A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects
The rapid economic development of river basins depends on the excessive use of water resources. China experienced a rapid development of hydropower projects in the last two decades and thus faces many ecological and environmental issues, especially in ecologically sensitive areas. Environmental flow...
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MDPI AG
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/869 |
| _version_ | 1811218797161349120 |
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| author | Miao Wu Ang Chen Xingnan Zhang Michael E. McClain |
| author_facet | Miao Wu Ang Chen Xingnan Zhang Michael E. McClain |
| author_sort | Miao Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rapid economic development of river basins depends on the excessive use of water resources. China experienced a rapid development of hydropower projects in the last two decades and thus faces many ecological and environmental issues, especially in ecologically sensitive areas. Environmental flow is an important management tool that requires attention in the environmental impact assessment of hydropower projects. Environmental flows are of great significance for maintaining river structures and protecting the health of both aquatic ecosystems and human sustainable livelihoods. Although the government authorities have done much work in this area and attempted to consider technical requirements to address the negative externalities of hydropower projects, there are still defects in the basic procedures, calculation methods, and ultimately implementation process from policy to operationalization in terms of environmental flows. The official standards for environmental flows assessment mainly appear in two documents: 1. specification for calculation of environmental flow in rivers and lakes; and 2. code for calculation ecological flow of hydropower projects. This paper reviewed the overarching framework of the two documents and then summarized their fitness in terms of environmental flows implementation in hydropower projects. The research status of environmental flows and future directions for China were also proposed in this paper. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:15:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e3efa1edccea4c9bacf28e7a9c488a05 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:15:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-e3efa1edccea4c9bacf28e7a9c488a052022-12-22T03:42:30ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-03-0112386910.3390/w12030869w12030869A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower ProjectsMiao Wu0Ang Chen1Xingnan Zhang2Michael E. McClain3College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaYangtze Ecology and Environment Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430062, ChinaCollege of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaDepartment of Water Resources and Ecosystems, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, 2611AX Delft, The NetherlandsThe rapid economic development of river basins depends on the excessive use of water resources. China experienced a rapid development of hydropower projects in the last two decades and thus faces many ecological and environmental issues, especially in ecologically sensitive areas. Environmental flow is an important management tool that requires attention in the environmental impact assessment of hydropower projects. Environmental flows are of great significance for maintaining river structures and protecting the health of both aquatic ecosystems and human sustainable livelihoods. Although the government authorities have done much work in this area and attempted to consider technical requirements to address the negative externalities of hydropower projects, there are still defects in the basic procedures, calculation methods, and ultimately implementation process from policy to operationalization in terms of environmental flows. The official standards for environmental flows assessment mainly appear in two documents: 1. specification for calculation of environmental flow in rivers and lakes; and 2. code for calculation ecological flow of hydropower projects. This paper reviewed the overarching framework of the two documents and then summarized their fitness in terms of environmental flows implementation in hydropower projects. The research status of environmental flows and future directions for China were also proposed in this paper.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/869environmental flowsecological flowchinahydropowerriver ecosystem |
| spellingShingle | Miao Wu Ang Chen Xingnan Zhang Michael E. McClain A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects Water environmental flows ecological flow china hydropower river ecosystem |
| title | A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects |
| title_full | A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects |
| title_fullStr | A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects |
| title_short | A Comment on Chinese Policies to Avoid Negative Impacts on River Ecosystems by Hydropower Projects |
| title_sort | comment on chinese policies to avoid negative impacts on river ecosystems by hydropower projects |
| topic | environmental flows ecological flow china hydropower river ecosystem |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/869 |
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