China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat
www.scmp.com
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.

  • gueybana [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    15·
    15 days ago

    Dams can have downstream environmental impacts, among them are changes in water flow and water quality from the wild fluctuations in temperature. The river in question is one of the 10 largest in the world and it feeds into an even larger system

    This dam has been a topic I’ve heard discussed a few times among people I know and I tend to feel like an idiot for not having a response because this does sound like a pretty big deal.

    It could just be scare mongering from rightists I’m hearing. Maybe China has somehow found an appropriate environmental management plan. My OP sounded confrontational but I’m honestly concerned by this and I was hoping someone with more knowledge of the Chinese side of thinking give me some insight.

    Edit: I almost forgot, I’m literally in a thread celebrating the destruction of dams by China for good reason.