(November 17, 2006) Plans to build a hydropower station on a sacred Tibetan lake in western China were abandoned last week, with the authorities deciding that developing the local tourist industry could turn out to be more profitable, but if the central government continues to encourage mining throughout its remote western regions, it will also need to build the infrastructure required to draw in investors.
Three Gorges and the environment
(November 15, 2006) Dai Qing at Sanwei Bookstore in Beijing
China’s rare river dolphin now extinct, experts announce
(November 14, 2006) The rare Chinese river dolphin has gone extinct, according to scientists who could not find a single one of the animals during a six-week search on China’s Yangtze River.
Power station plan at SW China scenic spot sparks controversy
(November 14, 2006) Plans to build a hydropower station in a national scenic spot in southwest China have fired a debate on the precedence of economic development over natural conservation.
China environment dangerous, says official
(November 13, 2006) The degradation of China’s environment was reaching a critical point where health and social stability are under threat, the country’s top government official on the environment said today.
China to begin construction of another hydropower plant on Yangtze River
(November 4, 2006) China will begin working on another hydropower station on Yalong River, a major tributary on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, this month.
Water quality remains sound at Three Gorges Dam area
(November 1, 2006) Little water pollution has been detected at the Three Gorges Dam area since the water level of the gigantic dam reached the 156-meter mark on Friday, the latest monitoring reports show.
Multinational corporations in China blacklisted for pollution
(November 1, 2006) A pollution blacklist has been issued by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, a Chinese NGO.
Three Gorges generating units pass full generation capacity test
(October 30, 2006) Fourteen generating units of the Three Gorges Project, the world’s largest hydropower plant, have passed a 72-hour full operating capacity test, an official in charge of the project said on Sunday.
Seismologists: further destructive earthquakes in China city unlikely
(October 30, 2006) Seismologists in central China’s Hubei province have ruled out the possibility of a stronger quake jolting Suizhou city, which was hit Friday by an earthquake measuring 4.7 degrees on the Richter scale.
Pollution threatens China’s oldest hydropower station
(October 30, 2006) Water pollution is threatening China’s oldest hydropower station — built nearly a century ago — and has forced it to halt operation several times.
Experts: Dongting Lake to disappear after a century
Changsha: Dongting Lake, the second biggest freshwater lake in China, will completely disappear from the earth because of accumulated silt after a century, experts have warned.
Crackdown drives illegal logging to neighboring nations
Beijing: Upon determining that deforestation was to blame for devastating flooding by the Yangtze River in 1998, which killed 2,500 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, China promptly enacted an aggressive package of measures aimed at protecting its existing forest growth, rehabilitating distressed areas and reclaiming forests that had been converted to farmland.
Quakes jolt Three Gorges area as huge reservoir fills
(October 29, 2006) The strongest earthquake to hit China’s Hubei province in two decades shook an area near the Three Gorges dam on Oct. 27, the same day the project’s rising reservoir reached the 2006 target of 156 metres above sea level.
Chinese government will continue supporting big hydropower: expert
(October 28, 2006) China is unlikely to turn its back on the massive and largely unexploited hydropower potential despite a number of recent controversies and setbacks, an expert with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Tuesday.
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