How to correctly understand the impacts of hydro—power construction on ecological environment

Hydro-energy is different as the vast majority of other energies in that its development is not just the development and utilization of an energy， but usually also a comprehensive development and utilization of water resource. This realization is the premise of our correct understanding of the hydro-power construction.

The one that really affects the ecological environment is not hydro-power， but reservoirs

The criticism are often heard that hydro-power development does damage to the ecological environment. A careful analysis will reveal that the impact of the so-called "Eco- environmental impact of hydro-power "， is not necessarily caused by hydro-power itself， but by large reservoirs. Unfortunately， with current technology， the most important way to adjust the spatial and temporal distribution of water， while addressing the problem of water storage and discharge is to build large reservoirs， storing flood and turning the water which brought damage to the one which is beneficial. However， this requires a certain land occupation， thus changing the ecological functions of some areas. Relatively speaking， the build of reservoir changes the original land to water. During this process， the original natural ecological environment is changed to wetland ecological environment. In the short term， it may influence the ecological environment to some extent， however， in the long run， it is in line with the development of ecological civilization .

The development of water resources is more important than the development of hydropower

At present， China's hydro-power development and construction， is not only to meet the demand of electric energy， but to a large extent， the need for regulation of water resources. In fact， the development of water resources is more significant than the development of hydro-power. The latter is to meet the needs for development while the former is for survival. If only judging from the electricity generating function， China's hydro-power development also seems an option which is possibly substituted. However， from the view of uniqueness of the current human society to solve the contradiction of spatial and temporal distribution of water resources， China 's large-scale hydro-power development is an inevitable choice.

In many cases， in order to build some important reservoirs and to ensure their safety， even if it is not working economically， we also have to carry out the hydro-power development. Because the regulation of water resource is a social welfare， which largely depends on the hydro-power development to function well.

The construction of the Three Gorges Project symbolizes the civilization of society

Sometimes， the role of hydro-power is more about regulating water resource， which is essential to human society， than about generating electricity， which is considered an added bonus. For example， the Three Gorges Project is a large reservoir project which must be built for flood control and water supply purpose. If not for this purpose， we can adopt multi-level development， for example， to build ten hydro-power stations similar to Gezhouba Hydro-power Station （ basically no reservoir built） to generate electricity only. In that case， the total generating capacity can reach almost the same， while a series of ecological impacts， such as so-called "Migrating a large number of residents， flooding large areas of land，" normally will not exist. However， why can not we adopt a multi-level method to develop the Three Gorges Project？ Because the primary goal of building the Three Gorges Project is for flood control and water supply purpose， rather than electricity generating. To achieve this goal of flood control and water supply， it is necessary to build an extreme large reservoir as the Three Gorges.

From the perspective of ecological civilization of human beings， the construction of large reservoirs based on science， is the most significant ecological and environmental protection measures conducive to the survival and development of human society rather than destroying the ecology system. We believe that the large reservoirs do “more good than harm” on ecological environment， the fundamental reason of which lies in that the development and evolution of human society itself is a kind of civilization with more good than harm.