(June 19, 2009) In response to the environment ministry’s suspension of two major hydro projects along the upper Yangtze last week, citizens groups issued a statement with photos, questioning  temporary suspensions and calling for a halt to dam projects along the upper Yangtze (known as Jinsha).

Photos taken after the ministry’s announcement last week indicate that construction at the Ludila and Longkailou dams in Yunnan province continues—despite the ministry’s order. The authors warn that if the dams are not stopped, Yangtze fish species —already under pressure from previous hydro development—will find their habitats diminished and damaged even further.

“If today’s over-development of hydro [in the Jinsha valley] is not stopped,” the authors write, “many unique and rare fish species will be destroyed, spectacular canyons will be lost, farmland and gardens tilled for generations will be flooded. . . . who should be responsible for the destruction of nature? Who should be responsible for the waste of public funds?”

The statement also expresses concern about building such large-scale dams in the geologically unstable southwest. Some Chinese and international experts believe that dam reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS) may have contributed to the severity of last year’s deadly Sichuan earthquake.

Companies building dams on the Jinsha should disclose information to the public and implement an impartial and participatory review process, in accordance with state laws, the authors say. In doing so, the public should be able to review environmental impact assessments for dam projects before construction.

“No preparation work or construction activities such as road building, power/water supply and diversion tunnel construction [should be] allowed before the EIA report gets approved, in order to avoid spending funds on the preparation work and prevent the environmental impact from occurring,” say the authors.

The statement was signed by 16 environmental groups across China, including Beijing-based Friends of Nature and the Chengdu Urban Rivers Association in Sichuan province, as well as 20 individuals, including community-based volunteers, farmers in Jinsha valley, entrepreneurs, journalists, and ecologists. A large portion of the response was posted on the New Beijing News (Xinjing bao) without attaching the photos or listing the NGOs and individuals who signed it.

On June 11, China’s environment ministry ordered the country’s two largest state-owned power companies to stop construction of  two major hydro projects after discovering they had ‘illegally’ started construction without completing an environmental assessment.

The two dam projects are in Lijiang county, Yunnan province, and are owned by Huaneng and Huadian, respectively. The dams have blocked the middle Jinsha River since last January in violation of the country’s environmental regulations.

The cost of the two suspended projects is US$4.39 billion (30 billion yuan).

A string of eight hydro projects are planned for the middle reaches of the Jinsha River at an estimated cost of US$29.3 billion (200 billion yuan). If completed, the entire cascade would have an installed generating capacity of 20,580 MW—nearly equivalent to the Three Gorges’ final capacity.

The first four dam projects in the middle Jinsha cascade—Longpan, Liangjiaren, Liyuan, and Ahai—are 33 percent owned by Huadian, 23 percent by Huaneng, 23 percent by Datang, 11 percent by Hanneng, and 10 percent by Yunnan Development and Investment Limited.

The 2,300-kilometre Jinsha  flows from Yushu in Qinghai province to Yibin in Sichuan province.

Background

Dam building along rivers in the southwestern province of Yunnan accelerated after the national power industry was restructured in 2002. At that time, China’s State Council broke the State Power Corporation into five power generation corporations, each a publicly traded state owned enterprise: China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Huaneng Group, China Power Investment Corporation, and China Datang Corporation.

The State Council then gave each corporation development rights on major watersheds, which critics say encouraged the power companies to stake their claim by rushing ahead with dam construction, disregarding environmental and public safety concerns.

Besides the Big Five corporations, as they are known in China, the Three Gorges Corporation is a sixth power company under the State Council which holds development rights to the 564-kilometre  Jinsha river (upper Yangtze) in Yunnan province.

China Huaneng—via its subsidiary Yunnan Huaneng Lancang Company—holds the development rights to the 1,227-kilometre Lancang river (Upper Mekong) in Yunnan province.

China Huadian—via its subsidiary Yunnan Huadian Nujiang Company—holds the development rights to the Nujiang river (Upper Salween) in Yunnan province.

All dam projects larger than 250 MW must be approved by the country’s top economic planning agency, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, at both provincial and national levels. In theory, the environment ministry has the authority to cancel projects approved by NDRC if  projects fail to meet the ministry’s standards.

Grainne Ryder and Brady Yauch, June 19, 2009

Read the letter

Further Reading:

New Yangtze dam may be death sentence for rare fish

Ecology and economy cross swords at Shangri-La