Dams and Sustainability in China

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will host three experts to discuss dams and how they're used throughout China.

Speakers
Doug Smith, International Hydropower Association
Desiree Tullos, Oregon State University
Wang Hao, China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research

Dams, dams, and more dams! China is home to roughly half the world’s large dams, and hydropower is set to play a key role in helping China meet its 2020 carbon intensity reduction commitments. Dozens of new large hydro projects are underway across the southwestern part of the country, where steep mountains and big rivers mean great hydro potential. Yet many of those projects are in culturally or ecologically sensitive areas that are home to large concentrations of ethnic minorities, and may involve trans-boundary rivers – all of which bring the long-term sustainability of the projects to the fore. This CEF meeting will feature WANG Hao (Institute of Water Resources, Chinese Academy of Water Science; Douglas Smith (International Hydropower Association); and Desiree Tullos (Biological and Ecological Engineering, Oregon State University), who will explore those dam trends and challenges in China. The three panelists also will discuss how sustainability priorities along biophysical, socioeconomic, and geopolitical axes can be integrated into the design, construction, and operation phases of dams, with particular attention to China, home to half the world’s large dams and the site of major dam construction efforts in the coming decades.