“Dams and Sustainability in China”
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, China Environmental Forum
July 26,2011, 9-11 am
Webcast available here: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/dams-and-sustainability-china
Featuring:
Wang Hao, China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Chinese Academy of Engineering, researcher for key projects in the past few Five Year Plans
Doug Smith, Sustainability expert, International Hydropower Association
Desiree Tullos, Oregon State University
Hydropower is a huge part of China’s energy industry, and it is still rapidly growing. Wang Hao is an expert on dams and gave five case studies of Chinese hydropower stations: the Three Gorges project, the Yellow River project, the Ertan Dam in Sichuan, the Ziping Dam, and the Pearl River Delta projects.
He discussed the benefits of each dam, including the 74.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions saved from the electricity generated at the Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the world, and the successful drought control of the Yellow River dams. The Pearl River Delta projects provide drinking water for 15 million people.
Wang also mentioned the improvements in sustainability measures taken at many of these dams, particularly the Yellow River dam project, which had previously been unsuccessful at protecting riparian agriculture and ecology. In fact, the current damming of the Yellow River has improved local ecology by restoring water flow upstream, while the Ertan Reservoir in Sichuan has received awards for its attention to the environment
In the case of the Ziping Dam, the concrete rock-faced dam withstood the recent 8.0-magnitude Sichuan earthquake and protected the reservoir for a downstream population of 10 million and for relief efforts.
After presenting these case studies, Wang outlined the need for hydropower stations in China. He said there are five reasons China needs dams: to produce electricity, to reduce emissions, to provide energy security, to provide water security, and to prevent or relieve national disasters such as floods and droughts. China’s hydropower output and potential is still lower than that of developed nations in terms of percentage of power mix, and thus new dam projects are necessary.
In conclusion, he touched upon the necessity of being more sensitive to displaced communities and ecological preservation.
Smith then presented the International Hydropower Association’s Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, a comprehensive way in which to grade a dam based over twenty points including economic performance, social utility, environmental friendliness, and governance issues. The protocol was developed by representatives from many sectors from the IHA’s eighty member countries, hydropower associations, companies, and other organizations. IHA performed a trial protocol test in 2009 in Hubei province and found the dam to meet requirements on sustainability and environmental standards but to lack some institutional oversight.
“The protocol assessment provides a synthesis of information on very complex facilities and complex sustainability issues into a concise analysis that can start a dialogue with stakeholders,” Smith said.
Tullos presented a different aspect to the dam debate in discussing transnational and stakeholder decision-making. She emphasizes that “size matters” in the effect a dam has on the environment and on people. She cited the case of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and an enormously important source of fish and other sustenance for Cambodians.
Damming upstream in China and elsewhere has huge consequences on this ecological hotspot, but Cambodians have no input on the decision-making process. Local communities in China also have stakes in the construction and operation of a dam but no representation in decision-making.
Studies have shown that smaller stakeholders, like NGOs or community members, prefer the construction of smaller dams, defined traditionally as having an output of under 10 MW, and governments and corporations prefer larger dams. Still, she said, there is not enough dialogue between these groups to make appropriate decisions.
“We now have a reasonable understanding of what’s desirable in dams, what is lacking might be the political and economic decision-making power,” Tullos concluded.
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