(March 27, 2002) Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po, which has ties to the Communist Party, reports that a government environmental review of the Nu River dam project recommends building four dams instead of the 13 originally planned.

(Excerpt)

Beijing: A government environmental review has recommended reducing the number of dams included in a controversial hydropower proposal on the Nu River in southwestern China in order to limit environmental damage and decrease the number of people who would be resettled, a Hong Kong newspaper has reported.

The newspaper, Wen Wei Po, which has ties to the Communist Party, reported on Wednesday that the recommendation called for 4 dams instead the 13 in the original Nu proposal. The article, citing an unnamed source close to the governmental review, said fewer dams would still meet “the needs for economic development and environmental protection.”

The project has been delayed for nearly two years, and it will now be presented to the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful government ministry, and later to the State Council, or China’s cabinet.

The New York Times, March 27, 2002