Hydropower developments seriously damaging China's environment

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has intervened in China after a recent decision was made to reduce the size of a protected nature reserve to allow for the construction of a hydropower plant, it has been reported by Reuters.

The 30-billion yuan (£3 billion) Xiaonanhai hydropower plant has been planned to be built on Yangtze River in southwest China's Chongqing. The reserve has already been reduced in 2005 to allow for the construction of the Jinsha hydropower plant, which is currently being built by the Three Gorges Project Corp.

The Ministry has released a notice warning that hydropower developers must 'put ecology first' and pay strict attention to the impact of their projects on local rivers and communities.

Dams can put a serious strain on local geology and communities.  They can also lead to larger and more widespread damage, such as damaging the natural water table level. The building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt, for example,  led to many of its ancient monuments being damaged as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from ‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level.

The Chinese Ministry has ordered that all residents are fully informed and play a role in the decision-making process, and have stressed that building dams in protected zones remains prohibited.

Posted by Joseph Hutton