Water Air Soil Pollut (2012) 223:30333048 DOI 10.

1007/s11270-012-1086-8

Ecological Environment Protection in Chinese Rural Hydropower Development Practices: A Review

Xianqiang Tang & Qingyun Li & Min Wu & Wenjian Tang & Feng Jin & Jonathan Haynes & Miklas Scholz

Received: 27 September 2011 / Accepted: 11 January 2012 / Published online: 21 January 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract This paper reviews the ecological environment protection measures of Chinese rural hydropower development schemes. Chinas rapid economic growth is making great energy demands and developing rural hydropower currently provides 30.4 GW annually. There is a conflict of interest between hydropower development and ecological and environmental protection. Potential problems include changes in hydrological condition, eutrophication, downstream nutrient reduction, sediment deposition, aquatic ecosystem alteration, and ecological water demand variation. Since most of the rural hydropower resources are located in ecologically fragile regions, it is significantly more important that ecological environment protection is
X. Tang (*) : Q. Li : M. Wu : F. Jin Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan 430010, China e-mail: tomxqq@gmail.com W. Tang Bureau of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of Changjiang Water Resources Commission, Wuhan 430010, China J. Haynes : M. Scholz (*) Civil Engineering Research Centre, School of Computing, Science and Engineering, The University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester M5 4WT, UK e-mail: m.scholz@salford.ac.uk

being considered. As exploitation of rural hydropower has developed in China, ecological environment protection schemes had to adapt to changing boundary conditions. Due to improvements in environmental protection management, various environmental impact assessment methods have been applied including fuzzy analysis hierarchy process, ecological scheduling, pressure-state-response, and ecological environment evaluation index. The latter index can both qualitatively and quantitatively analyze ecological environment impacts and has become the most frequently used tool in the evaluation of rural hydropower exploitation. To rebalance the interests regarding energy generation and environmental protection, countermeasures originating from different aspects such as engineering design optimization, management improvement, and ecological restoration were recommended to promote ecological environment protection. The review concludes that by taking ecological environment protection into consideration in the whole rural hydropower plan, adopting ecological scheduling to guarantee river ecological water demand and implementing ecological restoration in watershed management are the most effective approaches in furthering sustainable development of rural hydropower. Keywords Aquatic ecology . Deposition . Eutrophication . Sediment . Sustainable development . Water supply

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1 Rural Hydropower Development in China 1.1 Rural Hydropower Resource Potential and Distribution China has the largest quantity of water energy source of any country in the world, which is a precious resource for economic development. China has many small rural hydropower resources. Statistical data indicate that the total exploitable hydropower is 87 GW, located in more than 1,600 mountainous counties (Tian 2009). The majority of hydropower resources are located in western China, where output reached 58.3 GW (67% of the total province output). Among the provinces of southwest China (Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Hubei, and Hunan), output reached 44.7 GW (51.4% of the total province output). In the provinces of northwest China (Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang), there is a relatively concentrated distribution of rural hydropower resource which reaches an output of 13.5 GW (15.6% of total output). Compared to the western region, the middle of China also has significant rural hydropower reserves. Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces have more than 14 GW of hydropower resources and accounted for 16.5% of the national hydropower resources. This distribution of output is shown in Fig. 1. According to the 2009 rural hydropower resources assessment (Tian 2009) conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Water Resource, of the 16,572 rivers in the Chinese mainland, there are 5,095 rivers that have each more than 10 MW unit theory reserves of hydraulic energy. The remaining 11,477 rivers have a combined annual theoretical resource of hydraulic energy in excess of 30 GW. China has about 40,000 small hydropower stations, each with an installation capacity below 50 MW (29% of total hydropower capacity). Small hydropower stations with generation capacity between 0.1 and 50 MW produce 128 GW of power annually. In 2005, rural hydropower resources generated a total of 69.1 GW (287.5 billion kWh of electricity), which constituted 54.0% of the total technical available hydraulic energy resources and 53.7% of annual electricity generation (Tian 2009). Chinese rural hydropower resources have the following characteristics and advantages: & The majority of middle- and small-sized resources are distributed in remote mountainous or sparsely & &

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populated regions. Due to excessive transmission distances, local power generation is desirable. The Chinese Western Development Program is suited to exploit the high concentration of rural hydropower resource located in that region. Hydropower is a renewable, green energy and its development will potentially improve ecological environments and favor sustainable development between the population, resources, and the environment. Potential rural hydropower resources are broadly spread across the country and make up 39% of the total developable hydropower; rural hydropower development is therefore a key element of future Chinese electricity generation. Most rural hydropower stations are of small size, requiring low capital investment, short construction periods, and delivering high rates of return, all of which are likely to stimulate national, regional, and personal passions for development.

1.2 History of Rural Hydropower Development As shown in Fig. 2, since the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 and especially after reforms in 1978, rural hydropower development has been transformed from small, single station operation to innovative networked electrification aimed at supporting a burgeoning modern society, improving local economic productivity, and reducing poverty. Between 1986 and 2000, 653 rural hydropower primary electrification counties were founded in the middle and western mountainous regions, minority regions, and eastern mountainous area, which exceeded the State Councils directive of 600 projects. This 16year rural hydropower development scheme has several outcomes: & & Electricity is made available to more than 120 million people resident in remote mountainous areas. Thousands of small- to middle-sized rivers have been managed, increasing reservoir storage volume by 50 billion m3 and increasing irrigation area by 25.3 million ha (providing drinking water for 64.3 million people and 47.4 million animals) and improving flood prevention and drought control. The increase in rural hydropower has enhanced local production, living, and market conditions.

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Fig. 1 Chinese rural hydropower development status and distribution for a exploitable reserves, b developed capacity, and c annual electricity generation in 2000. The scale of the map is 1 cm to 250 km and GW means one billion kilowatt

Hydropower exploitation and utilization has greatly reduced harmful gas emissions from other potential sources. The campaign to substitute electricity for firewood resulted in dramatic declines in natural forest fell and water and soil loss which will save 9 million m3 of timber each year and caused the average forest coverage rate to increase by 9.9% in the past 15 years (Chen and Mou 2010). As shown in Table 1, between 1978 and 2007, the development rate of rural hydropower has been strong. Installed capacity and electricity generation have grown by approximately nine and 14 times,

respectively. In 2007, installed capacity, annual electric generation, employee numbers, hydropower asset, annual business income, and annual tax and profits reached the levels of 47 GW, 144 billion kWh, 0.8 million, 300 billion RMB, 50 billion RMB, and 8 billion RMB, respectively (see Table 1; Ren et al. 2010). Power supplied by rural hydropower covered more than half of the territory, one third of the counties and one quarter of the population of China. Rural hydropower development is closely related to agriculture, water resource, energy, and ecology and therefore has a significant role to play in poverty alleviation, resource exploitation, ecological environment protection, and water resource constructions.

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Fig. 2 Growth of Chinese rural hydropower electricity generation between 1949 and 2011

1.3 Ecological Environment Protection During Rural Hydropower Development For topographical reasons, rural hydropower plants are most densely distributed in mountainous areas. Constructing hydropower stations advances the growth of local economical and social development; however, there are also potential adverse impacts which can be extensive, complicated, long-standing, possibly cumulative, hysteretic, and even irreversible. As a result, the Chinese government put forward orderly exploitation of rural hydropower based on ecological protection as the strategic goal to guide sustainable rural hydropower development (Chen and Mou 2010; Ren et al. 2010). Ecological environment protection practices have accompanied the development of rural hydropower exploitation in the following three phases: Phase 1: Voluntary period. From the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 to the reforms in 1978, environmental protection work was voluntary. This period was the

initial stage of rural hydropower construction and its primary aim was to provide electricity in remote mountainous and poverty-stricken regions (Zhang and Chen 2005). During this period, the national rural hydropower installation capacity was only 6.3 GW and minor environmental adverse effects were detected. Phase 2: Awaking period. Between 1978 and 2000, rural hydropower was widely developed and contributed to significant reduction in poverty. During this period, the concept of environmental protection was introduced. In 1989, the Ministry of Water Resource, Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design General Institute issued the Code for Environmental Impact Evaluation of Water Resources and Hydropower Projects (Trial Implementation) (SDJ30288), which recommended environmental impact evaluation methods for large hydropower to guide environmental protection practices in rural hydropower exploitation. In the mid-1990s, Economic Evaluation Code for Small Hydropower Projects and The Guidelines of Hydroenergy Development Program for Medium and Small Size Rivers were issued. Both documents put forward the qualitative assessment requirement of ecological and environmental benefits and impacts during rural hydropower exploitation activities but were short of quantitative parameters. Following this, in the late 1990s, China experienced a national electricity shortage which led to private enterprises investing in rural hydropower construction. Though the rapid development of more rural hydropower addressed power shortages, the necessity for ecological protection and environmental improvement became apparent to

Table 1 Chinese rural hydropower development comparison between 1978 and 2007 Year Number of power stations Installed capacity MW Proportion of total hydropower (%) 30.5 32.6 Electricity generation Billion kWh Proportion of total hydropower (%) 22.4 29.5

1978 2007

36,507 45,317

5,266 47,389

9.9 143.7

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government agencies, developers, researchers, and common citizens. Thus, this phase has become known as the awakening period. Phase 3: Positive implementation period. Twentyfirst century rural hydropower development has greatly improved its ecological construction and environmental protection practices. Sustainable development is being addressed by including resource cost calculations and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). China has received some financial aid and advanced techniques to help address its international obligations, as a result of which, there are now approximately 600 rural hydropower stations registered under CDM (Chen and Wang 2008). Moreover, the initiation of the Project of Small Hydropower Replacing Firewood has had a positive effect on attitudes to renewable energy, reducing firewood consumption by 189 million m3 per year and thus protecting 340 million ha of forest and assimilating 161 million tons of CO2. The CO2 and SO2 emission reduction is worth around 36 billion RMB in ecological benefit (Chen and Wang 2008). In recent years, rural hydropower has played an important role in driving local economic advancement, while also contributing to ecological improvement, environmental protection, and countryside modernization.

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Hydropower station construction includes planting trees and grasses on uncultivated hillsides as well as the stations surrounding area with the principles of maintaining and restoring the natural ecological environments. These activities effectively promote small watershed management, increase flood control ability in mountainous regions, reduce water and soil loss potential, and enhance the capability of natural disaster defense (Sternberg 2010; Tian 2006). Many hydropower schemes also provide benefits such as potable water supply, irrigation, barrage, and regulated reservoir capacity for the local urban industry, agriculture, and households (Prez et al. 2008).

2.2 Negative Effects Though rural hydropower development may be beneficial to the ecological environment in the long term, the construction phase is likely to cause environmental disturbance and damage in the short term, including changes to the hydrological conditions, water eutrophication, downstream nutrient reduction, sediment deposition, aquatic ecosystem structure alteration, and river ecological water demand variation (Cui 2006). Changes to the Hydrological Conditions The design and condition of a dam and river channel can significantly change the hydrological characteristic of a river, resulting in the variation of flow velocity, rate, and water depth for different river reaches (Ghosh 2011). In extreme circumstances, the lower reaches of a river may be dehydrated. Moreover, hydraulic construction can change a river s flood status and increase the local sediment deposition in the river, while decreased sediment input can accelerate scour in the estuary and increase saline water intrusion, pollutant retention, and water quality deterioration. Periodic operation and peak shaving of rural hydropower stations will lead to periodic fluctuation of the stream flow for the lower river reaches. Variation in the discharge flow can erode the river course and thus destroy local wildlife habitats. If an operating hydropower station releases flux which exceeds the ordinary river flux, there will be a shock to the rivers ecological environments and possible injury to the river course habitats. Conversely, when a hydropower station is not operating and the

2 Impacts of Rural Hydropower Development on the Ecological Environment 2.1 Positive Effects Development of rural hydropower and electrification has significantly improved the power supply structure, network optimization, flood control ability, and ecological environment in the following aspects: & Effectively utilize an existing water resource and reduce atmospheric pollutants associated with burning fossil fuels, such as heat and hazardous gas emissions, e.g., in Fusong county, Jilin Province, rural hydropower supplies 200 million kWh of power annually, which equates to 0.8 million tons of coal or 5,200 ha of forest consumption (Liu 2010).

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releasing flow flux is less than the normal river flux, the reduced flow may also adversely impact on the river aquatic ecosystem and its habitats. Furthermore, the periodic peak shaving of the hydropower station is likely to increase the erosion and subsequent collapse of the riverbanks, which will result in increased flood danger (Ghosh 2011). Following reservoir impounding, various suspended solids transported from the upper river reaches will deposit in the reservoir causing the decline of suspended solid concentrations in the releasing water. This causes increased erosion of the lower riverbed and riverbank until the suspended solid concentration reaches a new equilibrium level. Moreover, this erosion will deepen the downstream river course and cause a decline in the surrounding underground water table level. For example, the riverbed of the Nile descended 23 m in fewer than 10 years after the completion of the Aswan High Dam, resulting in dehydration of the irrigation inlet (Shalosh 1983). In addition, the construction of hydropower facilities will change the releasing water temperature and sediment concentrations, leading to variations in the ecological system structure and function in the lower river reaches and estuaries (FISRWB 1998). The adverse ecological environment impacts originating from changed hydrological conditions were summarized by Liu and Xue (1994) as follows: & & & & & Releasing low temperature water on downstream industrial and agricultural water supply Releasing clean water on the scour mechanism of the downstream river course and channel morphology Releasing flux and temperature variation on the downstream fish and shrimp spawning grounds Downstream water depth variation on the soil paludification, gleization, and salinization in the plain river network areas Runoff variation on the downstream water quality and salinity in estuarial water

the upstream catchments will also assemble in the reservoir. Moreover, water flow velocity will decrease in the reservoir after impounding; thus, sediment and its organic matter and pollutants gradually deposit in the reservoir bed becoming the internal pollution source which drives water quality deterioration. With the combined contribution of internal and external pollution source, waterweeds and algae will promptly propagate under suitable temperature and flow conditions, triggering the water bloom nuisance. Moreover, rural hydropower development creates the conditions for aquaculture farms; the rapid spread of aquaculture and tourism is another important factor in water eutrophication. Interannual variation of nutrient concentrations in the Mantan hydropower stations on the Lancangjiang River indicated that the maximum water column ammonia concentration of 0.39 mg/L occurred in the initial construction stage. Since the first generation of electricity in 1993, degradation of submerged plants and sediment nutrient release caused the ammonia concentration to increase, as shown in Fig. 3. After 1997, abundant basin rainfall caused the effective exchange of stored water in the hydropower reservoirs and gradually decreased the ammonia concentrations. However, domestic wastewater discharge and agricultural none-point source pollution contributed to the augmentation of ammonia concentrations since 2001 (Yao et al. 2005). Although no phosphorus concentration data exist before hydropower construction in 1995, the presence of a dam has led to continuously increasing monitored phosphorus concentrations from

Generally, river course scour leads to unhealthy river course ecosystems (FISRWB 1998). Water Eutrophication and Downstream Nutrient Reduction Water-retaining constructions built on the river course will result in the augmentation of the upstream water level and form vast submerged areas where plant and soil organic matter can enter the reservoir water body. Chemical fertilizer loss from

Fig. 3 Variations in ammonia-nitrogen and total phosphorus annual mean concentrations for Mantan hydropower station

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0.032 to 0.10 mg/L, and this is depicted in Fig. 3. The dramatic increase of nutrient loads in recent years may have stimulated water eutrophication. In light of the upstream water flow velocity decrease and retention by the dam, most of the upstream water column nutrient is deposited on the reservoir bed and has resulted in nutrient level decline in released water, which may in turn have a negative effect on the downstream aquatic ecosystem food chain. Sediment Deposition Like water eutrophication, the presence of water-retaining facilities will reduce flow velocity and encourage sediment deposition in the reservoir. With this increase in sediment accumulation comes a reduction in the reservoir storage volume. The sediment deposition rate determines the benefits as well as the life-span of the reservoir. Since 1949, more than 86,000 reservoirs have been completed in China. Seven large-scale reservoirs were built on the Yellow River in the 1980s but have since lost 4070% storage volume by sediment deposition. The possible reason is that the low plant coverage rates in the upstream catchments caused tremendous water and soil loss, thus stimulating great reservoir sedimentation. Sediment control for the reservoir affects river scouring and silting and thus may break the original sediment transport balance. Moreover, continuous sediment control can retain 99% of the upstream sediment in a basin cascade hydropower design (Slivitzky 2007). Sediment depositions in the reservoir or other water-storing facilities have two patterns. The first is slow, long-term accumulation caused by the effects of sediment control measures. The second is quick, shortterm concentrated accumulation mainly caused by water and soil loss in the hydropower construction stage. Sediment source in rural hydropower development can be classified as follows: & Water and soil loss. For example, the middle reaches of the Nujiang River in Yunnan Province: approximately 75% of the watershed is sloping land over 25 inclination. Land reclamation and deforestation caused serious water and soil loss, possibly reaching 3,933 km2 in the Lisu Nationality Autonomous Prefecture (Dong 2006). Reservoir bank failure and landslide. Impounding of the reservoir leads to increased water level and enlarged water surface. Therefore, subsequent underground water level movements will change the

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riverside hydrogeological condition and engineering geological condition thus arousing reservoir bank failure, landslide, and ground collapse (Zhong et al. 2008). Geological disasters. Many rural hydropower projects are located in geologically unstable regions. The occurrence of mountain torrents, mud flows, landslides, and earthquakes may introduce large volumes of sediment (Zhang and Liu 2002). Mineral resource exploitation. Tailings arising from mineral exploitation were historically deposited in the river valley, which will subsequently cause water pollution as well as water and soil loss.

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Variation in Aquatic Ecosystem Structure Aquatic ecosystem structure changes can depend upon the mode and intensity of human intervention. The effects of change may be felt by phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, aquatic macrophytes, fish, and other aquatic organisms. Due to the hierarchical nature of aquatic organisms, ecosystem changes will impact on all lower organisms and possibly the whole aquatic ecosystem structure. For instance, following operation of the Dongjiang rural hydropower stations, species and population of algae, vascular plants, aquatic microorganisms, and zooplankton increased to varying degrees (between one and six times), while species and population of benthos decreased (Zhou 2009). On the dam downstream, however, the regime of the river is relatively stable, and species of plankton and fish suitable for the static water or slow flow water bodies are increased in contrast to the conditions before the establishment of the dam. Conversely, species and population of fish accustomed to flowing water are obviously decreased, and release of low temperature water downstream significantly restrains the biodiversity of algae, protozoa, and cladocera. It is also reported that fish rarely propagate within the first 30 km of downstream river reach (Zhou 2009). Water storage projects seriously change the original hydrological conditions of rivers and obviously transform river aquatic ecosystems to lake aquatic ecosystems. Qian et al. (1997) found that upper water temperature is relatively high after the establishment of a reservoir, which may lead to green or blue algae and other phytoplankton growth. This encourages the propagation of protozoa and rotifer as demonstrated by increases in species, density, and biomass. However,

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the presence of the dam will also result in population decrease for dayfly and caddis worm. Hydropower development can change the phytoplankton dominant species. After the impounding of the Three Georges reservoir, the number of algae species doubled. Although there is no singe dominant algae species in the mainstream and tributaries before impounding the reservoir, Peridiniopsis sp. and Cyclotella sp. quickly become the absolute dominant algae species after the completion of the dam (Kuang et al. 2005). In addition, rural hydropower development threatens the survival of endangered fishes. In 1998, the Chinese government issued China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals, Fishes which listed 92 endangered fish species. In light of rural hydropower exploitation as an important threatening factor, 24 of the total 92 endangered species are attributed to water conservancy and hydropower projects. Previous studies have indicated that the direct dam barrier is the most threatening mechanism. The presence of a dam interrupts propagation, grazing, and overwintering migration passage; changes the aquatic ecological environment; restrains the reproduction growth of the natural population; and reduces the population of economically exploited migrating fish, and the population structure tends to a younger age and the variety of fish species tend to be simplified. In the eastern mountainous region of Jilin Province, rare cold-water fish such as Brachymystax lenok migrate to cold upstream water in spring to spawn but return to large river courses to overwinter. After dam construction, however, all the cold-water fish including B. lenok can no longer follow their ancient migratory patterns (Yang 2006). A further serious effect is variation in water temperature and supersaturated nitrogen concentration in release water, both of which can be harmful to fish survival. For annual storage and carryover storage reservoirs, relatively low water exchange rates result in water temperature stratification. Releasing low temperature water can cause problems such as delay of the fish breeding season and shorten growth stage and therefore a decline in fish growth rate (Yu et al. 1981). Moreover, results from the investigation of four rivers subjected to hydropower station peak shaving impacts in Norway and Canada indicated that abruptly reduced release water quantity can increase the death danger for young salmon and trout; the study also detected a decrease in the biodiversity and distribution of river-dwelling large invertebrates (Harby 2002).

Threatening of the Ecological Water Demand The ecological water demand is the least amount of water required to maintain the normal structure and function of river ecosystems, thus protecting the survival of rare species (Yan et al. 2003). Generally, an annual regulating reservoir is established on the river which can store flood season water for release in the dry season. This has the benefits of water storage, perennial power generation, and meeting the river ecological water demand. The river ecological water demand will rarely be met by a peak shaving hydropower station that is often dry, which may cause the collapse of the river ecosystem structure and a decline in the biological population. 2.3 Characteristics of Rural Hydropower Development Impacts on the Ecological Environment The characteristics of rural hydropower development impacts may be summarized as: & Linkage. Ecological environment stress produced by rural hydropower has linked features, so impacts can be transmitted to each aspect of the drainage area. For instance, the presence of a dam on the river reach can change the sediment transportation and hydrological conditions within the whole drainage area and these river physical characteristics are closely related to the river ecosystem. The river ecosystem will therefore be subjected to unavoidable linked effects. Potentiality. Negative impacts on the river ecological environment are protracted in nature, the symptom often emerging after long time periods. Universality. In light of the spatial nature of rural hydropower exploitation, impacts on the ecological system are rarely localized to the vicinity of the hydropower stations, more often spreading over a strap area extending between the upstream and downstream extremities of the project. Yao (2006) reports impacts that can transmit several hundreds of kilometers and even affect the estuary ecosystem.

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3 Methods for Eco-environmental Assessment for Rural Hydropower Development Activities In order to judge the impacts of rural hydropower development on local eco-environments, several

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innovative assessment methods are applied to help problem recognition and subsequent effective management. This paper will address the fuzzy analysis hierarchy process (FAHP) method, ecological scheduling (ES) model, pressure-state-response (PSR) conceptual model, and the ecological environment evaluation index (EEEI) method. 3.1 The FAHP Method The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is an approach suitable for dealing with complex systems and widely used to address multi-criteria decisionmaking problems in economical, political, social, and technical sciences (Liao 2011). The AHP is based on subdivision of the problem in a hierarchical form with selected quantitative and qualitative variables. However, the traditional AHP method is problematic in that it uses an exact value to express the decisionmaker s option during a comparison of alternatives (Wang and Chen 2007). The AHP method has also been criticized for its unbalanced scale of judgments and inadequate consideration of inherent uncertainty and imprecision in the pair-wise comparison process (Deng 1999). The FAHP has therefore been developed to overcome shortcomings associated with AHP by combining the advantages of fuzzy mathematics theory and analytical hierarchy processes to create a fuzzy consistent judgment matrix based on qualitative and quantitative indicators (Mikaeil et al. 2011). Weightings are set for each indicator with the help of single and total ranking, thus producing a comprehension index for different feasible schemes. The purpose of the index is to help the decision-maker to select the most appropriate optimal scheme. As the judgment matrix, the FAHP method has the feature of fuzzy logic; it will favor the selection of the consistent problem for the judgment matrix, while the ordinary analytic hierarchy process requires several adjustments and inspections for the solution of the consistent problem (Zhang 2006). As a whole, the FAHP has the following advantages: firstly, the introduction of fuzzy mathematics theory into the analytic hierarchy process leads to the simplification of the weighting calculation. Secondly, the combination of FAHP and the degree of membership contributed objectivity, impartiality, and accuracy to the comprehensive assessment results. Finally, the

assessment process recognizes and covers all aspects of the problem. The FAHP method is applied as part of the assessment of the ecological benefit evaluation of the Chengde County, Hebei Province rural hydropower scheme, where the water surface area, the aquatic biodiversity index, and the average river pollution index were selected as the indicators (Zhao et al. 2010). The assessment indicates that the FAHP method is reliable at the case verification level. Data processing is simple and convenient. The conclusions were predominantly objective and promote further application of the FAHP method. However, the potential lack of objectivity due to human expert judgment in processing weights requires addressing in the future. 3.2 The ES Model Rural hydropower development can change normal river runoff in both time and spatial distribution, thus directly or indirectly impacting on river ecological water demand and the habitats of aquatic species (Ni et al. 2003). In order to guarantee river health, ecological water demand calculation methods have been developed and used to guide ecological scheduling of hydropower stations. Assuming that water is only used for ecological environment maintenance, the theoretical equation for calculation of ecological water demand (EWD) is shown in Eq. 1:
   habitat protection     sediment transport   EWD maximumwater demand from  self purification     lanscape  underground storage water conservation forest maintenance evaporation precipitation

1 In this formula, water demand for habitat protection, water demand for sediment transport, water demand for self purification, and water demand for landscape can be obtained from suitable calculations based on the actual river situation (Tharme 2003). Water demand for underground water recharge, water demand for water conservation, forest maintenance, and evaporation can be indirectly obtained by studies of interval flow flux (Du et al. 2008). Taking Xuecheng hydropower station as an example, downstream water quality avoiding deterioration

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when the discharge flow reaches 2.25 m3/s, if this is increased to 2.29 m3/s, the downstream river habitats and landscape are also maintained at reliable levels (Du et al. 2008). The ecological scheduling model is an effective solution for ensuring the ecological water demand is met during the operation of the hydropower stations. Ge and Luo (2010) established an ES mathematic model using maximum electricity generation and meeting ecological water demand as scheduling objectives and water diversion discharge, reservoir storage volume, and output of hydropower stations as the constraint conditions. The mathematic model is simulated by an evolution algorithm using runoffs in wet, average, and dry years as input. The results implied a risk of downstream dehydration if maximum power generation is the unique objective, and ecological water demand can be met after setting generating flow limits. The final conclusion being that after optimization of hydropower station operation, the objectives of ecological compliance and power generation can be met without water waste under different runoff conditions. 3.3 Pressure-State-Response Model The PSR model is a widely used international index system. Within the frame of the PSR model (see Fig. 4), any environmental problem can be expressed by three different but interconnecting indicators (Tong 2000; Allen 1999): & & & The pressure indicator reflects the environmental load produced by human activities. The status indicator represents the conditions for environmental quality, natural resource, and ecosystem. The response indicator represents the policy and measures used for solving the environmental problem.
Press

When considering the interaction and mutual influence between human and environmental systems, the PSR conceptual model can be used to classify and organize different environmental indicators, forming a systematic evaluation tool. The PSR model can therefore be used to construct an index system for the evaluation of rural hydropower ecological effects (Hou et al. 2006). The PSR model has the following advantages: & & The model fully considers the relationships between human activities and environmental systems, solving the problem at a systematic level. The evaluation index system based on the PSR model can reflect the causeeffect relationships in ecological environment change, thus favoring the decision-makers adopting suitable technical measures and administrative policy, reducing the damage on the ecological environment, and accelerating ecological restoration. The model takes into account both positive and negative effects in the process of rural hydropower development.

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The evaluation process includes the effect of human response on ecological restoration, and the evaluation outcome completely represents the impacts of human disturbance on ecological environments. As a result, evaluation systems based on PSR have the unique characteristics of factuality, systematization, and accuracy. When the PSR model is used for case studies, however, attention should be paid to the following matters: & There is a significant difference in the ecological environment pressure and response sensitivity. It is therefore important to focus on the important indicators. When evaluating the effects of rural hydropower exploitation on ecological environments, fish should be selected as an important indicator because rural hydropower directly and seriously
Status Press information Information Information Engineering measures Ecological measures Management measures Status response Press response Response

Fig. 4 Pressure-stateresponse (PSR) model for ecological effect evaluation of hydropower development

Reservoir inundation Hydrological regime Dam barrier Construction effects Public participation

Natural environments Ecological environments Social environments

Resource feedback

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affects fish survival especially rare and migratory fish. Response measures can be easily obtained within the frame of the PSR model, profound understanding of the dynamics for each environmental indicator and mechanism of the interaction between different indicators is still needed. The PSR model contains uncertainty and fuzziness in the attribution of indicators, so indicators must be identified with knowledge of the real situation.

3.4 The EEEI Method Dynesius and Nilsson (1994), Rosenberg et al. (2000), and Kaygusuz (2004) all suggest that rural hydropower development activities are closely related to local social and economical advancement, resource utilization, and ecological environment protection, which greatly impact on the river ecosystem. Seitzinger and Kroeze (1998), Rinne and Stefferud (1999), and Gowan et al. (2006) all suggest that improper hydropower exploitation seriously weakens the river ecological and environmental conditions with the symptom of river continuity interruption, crash of the ecosystem structure, and choking of matter circulation and energy flow, thus reducing the ability of rivers to maintain ecological health. Conversely, rural hydropower development greatly improves clean energy production and benefits local social and economical advancement (Feder 2004; Zhang 2004). Generally, rural hydropower firstly changes the hydrological conditions, sediment, water quality, aquatic organisms, and other ecological components of the instream aquatic ecosystem, and then these variations will gradually be transferred from the instream water bodies to the riparian land area through the water gradient transition, resulting in structural change of ecological components including vegetation, crop, soil, and habitat for the riparian land ecosystem (Wei et al. 2008). These impacts obviously vary with time. Establishing an index system is the primary step for development of an ecological environment impact assessment. Index selection directly determines the accuracy and rigor of the evaluation results. Impacts of rural hydropower exploitation on an ecological environment have apparent spatial and temporal variation scope. Li and Jiang (2004) introduced the theory of landscape ecology, selecting indicators of density,

frequency, and landscape proportion to calculate the parcel land dominance. Results of case studies for the Zaoshi hydropower station in Hunan Province indicated that the ecological evaluation method achieves superior results compared to qualitative and quantitative methods. Moreover, application of global information systems to ecological evaluation practices greatly improves the credibility and accuracy of the outcome and brings the advantages of easy quantitative evaluation and rapid high quality mapping (Li and Jiang 2004). In order to reduce the negative impacts of hydropower generation by appropriate design and operation, Yu et al. (2008) developed an index system of ecological and environmental protection. Congruent with the characteristics of hydropower dam construction, the ecological and environmental protection index system consisted of three different layers: goals, criteria, and indexes. The index system is divided into seven parts: hydrological character, water quality, river morphology, connectivity of river systems, biological habitats, biological communities, and river landscape. The indexes are identified according to the design and operation of the hydropower stations and mechanism of the river ecosystem. The application of the index system considers the specific disparities among individual power stations that reflect the huge diversity of technical approaches and river ecosystems. Though the index system completely reflects the ecological and environmental protection requirement within the rural hydropower development activities, the index system is too complex to be applied and the evaluation results need further verification with case studies. In a similar fashion to Yu, Chen et al. (2010) established a prediction index system which incorporated expert judgment and marking methods. The system comprised of seven different indicators: downstream minimum flow, reservoir depth, terrestrial plants, terrestrial animals, aquatic animals, water eutrophication, and sediment. Application of the index system to the Three Georges hydropower project showed that construction of the dam seriously affected the surrounding ecological environment and may lead to the extinction of endangered species such as the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). In general, the index system is a simple but effective tool for the ecological environment evaluation of projects but the process of indicator selection, indicator marking, and

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evaluation standard setting must be qualitatively improved in further applications. A remarkable feature of river ecosystems is their continuity and dynamics. The presence of a dam divides the continuous flowing river into a static reservoir ecosystem and dynamic flowing aquatic ecosystem. The variation in flow pattern leads to a loss of the ecological service for the river ecosystem. In order to reduce or minimize the negative effect on the ecological environment, Wei et al. (2008) established a regulation conceptual model for sustaining hydropower development and improving river ecological service, as shown in Fig. 5. In this model, the ecological effect of hydropower development is studied, then long-term monitoring of the social economy, components and structure of the ecological environment, and variation in ecological process is conducted. Secondly, social and economical benefits and ecological environment cost are quantitatively compared using mathematic models and ecological economic methods. In this way, a cost benefit assessment of rural hydropower construction may be undertaken at the feasibility stage. Finally, environmentally friendly rural hydropower exploitation was realized through repeatable adjustment of the environmental management policy.

adopt engineering and non-engineering measures to reduce or even eliminate adverse impacts on ecological environments and maximize the positive benefits. To date, increasing effort and money are spent on studying reasonable and reliable countermeasures for ecological environment protection within the process of rural hydropower development in China. These methodologies can be divided into three groups: engineering design optimization, ecological environment restoration, and management improvement. 4.1 Engineering Design Optimization Early rural hydropower station designs paid little attention to ecological environment protection. Optimization of the design is the most effective approach to achieve sustainable development in the rural hydropower. The major steps which may be taken are: & Improving the design of fish passing facilities (Weiland et al. 2011), water intake structures, artificial spawning and hatching grounds, drainage facilities for enhancement of aquatic habitat, sediment ejection, and silt prevention engineering and facilities for increasing the low downstream water temperature. Water pollution control by constructing dams to effectively regulate the water quantity, increase the ecological environmental water demand, guarantee the necessary water level and flow flux, and promote river self purification. Constructing oxidation ponds, constructed wetlands and other soil treatment systems (Tang et al. 2011), regulating reservoirs, waste reservoirs, and river conversion projects. Improving

& 4 Ecological Environment Protection Countermeasures for Rural Hydropower Developments Impacts of rural hydropower development on the ecological environment are systematic, complicated, linked, and cumulative. It is therefore necessary to
Fig. 5 The conceptual model for sustaining hydropower development and improving river ecological service (Wei et al. 2008)

Hydropower construction

Reservoir ecosystem

Water, riparian and land

Ecological environment benefit

Impacts identification

Ecosystem structure

Hydropower construction

Ecosystem function

Variation in river ecosystem service function Social economic benefit

Management decision

Water, riparian and land

Watershed ecosystem

Wa te r , r ip a r ia n and la nd

Wa te r , r ip a r ia n and la nd

Water Air Soil Pollut (2012) 223:30333048

3045

&

artificial aeration facilities as well as other engineering constructions such as multi-function water quantity regulating projects and water oxygen enrichment constructions. Reservoir sedimentation elimination with the primary measures of water and soil conservation upstream by closing hillsides to facilitate forestation, returning farmland to forest and planting grass, or alternatively optimizing reservoir operation.

4.2 Ecological Environment Restoration During construction periods, human disturbance can destroy the spatial continuity of ecosystems and greatly change the ground ecological landscape, which results in significant variation in the natural ecosystem structure, matter circulation, energy flow, and damage to the original harmful harmonious ecological landscape (Xu et al. 2010). Traditional ecological restoration can restore the natural ecosystem through artificially accelerating the natural succession process (Ren and Peng 2001). The presence of human disturbance, however, often divides a large and continuous distributed natural habitat into a great number of smaller habitat patches. These smaller habitats may not suit the ecology, and lack of linkage between the recovery zones may cause reduced biodiversity and landscape stability in the new disturbed landscape. Landscape corridors significantly affect continuity and intercommunication of species, matter circulation, and energy flow (Rosenberg et al. 1997; Snyder 2002). Using the corridor to link independent ecological areas can effectively reduce the adverse islanding effect. Construction of ecological corridors is a reliable solution for the maintenance of ecological safety and construction of green hydropower. Results indicate that new ecological systems can naturally form soon after the completion of a corridor network. Furthermore, habitat fragmentation tends to decline. Plant recovery and biodiversity enrichment reduce water and soil loss. 4.3 Management Improvements Ecological environment protection is an important management aspect during the rural hydropower development process. It is necessary to establish a management model to guide the planning, construction,

and operation of the project, promoting the positive ecological environmental effects and reducing the negative impacts. Jiang et al. (2010) constructed an ecological environmentally friendly hydropower project management model based on previous project management methods and knowledge. Moreover, a project management-based index system was proposed based on a generally induced ordered weighted averaging operator and an AHP. The case study results suggest that the leading factor which restricts the maturity of rural hydropower development is ecological environment protection. Project management therefore requires a step improvement to match the increasing requirement of ecological environment protection. Thus, it can be concluded that rural hydropower managers and operators must improve their knowledge, techniques, and experience regarding ecological environment protection. Ecological regulating is another comprehensive management strategy and an important technique for river ecological restoration. So far, ecological regulation in China has largely been aimed at improving the water quality and river course structure. The existing application regulating practices seek to solve problems such as eutrophication, saline water intrusion, and wetland degradation. Ecological regulation can be categorized into three styles according to the regulating target: water quality improvement, river course structure improvement, and riparian/wetlands restoration (Tan et al. 2009). The third style is directly used for ecological protection. However, ecological regulating practices for species protection and river course habitat improvement are still to be established. It is therefore necessary to conduct ecological regulation for specific biological conservation objectives according to the prediction of national population, social and economic growth, and water resource exploitation characteristics. Ecological regulation also satisfies the requirements of water temperature, water quality, and water quantity for the river ecosystem. Researchers in developed countries including the USA, Japan, Germany, and Australia address the conditions of flood control safety rather than power generation and irrigation by regulating the time series of the releasing flow flux. This is found to restore the natural hydrological rhythm in the downstream river reaches. As a result, the presence of artificial flood peak is believed to restore the natural water fluctuation character and regulate

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water quality, water temperature, and sediment, thus promoting restoration of natural habitats (Harman and Stewardson 2005). Currently, there is no ecological and environmental monitoring information network in China (Chen and Zhou 1996). Moreover, there is no completed database of rare fish, nor an aquatic organism protection plan for large river basins and important river reaches. There is also a lack of matured techniques and engineering experience. Furthermore, the foundation of water ecological information is weak, since the fish data in northern China are based upon the fisheries resource survey material obtained in the 1950s and 1980s; after more than 20 years, water resource exploitation of much of the river and lake water ecology has been changed (Jia et al. 2006). With the fast development of information technology, construction of remote real-time, dynamic ecological environment monitoring networks is close to fruition, based on ecological environment databases backed up by global information system data. The management of information monitoring networks can reduce the adverse impacts of rural hydropower exploitation on ecological environments and promote sustainable resource utilization and ecological environment improvement.

5 Summary, Conclusions, and Further Work China has abundant rural hydropower resources, which will supply sustainable power for local economic and social development. Rural hydropower is not only the backbone of the countrys energy development plan but is also a major contributor to rural infrastructure construction employment and poverty alleviation. As a clean and renewable energy, the pursuit of rural hydropower is a responsible means of satisfying the huge energy demands of rapid Chinese economic advancement. Although rural hydropower development can avoid hazardous gas emissions and reduce firewood and fossil fuel demands, uncontrolled development has the potential to cause serious adverse ecological and environment effects. China has more than 60 years of rural hydropower development history, encompassing the identified ecological environment protection stages of voluntary, awakening, and positive implementation. During this

period, the Chinese government continually updated guidance and introduced legal requirements for ecological and environmental protection. This has not always produced the desired effect since the period has coincided with cultural changes in project funding and the pursuit of personal wealth. The present study summarized the positive and negative ecological environmental effects caused by Chinese rural hydropower exploitation. Since most hydropower stations are located in water source areas and ecologically fragile regions, there are potentially serious adverse effects such as changes in hydrological conditions, sediment deposition, aquatic ecosystem structure alteration, and river ecological water demand variation. Without efficient implementation of ecological environment protection countermeasures, rural hydropower exploitation can lead to irreparable ecological disasters. In order to identify and assess the ecological impacts on the environment originating from rural hydropower development practices, various evaluation methods including FAHP, the ES model, the PSR conceptual model, and the EEEI index system are used for ecological engineering management. A technical analysis of the methodologies indicated that FAHP, the index evaluation system, and the systematic evaluation model are the most frequently used tools for evaluation work. The index evaluation system is most effective when judging rural hydropower exploitation impacts on the environment and should therefore be promoted in new guidelines. Moreover, more relevant case studies where these methods have been applied should be compared with each other. However, the current problem is the lack of willingness to share information between different international institutions. Ecological environment protection should be considered during the initial planning process of rural hydropower constructions. Any plan should balance economic and ecological interests. Environmental protection strategies should be incorporated into regional watershed management plans, and ecological restoration techniques should be applied to reduce potentially negative impacts of rural hydropower projects on the natural environment. The monitoring of these measures is important. However, there is frequently little extra funding available for followup studies after infrastructure projects have been completed.

Water Air Soil Pollut (2012) 223:30333048 Acknowledgments This study was supported by the Ministry of Water Resource, Public Interest Scientific Research Fund (Strategy for Danjiangkou reservoir drinking water safety), Central Public Interest Scientific Institution Research Fund (Phosphorus transfer in the water level fluctuating zone of the Danjiangkou reservoir, no. CKSF2012020/CJ), and the Ministry of Water Resource, Public Interest Scientific Research Fund (Research on ecological environment impact assessment and protection countermeasures of rural hydropower development, no. 201101027). The authors greatly appreciate the technical support provided by Ms. Shufang He in the figure mapping process.

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