China’s Policy on Dams at the Crossroads: Removal or Further Construction?

Abstract

During the past century, the number and scale of reservoirs worldwide has grown substantially to meet the demand for water and hydropower arising from increased population, industrialization, and urbanization. This is particularly the case in China, where reservoir construction increased rapidly after the Chinese economic reform and the introduction of open-door policies. On average, 4.4 large reservoirs with a capacity greater than 0.1 km 3 were constructed per annum during the 1970s-1990s. This average reached 11.8 such reservoirs per annum in the 2000s. Considering the adverse impact of dams on rivers and riparian communities, various environmentalists and non-governmental organizations in China have begun to protest against the construction of dams. Now China's policy on dams is at a crossroads: Removal or further construction? In this paper, we systematically assess the construction of reservoirs in China and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of large-scale reservoir projects on several major rivers in China: The Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Mekong River. Lastly, we provide a perspective on the future of reservoir development in China, taking into account natural conditions, renewable hydropower resources, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Role of Large Dams in Promoting Economic Development under the Pressure of Population Growth

“…This is consistent with the results of R 2 values (Table 3), which indicated that the correlation of the GDP data with reservoir capacity was higher than that with the number of large dams. In addition, there has been a boom in dam construction since Chinese economic system reform and the introduction of open-door policies in the 1970s [38,39]. According to the study of Miao et al, on average 4.4 reservoirs with a reservoir capacity larger than 0.1 km 3 were constructed per annum during the 1970s-1990s, and the pace of construction accelerated after 2000, with an average of 11.8 such reservoirs constructed per annum in the 2000s [38].…”

“…In addition, there has been a boom in dam construction since Chinese economic system reform and the introduction of open-door policies in the 1970s [38,39]. According to the study of Miao et al, on average 4.4 reservoirs with a reservoir capacity larger than 0.1 km 3 were constructed per annum during the 1970s-1990s, and the pace of construction accelerated after 2000, with an average of 11.8 such reservoirs constructed per annum in the 2000s [38]. The increasing rate of the reservoir capacity was 22.42 km 3 per annum after 2000, which was nearly twice as much as that before 2000 (i.e., with a rate of 12.44 km 3 per annum) (see Figure 4b).…”

“…Therefore, it is concluded that the economic development represented by the GDP data was closely related to the construction of large dams (and related reservoirs and hydropower stations), although the casual relationship between them was still unclear and difficult to be teased out. Nevertheless, since the construction of large dams (and related reservoirs and hydropower stations) can help to meet the increasing demands of water, food, and energy, which are all important factors in promoting economic growth, it is believed that large dams (and related reservoirs and hydropower stations) can contribute to the economic development to a certain extent [38]. Thirdly, this study further investigates the situation illustrating how the presence of large dams has affected the economic development, taking China as a case study.…”

Environmental Impacts of Dams Around the World

“…In general, the world went from having 9,056 large dams in 1960 to accounting for more than 32,500 in 2010 (World Bank, 2013). However, other sources assert that during the 20th century more than 47,000 large dams and 800,000 small dams were built around the planet (Richter and Thomas, 2007;WCD, 2000), highlighting Asia as the continent with the most dams (World Bank, 2013), especially due to China's hydroelectric development (Miao et al, 2015).…”

Changes in the flow regimes associated with climate change and human activities in the Yangtze River

“…In the past several decades, the river's streamflow has changed greatly due to climate change and intensive human activities (Dai, Chu, Du, Stive, & Hong, ; Zhao et al, ). The Yangtze River was blocked by the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in 2003, which had dramatic impacts on the downstream hydrologic regimes and ecological processes (Miao, Borthwick, Liu, & Liu, ; Yang et al, ). On the basis of dam construction, Gao et al (), Wang, Rhoads, and Wang (), and Wang et al () used IHA and ecoflow metrics to evaluate hydrologic alteration in the upper Yangtze River; Duan, Guo, Wang, and Liu () and Yu, Wang, Wang, Hou, and Qian () investigated streamflow changes in the Yangtze River, except the middle reach, using IHA and range of variability approach (RVA); Jiang, Ban, Wang, and Cai () assessed the hydrologic alteration along the whole reaches of the Yangtze River below the TGD with IHA and RVA.…”