China's controversial dam project gets big boost

China's controversial dam project gets big boost
Michael Wines, New York Times
Friday, December 30, 2011

Beijing --

The Chinese State Council has removed a crucial roadblock to building one of the nation's most controversial hydroelectric dams, dealing a decisive defeat to the project's environmental critics.

In a little-noticed ruling made public Dec. 14, the council approved changes to the boundaries of a Yangtze River preserve that is home to many of the river's rare and endangered fish species. The effect of the decision is to clear the way for construction of the Xiaonanhai Dam, a $3.8 billion, project that environmental experts say will flood the preserve and probably wipe out many species.

The Xiaonanhai Dam cannot be started until the Chinese Environment Ministry approves an assessment of the dam's impact, which critics say should back experts' predictions that the fish reserve will be wiped out. But the State Council's decision to adjust the reserve boundaries strongly suggests that a favorable assessment has been predetermined, some environmental experts said in interviews.

Chinese environmental groups and the Nature Conservancy have waged a long battle against the Xiaonanhai Dam, one of 19 that are proposed or under construction on the upper reaches of the Yangtze. The dams will turn the river from a swift-running stream into a series of large, slow-moving lakes.

The projects are part of a frenetic and much-criticized rush into hydroelectric power by the Chinese government.