1.   In other countries smaller dam projects have created bodies of water in which mosquitoes thrive.

2.   A series of smaller dams, they say, would have been more effective in stopping flooding and saving the valley.

3.   But the fierce battle over the Snake is now being replicated nationwide, and a few smaller dams have already been torn down.

4.   But the promised benefits of abundant power and seasonal flood control could be better achieved by building several smaller dams on the tributaries of the Yangtze.

5.   Ecologists propose a series of smaller dams that would be gentler to the environment and to the people while also contributing long-needed flood control and electric power.

6.   He said if the smaller dams break, they usually drain only onto vacant land or forests.

7.   Smaller dam releases during the summer also could hurt the small barge industry.

8.   Some experts have advised China to build several smaller dams along the Yangtze and its tributaries as a way to avoid putting so much investment into one huge project.

9.   Critics of the project say flood control and hydropower could be achieved more cheaply and with less disruption by fortifying existing dikes and building smaller dams upstream.

10.   Laos and the five companies should also consider alternatives, such as building several smaller dams, Nielsen said.