Discussion on establishing and perfecting the whole-process supervision system for ecological flow in small hydropower stations

XU Chengbo; CHEN Huatang

doi:10.3969/i.issn.1000-1123.2025.11.008

Abstract：Small hydropower is an internationally recognized clean and renewable energy source.Currently,China has built over 41,000 rural small hydropower stations.These stations have long played a positive role in ensuring electricity supply for rural production and daily life,protecting forest resources,securing emergency power supply,promoting regional economic development,and contributing to the achievement of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.In some regions,due to irregularities in the construction,development,and supervision of small hydropower stations,water-retaining structures have led to non-compliance in ecological flow releases,adversely affecting river ecosystems.Strengthening the supervision of ecological flow in small hydropower stations and promoting the implementation of ecological flow releases are crucial for improving river ecological environments.This paper analyzes the current status of ecological flow supervision in small hydropower stations and identifies deficiencies in ecological flow release,including the need for further standardization in ecological flow calculation and release design,the necessity to enhance ecological flow monitoring and supervision,and the urgent requirement to establish a comprehensive supervision and evaluation mechanism.Problem-oriented strategies are proposed,such as enhancing policy and technical guidance for ecological flow supervision,standardizing ecological flow calculation and release design,perfecting real-time monitoring systems,and establishing a long-term incentive mechanism for performance evaluation,to provide references for more effective ecological flow supervision in small hydropower stations.