According to a Bangkok Post report, the 1500 MW Jinghong Dam in Yunnan Province, an Asian Development Bank-supported project designed to supply electricity to neighbouring Thailand, has been halted because of dwindling demand in that country.

Thailand’s National Energy Policy Office (NEPO), recently informed Yunnan that it will not be able to purchase Jinghong power until after 2010 — a delay which has put the fate of the entire dam in question since the entire project hinges on power sales to Thailand.

The Jinghong project is located on the Lancang River near Jinghong City, about 300 kilometres north of Chiang Rai, the area of Thailand which was set to receive the power.

(ii) New Forest Plan to Prevent Floods

[TGP, 11/98] A massive afforestation programme is being introduced in China’s Yangtze and Yellow River valleys as part of renewed efforts to thwart disastrous floods, according to a Xinhua story.

The plan aims to double the forest coverage in the upper reaches of both regions over the span of the next 30 years. Currently, the tree coverage is about 22.1 per cent in the upper Yangtze River and 10.1 per cent around the Yellow River.

Beijing’s interest in forestry conservation has grown since the devastating floods that swept the Chinese country this past summer, particularly along the Yangtze River.

(iii) Shift in Water Management

[TGP, 11/98] In an attempt to manage their water supplies, global development planners have started to supplant efforts of large-scale dams construction with more efficient uses of water resources, says an IPS story.

Faced with depleting fresh water supplies throughout the world, policy makers in many countries have turned their attention to how water resources can be better managed, and productively, according to Peter H. Gleick, author of “The World’s Water 1998-1999 – Biennial Report of Freshwater Resources.”

Gleick, president of the California-based Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, adds that throughout much of this century, most governments and international development agencies have seen mammoth irrigation and hydro-electric dam projects as a panacea to water problems.

Such large projects, however, have spawned serious social and environmental consequences, including the destruction of natural ecosystems and the displacement of large populations. “Large-scale projects can no longer be expected to provide the answer to most water problems,” says the report.

The current economic crisis in Asia and other regions has prompted governments to steer away from costly water projects worth billions of dollars in favour of smaller conservation programmes.

“The need to develop new sources of water supply can be avoided, largely by implementing intelligent water conservation and demand management programmes, installing new efficient equipment, and applying appropriate economic and institutional incentives to shift water among users,” says the report.

The type of projects currently being pursued include shallow wells, low-cost pumps, water-conserving land management methods and “rain water harvesting.”

(iv) Green Group Disbanded in Capital

[TGP, 11/98] Authorities in Beijing recently disbanded an environment and development organization, accusing it of being an illegal operation, says an AFP story.

The Beijing branch of the Hong Kong-registered group, China Development Union (CDU), was asked to close its doors by the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau because it is not officially registered with the city’s agency handling association.

Comprised of 21 members, the CDU in Beijing was devoted to promoting development and “ecological civilization” in China. “We agreed not to do anything more in the name of the CDU but we will continue our activities on a personal basis,” said Peng Ming, an activist with the organization.

Three Gorges Probe welcomes submissions. However, it is not a forum for political debate. Rather, Three Gorges Probe is dedicated to covering the scientific, technical, economic, social, and environmental ramifications of completing the Three Gorges Project, as well as the alternatives to the dam.

Publisher: Patricia Adams Executive Editor: Mu Lan ISSN 1481-0913