Publicity of the Draft for Environmental Assessment of Poyang Lake Water Control Project： Insisting on the Mutual Benefits of Rivers and Lakes and Dynamic Regulation
On May 9th, the official website of Jiangxi Provincial Water Resources Department conducted an environmental impact assessment on Poyang Lake Water Control Project, and the public participated in the second information publicity, which lasted within 10 working days from May 9th.
Renderings of Poyang Lake Water Control Project. Image source of this article: Environmental Impact Report of Poyang Lake Water Control Project in Jiangxi Province (Draft for Comment) Poyang Lake Water Control Project is a major project listed in the Planning of Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone and Comprehensive Planning of Yangtze River Basin approved by the State Council, and it is a comprehensive backbone project to solve the water security problem of Poyang Lake in dry season. The study of the project began in 2009 and lasted for 13 years. The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Water Resources and other relevant ministries and commissions led experts from China Academy of Engineering and China Academy of Sciences to demonstrate more than ten topics.On May 9th, the staff of the construction office of Poyang Lake Water Control Project in Jiangxi Province told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that the published Environmental Impact Report of Poyang Lake Water Control Project in Jiangxi Province (draft for comments) was the most comprehensive draft for the project environmental impact assessment.
The draft for comments made by China Academy of Water Resources and Hydropower Research shows that Poyang Lake Water Control Project is an open full-sluice project, and its basic concepts are: building sluice instead of dam; Regulating drought and not controlling flood; Stop water without generating electricity; Construction management is not scheduled; The rivers and lakes are mutually beneficial and dynamically regulated. That is, from April to August in the flood season every year, the gates are fully opened and the rivers and lakes are connected; September to March of the following year is the project regulation period. The water level in the lake area is regulated through gate regulation, so as to realize the resource utilization of flood at the end of flood season and alleviate a series of water safety problems caused by the rapid decline and low water level in the lake area.
The exposure draft shows that "it is very necessary to build the Poyang Lake Water Control Project, and the advantages of the project outweigh the disadvantages."
Engineering construction can provide guarantee for the improvement of wildlife habitat quality.
Poyang Lake, as one of the Tongjiang lakes in the Yangtze River, is a typical throughput lake. The regulation mode of Poyang Lake water control project on hydrological rhythm, that is, the project scheduling scheme, is the key to determine the way and degree of the project’s impact on Poyang Lake ecological environment.
The draft for soliciting opinions on the bitmap of the gate site area of Poyang Lake Water Control Project shows that Poyang Lake Water Control Project is a water conservancy project based on the principle of eco-hydrology. After many times of optimization and adjustment, according to the wetland ecology, aquatic ecology and water environment, as well as the water level demand of irrigation, water supply and shipping in the lake area, the operation scheme of regulating drought without controlling flood has both advantages and disadvantages for the ecological environment protection of the lake area.The main advantages are as follows: after the construction and operation of the project, the adverse evolution trend of hydrological rhythm in the lake area will be effectively alleviated by adjusting the relationship between rivers and lakes, which is caused by the continuous deterioration of low water problem in the future. The water level process and water volume of the lake will basically return to the level before 2003 in September-March, and the water resources carrying capacity of the lake area will be improved. Among them, the surface water quality of the lake area will be improved to some extent in September-November, and the groundwater level in the strong water-rich area around the lake will be restored. The restored hydrological rhythm has slowed down the problem of excessive water withdrawal in the lake area from September to November, and the exposure law of beach wetlands in September to November is close to the average level before 2003, which is beneficial to the growth and development of wetland vegetation in Poyang Lake, and will further increase the habitat area of wintering migratory birds in the lake area in normal and dry years, and prolong the effective utilization time of habitats by migratory birds.
The exposure draft shows that after the construction and operation of the project, the average water level in the lake area will rise, the water surface area will increase, and the water connectivity will increase, which will increase the feeding area of fish in the lake area and the suitable spawning area of whitebait in Taihu Lake, which is conducive to the improvement of fish resources. From September to November, the area of Poyang Lake suitable for the Yangtze finless porpoise to inhabit increased, which is beneficial to the finless porpoise to prey and inhabit, reducing the risk of stranding and the probability of being affected by human activities, and the improvement of fish resources will also increase the finless porpoise’s bait to some extent.
Construction layout of Poyang Lake Water Control Project. The exposure draft also shows that the construction and operation of the project will also have a certain adverse impact on the ecological environment of Poyang Lake. In the short term, the project construction will occupy part of the wetland and bring some biomass loss. Will produce waste water, waste gas, noise and other effects.In the long run, for the wetland ecology, it is mainly to restore the wetland eco-hydrological process and change the number and distribution range of the beach plant population under the current conditions, which has a certain adverse effect on the wintering process of geese and cranes such as bean geese, white geese and gray geese living in this range, but does not change the plant germplasm resources and species diversity of Poyang Lake wetland.
For aquatic ecology, it is mainly the barrier effect of the project during September-March of the following year. The communication barrier between rivers and lakes will affect some individuals of juvenile silver carp, migratory fish and non-migratory fish populations represented by the four major fishes. However, by taking measures such as fishway and ecological gate in Area 1, and taking into account the natural communication between rivers and lakes during the main migration period of fish from April to August, the species composition of Poyang Lake fish community can be maintained as a whole, and the impact of the project on Poyang Lake fish fauna.
At the same time, the barrier of the project may further reduce the disturbed migration behavior of the Yangtze finless porpoise in rivers and lakes. In the long run, the distribution pattern of the Yangtze finless porpoise below the hukou will change, which may increase the survival risk of the mainstream population. The adverse impact of the project on the migration of the Yangtze finless porpoise can be reduced to some extent by adopting measures such as 60m large-hole sluice in the II I and Iv areas of the hub, regular or irregular open discharge dispatching and laying noise-reducing materials on the hub structures.
Suggestion: Establish a strict follow-up evaluation system and further optimize the design of the large sluice to ensure the migration of finless porpoise.
The exposure draft shows that the construction of Poyang Lake Water Control Project must strictly follow the "three simultaneities" principle of environmental protection, establish and strictly implement the project management mechanism to ensure the accurate implementation of the dispatching plan, and actively carry out ecological environmental protection measures such as habitat protection, vegetation restoration, fishway, proliferation and release, and implement ecological environment tracking monitoring and real-time evaluation.
According to the exposure draft, under the background of deepening the systematic management of Poyang Lake basin in Jiangxi Province, strengthening the protection and restoration of the ecological environment in the lake area, and realizing the continuous improvement and high-quality development of the ecological environment quality in the basin, the positive ecological environment effects of the construction and operation of Poyang Lake Water Control Project will be implemented, and the adverse ecological environment impacts will be alleviated. On this premise, the impact of the project construction on the ecological environment is acceptable, and the project construction is feasible from the perspective of environmental protection.
At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of Poyang Lake Water Control Project and give full play to the ecological and environmental benefits of the project, it is suggested in the draft for comment that the ecological adaptability of the project should be carried out. In view of the high complexity of Poyang Lake ecosystem and the continuous changes of regional economic, social and environmental conditions, a strict follow-up evaluation system must be established and a systematic follow-up evaluation work should be carried out to comprehensively and systematically monitor the dynamic changes of Poyang Lake’s ecological and environmental quality during the construction and operation of the project, and according to the evaluation results, the project operation scheduling scheme should be optimized in time.
Strengthen the effective protection and management of Poyang Lake wetland ecology, birds, aquatic animals, etc., scientifically plan the nature reserves in the lake, and suggest scientifically integrating the existing protected areas and establishing a unified management organization. Coordinate lake management and form a new mechanism for coordinated protection with key projects. At the same time, in order to better ensure the migration of finless porpoises in rivers and lakes, it is suggested to grasp the development trend of the manufacturing technology of large-hole gates in time, and further optimize the design of large-hole gates and increase the gate width under the condition of meeting relevant conditions.
It is also suggested in the exposure draft to strengthen the prevention and control of water pollution in Poyang Lake basin, especially in the lake area, and ensure that the water quality of rivers and lakes entering the lake reaches the standard and continues to improve; Fully combined with the implementation of the river and lake length system, the monitoring and early warning mechanism of eutrophication and water bloom in Poyang Lake will be established in time, and emergency plans will be prepared to do a good job in emergency prevention and control of water bloom risks.
Based on long-term dynamic ecological monitoring, we will actively carry out post-evaluation of the environmental impact of the project, comprehensively and systematically evaluate the ecological environmental impact of the project operation and the implementation effect of environmental protection measures, and gradually optimize relevant protection measures to reduce the adverse impact of the project.
Explore the joint dispatching of the Three Gorges and the upstream reservoirs, the Poyang Lake water control project and large and medium-sized water conservancy projects in the basin, realize the comprehensive management and optimal allocation of water resources in the Poyang Lake basin and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and actively practice the great protection of the Yangtze River.
Construction background of Poyang Lake water control project
The water resources in Poyang Lake area are an important guarantee for the economy and society. The water resources in the lake area account for 15.9% of the total amount of Poyang Lake basin, bearing 27.6% of the total population, 23.9% of the cultivated land area, 30.9% of the grain output and 38.2% of the total regional production value in Jiangxi Province.
In recent years, Poyang Lake has a tendency and normalization of low water situation, showing the obvious characteristics of low water level reduction, early low water period and prolonged low water duration. It is pointed out in the Feasibility Study Report of Poyang Lake Water Control Project in Jiangxi Province that the normalization of Poyang Lake’s low water and the new trend changes have caused serious shortage of water resources, water ecology and water environmental carrying capacity in the low water period of the lake area, which has a great impact on ecology, life and production, and it is difficult to meet the requirements of regional ecological environmental protection, sustainable economic and social development and the rapid rise of surrounding urban agglomerations. The water shortage in the lake area is mainly caused by engineering water shortage caused by low water level, especially in extremely dry years, which has caused different degrees of drought losses in agriculture in the lake area and difficulties in drinking water in towns and rural areas.
At the beginning of 2008, Jiangxi Province put forward the strategic deployment of "Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone". On December 12, 2009, the State Council officially approved the Planning of Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, proposing "focusing on research and implementation to promote the construction of Poyang Lake water control project". The demonstration of Poyang Lake Water Control Project has lasted for many years, and the relevant departments have carried out a lot of work, and the project scheme has been continuously optimized and improved. Jiangxi Province has organized special research on key technologies and "six major topics", including "Study on the flood control impact and countermeasures of Poyang Lake Water Control Project", "Study on the impact and countermeasures of Poyang Lake Water Control Project on wetland and migratory birds" and "Study on the current situation of Poyang Lake aquatic animal resources and the impact and countermeasures of Poyang Lake Water Control Project on aquatic animals" In February 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission submitted the Report on the Construction of Poyang Lake Water Control Project to the State Council, stating that "it is necessary to scientifically and reasonably regulate the water level in the lake area during the dry season by building sluice gates". In the same month, the State Council agreed with the opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources once said that the Poyang Lake Water Control Project can solve the problems such as the advance of dry season, the extension of dry season, the decline of water level, the shrinkage of water surface and the change of water quality caused by major changes in the relationship between rivers and lakes after the completion of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Reservoir Group. It is also a major project to truly protect Poyang Lake, especially to improve the carrying capacity of Poyang Lake water resources and water environment, so that Poyang Lake can better support the economic and social development of the lake area and better serve the improvement of people’s livelihood.
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