China's Three Gorges Dam is one step closer to being fully operational today. Chinese engineers blew up a temporary dam holding back the waters of the mighty Yangtzee River, allowing the river to reach its full height, more than 500 feet, behind the dam. The dam - a highly controversial project that has been many years in the making - will not be totally operational for three more years, but construction was completed last month.

Chinese officials said they sent electric pulses through the water in advance of dynamiting the temporary dam, in order to clear away up to 90 percent of the nearby fish. The Three Gorges Dam has drawn intense criticism since its conception, from both environmental and human rights advocates. More than a million people have been displaced by the hydroelectric dam, the largest in the world. In addition to generating electricity, the project is intended to control dangerous flooding in the area. The dam was initially predicted to supply 10 percent of China's electricity needs, but with the country's growing economy and demand for power, the current prediction has shrunk to three percent.

A major environmental impact of the dam is destruction of habitat, including that of critically endangered river dolphins and Siberian cranes.

Image credit: China Highlights