Thoughts on ecological flow guarantee and management for existing water conservancy and hydropower projects in the Yangtze River Basin

Liu Zhaoxiao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-1123.2024.21.007

Abstract：Ensuring ecological flow for rivers and lakes is important for maintaining the ecosystem vitality and restoring the ecological environments of rivers and lakes,and it is an important content to implementing the Xi Jinping thought on eco-civilization. Water conservancy and hydropower projects play an important role in water resource allocation,ensuring ecological flows,and restoring the ecological environment of rivers and lakes. Based on the analysis of the achievements and challenges in ecological flow management for key rivers and lakes within the Yangtze River basin,this paper identifies major issues in ecological flow assurance and management of constructed water conservancy and hydropower projects,such as difficulties in defining targets,inconsistent understanding of ecological flows,and insufficient monitoring capabilities.Taking a problem-oriented approach,with the goal of ensuring ecological flow,and by means of strengthening the dispatching of water conservancy and hydropower projects,a general ideato further promote the ecological flow guarantee and management of constructed water conservancy and hydropower projects is put forward:basin-wide coordination,systematic advancement,localized measures,zoning and classification,problem-oriented improvements,and departmental collaboration to create synergy. Focusing on aspects such as ecological flow target verification,monitoring and early warning,discharge facility improvement,unified dispatching,inter-departmental coordination,and funding assurance,countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to further enhance ecological flow assurance and management for constructed projects,aiming to support the health of river and lake ecosystems in the basin and to promote high-quality water conservancy development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.