型水壩一樣令人神往。也許是長(zhǎng)期以來人類遭受洪水和干旱的折磨，所以才使控制水為我們所用變得那么吸引人。但是在吸引人的同時(shí)也有一些盲目。一些巨型水壩項(xiàng)目的害處遠(yuǎn)大于好處。

　　從水壩的道德教訓(xùn)是大的不總是美好的。建造巨大強(qiáng)力的水壩已經(jīng)變成顯示國(guó)家成就的符號(hào)和人們承認(rèn)自己的努力。埃及在阿拉伯世界的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位是通過建造阿斯旺大壩鞏固的。土耳其向世界一流國(guó)家邁進(jìn)的努力就是包括建立巨大的阿塔圖爾克水壩。

　　但是誰(shuí)把不總是按照人們想象的去發(fā)揮作用的。例如阿斯旺大壩雖然阻止了尼羅河的洪水泛濫，但是也阻止了河水泛濫留下的養(yǎng)料豐富的淤泥－反過來留下了一個(gè)滿是弊病的水庫(kù)由于淤泥太多幾乎不能在發(fā)電了。

　　但是對(duì)水進(jìn)行控制的迷信仍然堅(jiān)持。這周，在文明歐洲的中心地帶，斯洛伐克和匈牙利向連接兩國(guó)的多瑙河大壩上互派軍隊(duì)。龐大復(fù)雜，很可能會(huì)所有的常見問題大水壩。但是斯洛伐克剛從捷克分離出來而獨(dú)立，并且現(xiàn)在需要一個(gè)大壩來證明自己。

　　與此同時(shí)在印度世界銀行向已經(jīng)錯(cuò)誤導(dǎo)向的納爾默達(dá)大壩投資。盡管很多建議者說這個(gè)水壩將給普通人和環(huán)境帶來很多破壞世界銀行仍然堅(jiān)持這樣做，這是有利于由權(quán)利的人的，但是這也不能確定。

　　正確的方法是科學(xué)的研究水壩的特性和控制水的花費(fèi)和成本可以有助于解決這些沖突難題。水力發(fā)電洪水控制和灌溉不建立巨型水壩也是可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的。但是把巨型水壩做成一種迷信的時(shí)候，就是不正確不科學(xué)的了。現(xiàn)在到了世界從阿斯旺大壩得到教訓(xùn)的時(shí)候了，你們不需要被一個(gè)大壩所拯救。