China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat
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Scientists hope the sturgeon known as the Yangtze’s last giant and other rare species may return to their breeding grounds as a result.

China has demolished 300 dams and shut down most of the small hydropower stations on a major tributary of the upper Yangtze River to safeguard fish populations as part of an effort to restore the ecology of Asia’s longest waterway.

According to a report by the state news agency Xinhua on Monday, 300 of the 357 dams on Chishui He – also known as the Red River – had been dismantled by the end of December 2024. In addition, 342 out of 373 small hydropower stations have been decommissioned, enabling many rare fish species to resume their natural reproductive cycles, the Xinhua report said.

The Red River flows for more than 400km (249 miles) through the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. It is regarded by ecologists as the last refuge for rare and endemic fish species in the Yangtze’s upper reaches.

Over the decades, water flows have been increasingly blocked by the dense network of hydropower stations and dams, restricting water volumes downstream and occasionally even causing some sections to dry up entirely.

This has drastically reduced the amount of suitable habitat and spawning grounds. The stations also blocked the routes of migratory fish species between breeding grounds and non-breeding areas.

    • Carl [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      24·
      16 days ago

      They’re probably referring to the Medog Hydropower Station, which has attracted a lot of attention because the river flows into India, which means that there are international consequences for the development. The Chinese gov has done their usual above-market compensation of people affected by plans, but it has nevertheless attracted protests from the affected population. There are also environmental concerns, prompted by the massive potential impact of the build, which will have three times the generative capacity of the Three Gorges Dam.

      Personally I’m inclined to think that the international outrage is overblown as usual with China, and that the dam will bring far more good than bad.

      • gueybana [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
        6·
        16 days ago

        I hope that it’s just the usual China scare I hear from people but

        that the dam will bring far more good than bad.

        ie far more good for people I care about than those I kind of don’t

        Edit:

        The Chinese gov has done their usual above-market compensation of people affected by plans

        This is what I’m interested in. Do you have any sources on this?

        which has attracted a lot of attention because the river flows into India

        This river flows through Bhutan, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh, and merges with the Ganges.

        • Carl [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          8·
          16 days ago
          The Chinese gov has done their usual above-market compensation of people affected by plans

          This is what I’m interested in. Do you have any sources on this?

          Looking closer into this, I found some they said/but THEY said discourse going on in the UN. The UN claims that locals were not adequately warned or given democratic say in the dam’s construction, but the Chinese UN office responded by saying that they did. Neither letter cites a source for their claims.

          Here’s an interesting paper on how China handles dam resettlement, especially since 2006 when it seems the government decided that their historical policies had been inadequate and changed how they did it. In specific they created a fund - established by an about 1% tax on electricity from hydroelectric dams - which was then used to make improvements for resettled rural communities (urban resettlers were left to the already-established urban welfare policies).

          The PRS Plans involved both direct support and social investment. Cash payments of 600 Yuan per year (about 90 USD) were made to each resettled person for 20 years. The ICEDP was intended to focus on the long-term development of resettled and host communities. It aimed at: (1) improving irrigation for farmland production; (2) constructing infrastructure including communications, electricity, transport, and social welfare; (3) improving the ecological environment and increasing environment protection; (4) providing skills and career training; and (5) undertaking projects to enhance the profitable productive activities of all people in the resettled and host communities.

          It sounds to me like other Chinese poverty-alleviation programs - a little cash (I don’t know how far 90 USD goes in rural China but it doesn’t seem like much) but mostly being focused on infrastructure improvements and connection to the national economy.

          (I also saw a story in a state paper where a Tibetan talked about how great his two story government-issued house is, but it seems this story is talking about a different anti poverty program and the propaganda is a little heavy-handed.)