Environmental Impact
Statement for the Yangtze Three Gorges Project
 CTGPC
Office Building
Jointly by
The Environmental Impact Assessment Department,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Research Institute for Protection of Yangtze Water
Resources
Project Legal Entity
China Yangtze Three Gorges Development Corporation
Responsible Editor: Wu Yintai
Copyright (c) 1995 by Science Press Published by
Science Press 16 Donghuangchenggen North Street Beijing 100717, China
1. Introduction
1.1 History of Research Efforts
The Yangtze Three Gorges Project (hereafter referred to as the Three Gorges Project or
the Project) is located in Xiling Gorge of the Three Gorges reaches of the Yangtze River
mainstream, with the Dam at Sandouping in Yichang County, Hubei Province, about 40km
upstream from the existing Gezhouba Project. The Three Gorges Project is the backbone
project for the developing and harnessing of the Yangtze River, and it will result in a
great deal of comprehensive benefits, such as effectively controlling the floods,
generating powerful electricity, and improving the navigation condition. It will also,
however, exert far-reaching and profound impacts on the environment, which has brought
ecological and environmental concerns both at home and abroad. For a long time in the
past, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CWRC) [previously known as the Yangtze
Valley Planning Office (YVPO)] of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS), and other associated departments, research institutes, universities and
colleges have done a lot of early stage research works, and proposed a series of relevant
research reports or appraisal on the ecological and environmental impacts of the Project
during the study on the feasibility and the alternatives for the Project.
As early as in the 1950s, CWRC began to study some of the environmental issues
associated with the Project, such as backwater effects, the impacts of human activities on
runoff, reservoir bank stability, seismology, sedimentation, biota, reservoir impoundment
and resettlement, natural focal diseases, and endemic diseases in the process of compiling
"The Report on the Key Points of the Yangtze Valley Planning" and "The
Report on the Key Points of the Preliminary Design of the Three Gorges Project", and
the preliminary findings were included. Meanwhile, some research institutes of the CAS
also carried out a lot of basic studies on geology, geography, climate, hydrology,
resources, environment, humanity, and economy, etc., which also provided an important
basis for further studying the environmental impacts.
Since 1979, the Yangtze - Valley Water Resources Protection Bureau (YVWRPB) has
organized a special team, in cooperation with more than 40 universities and research
institutes in China, to carry out special studies and assessments on the ecological and
environmental impacts of the Project. In 1980, YVWRPB submitted an environmental impact
statement for the 200m normal pool level (NPL) option of the Project, and soon afterwards
implemented the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Project in the feasibility
study stage for 150m NPL option. In March 1983, YVWRPB submitted a report entitled
"The Environmental Impacts of Construction of the Three Gorges Project".
Zhongbao Island, the base of the project at its original scene. It's
no longer existing.
On the basis of the previous works, YVWRPB continued to cooperate with a number of
agencies in carrying out monographic studies on water quality, soil, forest vegetation,
rare and endangered flora, economic flora, wildlife, rare and endangered animal, public
health, schistosomiasis, malaria, etc., and completed "The Environmental Impact
Report for the Three Gorges Project (a 150m NPL option)".
In November 1984, the State Science and Technology Commission (SSTC) held a working
meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on the scientific research of the Three Gorges
Project, and formally approved "The Studies on the Environmental Impact of the Three
Gorges Project and Its Countermeasures" as one of the major components of the
Project's scientific research in early stage, and mandated CAS to take charge of it. Soon
afterwards, CAS organized a special team, consisting of more than 700 scientists and
technical personnel, to conduct the study. The research findings were subsequently
proposed in July 1987, then reviewed by an expert panel appointed by SSTC. These findings
were also published later in the form of monographs, such as "Proceedings of Studies
on the Environmental Impact of the Three Gorges Project", "Studies on the
Environmental Impact of the Three Gorges Project and Its Countermeasures", and
"Atlas of Ecology and Environment for the Three Gorges Project". In the same
year, SSTC and CAS scheduled this subject into "The Nation's Seventh Five Year
Plan", and considered it as one of the major scientific and technical tasks to be
tackled. About 300 scientific and technical personnel were organized to conduct the study.
Finished in January 1991, the study's findings were examined and approved by an expert
panel appointed by SSTC and later published by Sciences Press in the form of series of
monographs entitled " The Three Gorges Project and Ecology/ Environment " (total
8 volumes with about 2.50 million Chinese characters).
In 1985, commissioned by the State Council, the State Planning Commission and SSTC set
up an expert group to implement a further examination and verification on the NPL options
and the environmental impacts for the 150 to 180m NPL options of the Project were also
assessed.
In June 1986, based on the "Circular Concerning the Problems Related to the
Verification of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River" issued jointly by the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, the Three Gorges
Project Verification Steering Group of the former Ministry of Water Resources and Electric
Power set up an expert panel of ecology and environment, consisting of 55 experts from
various fields related to ecology and environment. The panel examined the available
findings, and organized associated agencies, including YVWRPB, CAS, etc., to make
supplementary investigation and verification on specific issues. In January 1988,
"The Verification Report on the Environmental Impact of the Three Gorges Project and
Its Countermeasures" was proposed, and its major conclusions were later incorporated
into "The Feasibility Study Report of the Three Gorges Water Resources Project on the
Yangtze River" compiled by CWRC in May 1989. In March 1991, an expert panel,
entrusted by Reviewing Committee of the State Council for the Three Gorges Project,
pre-reviewed the monograph of ecology and environment and proposed the panel's comments on
the monograph. Then in July, the committee reviewed and approved the assessment findings
in the feasibility study stage.
As many agencies covering a wide range of disciplines have long been engaged in the
study on the ecological and environmental impact of the Three Gorges Project, detailed and
accurate data and information have been accumulated, which laid a solid foundation for
implementing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Project as well as for
compiling the EIA statement.
 Left Bank of
Xiling Yangtze Bridge
1.2 Process of Compilation
Based on the Chinese laws and regulations related to environmental protection for
construction projects, as well as the requirements of the Three Gorges Project Reviewing
Committee of the State Council, the Environmental Impact Assessment Department (EIAD) of
CAS and the Research Institute for Protection of Yangtze Water Resources ( RIPYWR )
jointly compiled " The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Three Gorges
Project on the Yangtze River", namely the parent report of this brief edition. The
process of compiling EIS is as follows
In September 1991, "The Working Outline for Environmental Impact Assessment of the
Yangtze Three Gorges Project" was compiled by EIAD/CAS and RIPYWR and submitted to
the China National Environmental Protection Agency ( NEPA) for approval. One month later,
an expert panel appointed by NEPA reviewed the working outline. Then the formal
examination opinion, "Approving in principle the review opinions of the expert panel
and after making necessary revisions and supplements, the working outline can be used as
the basis for compilation of EIS for the Project", was given by NEPA.
 Construction site
Soon later, on the basis of the previous working achievements for many years, the
EIAD/CAS and RIPYWR organized dozens of experts who had long been engaged in the relevant
studies, to compile EIS for the Project successively in Wuhan and Chengdu. In December
1991, EIS for reviewing was finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources
(MWR ) for pre-reviewing. In the same month, MWR organized an expert panel, consisting of
nationally well-known experts in the fields of environment, ecology, hydraulics,
economics, etc., some of whom are the academicians of CAS, to review the submitted EIS.
After careful examination, the panel made their comments on the revision and
supplementation of EIS. Afterwards, following MWR's pre-reviewing comments, EIS was
revised and then formally reported to NEPA for approval. In February 1992, a special team
consisting of nationally well-known experts, professors and scholars was organized by NEPA
to review EIS. Based on reviewing comments given by the team, NEPA formally approved EIS
for the Three Gorges Project.
This brief edition is abstracted from the approved "The Environmental Impact
Statement for the Yangtze Three Gorges Project". Meanwhile, to keep pace with the
progress in the early stage's work on the Three Gorges Project, as suggested and
recommended by the related agencies and experts, the relevant information used in the
brief edition was quoted from the "Report on Preliminary Design of the Three Gorges
Project on the Yangtze River", which was examined and approved by the Three Gorges
Project Construction Committee of the State Council in July 1993.
 Another world
1.3 Scope, Hierarchic System, and
Methodology of Assessment
1.3. 1 Scope of assessment
Based on the Project's functions, characteristics, possible flow regime alteration of
the Yangtze River to be caused by the Project, and the difference of environment in the
regions to be affected by the Project, the scope of assessment was defined and divided as
follows
i) The Three Gorges Reservoir Area: Covering the reservoir impounded area, and the area
involving resettlement.
ii) The Middle and Lower Reaches and Vicinity Area: Covering the section downstream
from the dam to Jiangyin in Jiangsu Province, the Dongting Lake area, the Poyang Lake
area, the four-lake area in Hubei Province, etc. The hydrological regimes in these areas
are generally only slightly altered while it will be greatly changed during the period of
reservoir retaining floods.
iii) The Estuary Area: Covering the section downstream from Jiangyin in Jiangsu
Province to the river mouth and coastal areas, a mixing area of fresh water and salt
water.
Considering the impact of upper basin soil erosion on the siltation in the reservoir,
and the relation between the Project and the construction of water conservancy works and
the shelter forest system in the upper and middle reaches, as well as the impacts of
salinity variation in the estuary area on the coastal areas, the scope of assessment is
also adequately extended to both the upper-stream basin and the near shore area.
1.3.2 Hierarchic system of assessment
Based on the characteristics of environmental impact of the Three Gorges Project and
the requirements for prediction and assessment, the system to be assessed is divided into
the following four tiers in a hierarchy (see Tab. 1-1)
Environmental factors
Environmental components
Environmental sub-systems
Overall environment
1 . 3. 3 Methodology of assessment
The major methods used for the environmental impact assessment of the Three Gorges
Project are as follows
i) Monitoring, field survey, remote sensing, collecting long series of historical data,
etc. , were mainly used for the investigation of the environmental background.
ii) Quantitative or qualitative prediction methods were used for different
environmental factors depending on their characteristics, variation extent, as well as the
features and regularities of the impacts of the Project. For measurable factors,
mathematics models were applied to predict the impacts on hydrological regime,
precipitation, air temperature, wind and fog, the impacts of variation in the reservoir's
diffusion capability and reoxygenation capability on water quality, the impacts on water
temperature in the reservoir and downstream the dam, the impacts on siltation in the
reservoir and scouring of the river courses downstream the dam, the impact on salinity in
the estuarine area, etc. , based on a large amount of data from observation, and
identification of models and parameters.
iii) For factors difficult to be measured, analogy analysis or mechanism analysis was
generally adopted for qualitative analysis. For example, the possibility of oncomelania
diffusion, and the impacts on fishes and terrestrial vertebrate were analyzed and
predicted using an ecological mechanism analysis; the impact on landscapes was analyzed
and predicted using methods such as qualitative description, computer simulation for the
water level and the landscape pictures.
iv) By comparing the predicted results with relevant standards or threshold values, the
features, magnitude, and significance of the impacts were analyzed and assessed.
v ) Finally, an assessment was made, and mitigative measures and countermeasures were
recommended for the negative impacts.
1.4 The Laws, Regulations and Agencies Related to Environmental Protection
1 .4. 1 The laws and regulations related to environmental protection
The article 26 of "The Constitution of the People's Republic of China" states
that the nation protects and improves living environment and ecological environment,
prevents pollution and other public hazards. The nation, following it, has enacted a
series of laws and regulations, which involve specific stipulations for environmental
protection in resources exploitation activities.
The laws and regulations abided by in the environmental impact assessment of the
Project mainly include
Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China;
Water Law of the People's Republic of China;
Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China;
Land Management Law of the People's Republic of China;
Fishery Law of the People's Republic of China;
Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People's Republic of China;
Forest Law of the People's Republic of China;
Water and Soil Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China;
River Course Management Regulations of the People's Republic of China;
Regulations on the Compensations to
Land Taking-over and Resettlement for Construction of Medium and Large Scale
Hydroelectric Projects;
Management Procedures for Environmental Protection in Construction Projects.
 TGP Expressway
1 .4.2 Agencies for environmental protection
NEPA is the administrative authority for environmental protection of the People's
Republic of China; while MWR is the water administrative authority of the People's
Republic of China, with the responsibility on unified management of water resources
exploitation, utilization, and protection
There are also corresponding agencies in each province, autonomous region or
municipality, with their responsibilities for environmental protection or water management
within respective jurisdictions. The grass-roots agencies of both departments have been
established down to the county level.
Chapter 2 Objectives and Scenario
Alternatives of the Project
Chapter 3 Project Description
Chapter 4 Environmental Background
Chapter 5 Assessment of Impacts on the Natural Environment
Chapter 6 Assessment of Impacts on the Social Environment
Chapter 7 Environmental Issues of Public Concerns
Chapter 8 Public Participation
Chapter 9 environmental and Ecological Monitoring and
Management System
Chapter 10 Funds for Environmental Protection
Chapter 11 Conclusions, Countermeasures and Suggestions
Postscript
Relating topics:
Formation of the Yangtze Gorges
and Construction of the Key Water Control Project (1)
Three Gorges Dam
Scheduled to Block Up in November 2002
TGP - Power for Today and Tomorrow, An Article by the
Constructor
Three Gorges Project (TGP)
Brief Introduction to the Three Gorge Project Construction
Why China Wants to Build the Three Gorges Dam
Report on Environmental Impact of the TGP
Savages
(Wildman) in Yangtze Three Gorges (1)
Savages
(Wildman) in Yangtze Three Gorges (2)
Savages
(Wildman) in Yangtze Three Gorges (3)
Monkeys Cries in Ancient
Poems about the Yangtze Three Gorges (1)
Monkeys Cries in Ancient
Poems about the Yangtze Three Gorges (2)
Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium
Baiji Dolphin (lipotes
vexillifer) - Population and Habitat Viability Assessment
Gezhouba Dam
Some facts about the Gezhouban Dam
How Did the Three Gorges Come into Existence
Yichang |
