New Map Sheds Light on Tawu Protest and the Future of Eastern Tibet

Recently it was reported that tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered in Tawu county of Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to protest against government plans to build a large dam between Nyagchu and Tawu counties. Local authorities had issued a relocation notice to the locals, which in turn incited the protest. The incident resulted in the police shooting at the protesters.

In a previous blog post, I opined that the dam is the Lianghekou dam because news reports do not mention the name of the dam. The Lianghekou will be one of the world's tallest dams at nearly 300 meters in height. The dam is designed with a 6.33 billion cubic meter capacity reservoir that will extend 90 km from the dam up the Nyagchu River. A reservoir so large will most likely require relocation of thousands of farmers living along the river.

It should be noted here that Lianghekou is just one of the 21 dams built/planned on the Nyagchu River by the Ertan Hydropower Development Company. I write this blog post to share the following map of these dams.



I will not repeat what is clearly shown in the map. Click on the map to deduce for yourself how these dams will change the face of eastern Tibet. This map is the most accurate publicly available document of its kind.

Here are three questions I would like to pose to readers to ponder and research:

1. Where are most of the corruption happening within these projects, assuming corruption is endemic in the Chinese dam industry? 

2. Where will most of the power generated from these dams be diverted? To the west for China's most ambitious copper mine/smelter, the Yulong, or to the east for Chinese cities, or for the local communities?

3. What is the best way to raise awareness about the social and environmental costs of these projects within China?

Dams Planned, Under Construction, or Operated by Ertan Hydropower Development Company, Ltd. on the Nyagchu (Yalong River), Sichuan, PRC

There are currently 21 hydropower dam planned, under construction, or operated on the Nyagchu (Yalong River) by Ertan Hydropower Development Company, Ltd.. These are listed below and their locations shown on the map above. The five categories are those given on the Ertan website and are most likely out of date. While the operational dams and dams under construction are still correct, it is possible that one or more of the dams said to be in the preparatory stage to be in fact more accurately characterized as under construction.

Location of Projects on the Map

The positions of the projects on the map have been estimated from the Ertan Cascade Projects Planning chart, several maps showing planned dams along the Nyagchu, a 1984 report on dams planned in the PRC by U.S. Department of Commerce which included a map and a cascade chart for all but one of the dams from Lainghekou south, and additional geographical information about the dams. The locations of projects from Lianghekou south have been confirmed by at least two sources as well as the Cascade Projects Planning chart. The distances up the river were also verified using the path option in Google Earth, which in a couple of cases was surprisingly accurate. The Ertan dam is visible in Google Earth image so coordinates are available for it. The map is not definitive (i.e. is not based on a exact coordinates verified on the ground), but is accurate for its scale, based on information currently publicly available. It corrects some of the maps which were used as sources, and is more accurate and complete than any we were able to find.

The following information are directly from the website of Ertan Hydropower Development Company.

Power Station in Operation

Ertan
The Ertan website states "Ertan Hydropower Station is China’s largest hydropower station completed in the 20th century. Construction of Ertan Power Station created several “No. Ones” in China and in the world, which are:

No. ones in China:
1. China’s first high dam exceeding 200m.
2. China’s largest group of underground caverns and tunnels (also the largest in Asia).
3. China’s largest power plant built in the 20th century (with a total capacity of 3,300MW).
4. China’s largest unit capacity of 550MW, realizing a big leap from 335MW to 550MW.
5. China’s first hydropower project fully open for international competitive bidding.

No. ones in the world:
1. A project for which the World Bank provided the largest loan as a single project.
2. The total load of 980 tonnes taken by the dam and the designed spillway capacity of 22,480 m3/s are the largest among high dams in the world.
3. The cross section of the diversion tunnels (23m high by 17.5m wide) is the largest in the world."


Projects Under Construction

Jinping I
Located in the counties of Yanyuan and Muli, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its large reservoir makes it a controlling project in the lower reach of the main river. Jinping-I is huge in scale, and power generation is its main purpose. The project has a total installed capacity of 3,600MW (6 × 600MW). Its total storage capacity is 7.76 billion m3, and with a regulation storage of 4.91 billion m3, it is a storage capacity is 7.76 billion m3, and with a regulation storage of 4.91 billion m3. The project consists of permanent structures categorized as water retaining, spillway and dissipation, and power tunnels and powerhouse complex. Its 305m-high double curvature concrete arch dam is one of the world’s highest dams. Total construction period of the project is 9 years and 3 months, and its total static investment is RMB19.68 billion yuan, while the total dynamic investment is RMB24.58 billion yuan.

Jinping II
Located on the large Jinping River Bend, and is the second of the five cascade projects on the river section from Kala down to the estuary. Jinping-II is designed to cut the 150km river bend by a group of power tunnels to use the natural drop created by the bend. The project primarily consists of a headwork sluice dam, spillway structures, power tunnels and powerhouse complex. The dam is 7.5km downstream of Jinping-I dam. Jinping-II reservoir itself only has a capacity of daily regulation, but when jointly operated with Jinping-I, it also has the capacity of yearly regulation. The 4 power tunnels have an average length of 16.6km and an excavated diameter of 13m, which are among the world’s longest and largest hydraulic tunnels. The powerhouse complex sits underground on the other side of the river bend. The project has a total installed capacity of 4,800MW (8 × 600MW), which gives a multiyear average annual generation of 24.23TWh. Total construction period of the project is 8 years and 3 months, and its total static investment is RMB24.98 billion yuan, while the total dynamic investment is RMB29.77 billion yuan.


Projects in Preparatory Stage

Guandi
Situated 30 km from Xichang City in straight line and 80 km by road. It is the third of the five cascade projects on the river section from Kala to the estuary, and connects with the downstream Ertan Project. The main purpose of Guandi Project is power generation, and its total installed capacity is 2400MW. With the maximum height of the dam being 168m. The reservoir has a total storage of 760 million cubic meters. The complex mainly consists of a RCC (roller compacted concrete) gravity dam, an underground powerhouse on the right bank, and spillway facilities. Its total static investment is RMB12.49 billion yuan, while the total dynamic investment is RMB15.2 billion yuan.

Tongzilin
Situated in Yanbian County of Panzhihua municipality, Sichuan Province, 18km to its upstream Ertan Dam and 15km to the confluence of the Yalong and Jinsha rivers. It is the last cascade project on the Yalong River. The total installed capacity of the project is 600MW (4×150MW). The complex consists of the water-retaining dam sections on both sides, a river-bed type powerhouse, and spillway structures. The maximum dam height is 66.63m, and the length of the dam crest is 468.7m."

Lianghekou
Situated in Yajiang County of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The project sits where the Yalong merges respectively with the Qingda and Xianshui rivers, hence the name “lianghekou” (meaning “estuary of two rivers”). Because of its particular location with one dam blocking three rivers, and because of its large reservoir, this project is truly a controlling project in the middle and lower reaches of the Yalong. The reservoir, with a regulation storage of 6.33 billion cubic meters, has the capacity of multi-year regulation, and will therefore provide good compensation for all its downstream cascade power stations on the Yalong and even on the Jinsha and Yangtze. The total installed capacity of the project is 3,000MW. The project has favorable development conditions, and will play an important role in improvement of the power source structure of Sichuan power grid, optimization of power source configuration, and fulfillment of the strategy of West-to-East transmission of electric energy. It is a strategic fulfillment of the strategy of West-to-East transmission of electric energy. It is a strategic project for hydroelectric development of the Yalong River and even the whole West, and for coordinated socioeconomic development.


Projects in Investigation Stage

The Ertan website states "The middle reach river section, from Lianghekou to Kala, is 268km long. According to the approved planning, there are six projects in this section of the river, namely Lianghekou (3,000MW), Yagen (1,400MW), Lenggu (2,718MW), Mengdigou (1,840MW), Yangfanggou (1,500MW), and Kala (1,080MW), with a total capacity of approximately 11.54GW. Of these projects, Lianghekou has a large controlling reservoir.

Yagen Hydroelectric Project Yagen Hydroelectric Project is located in Yajiang County of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its intended capacity is 1,400MW, which will yield a multi-year power generation of 6,368GWh. The expected static investment is about 9.64 billion yuan.

Lenggu Hydroelectric Project Lenggu Hydroelectric Project is located in Kangding and Yajiang counties of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its intended capacity is 2,718MW, which will yield a multi-year power generation of 12,570GWh. The expected static investment is about 22.25 billion yuan. Pre-feasibility study of the project is in process.

Mengdigou Hydroelectric Project Mengdigou Hydroelectric Project is located in Jiulong County of Ganzi Prefecture and Muli County of Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its intended capacity is 1,840MW, which will yield a multi-year power generation of 9,070GWh. The expected static investment is about 12.62 billion yuan. Pre-feasibility study of the project is in process.

Yangfanggou Hydroelectric Project Yangfanggou Hydroelectric Project is located in Muli County of Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its intended capacity is 1,500MW, which will yield a multi-year power generation of 7,05GWh. The expected static investment is about 10.77 billion yuan. Pre-feasibility study of the project is in process.

Kala Hydroelectric Project Kala Hydroelectric Project is located in Muli County of Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its intended capacity is 1,080MW, which will yield a multi-year power generation of 5,24GWh. The expected static investment is about 9.0 billion yuan. Pre-feasibility study of the project is in process."


Projects in Planning Stage

The Ertan website states, "The upper reach of the river, from Jiayisi to Lianghekou, is 688km long, and development planning for this section is underway. Based on the investigation data obtained to date, 10 cascade projects with a total installed capacity of 3,250MW are intended to be built, which are Wenbosi (150MW), Renqingling (300MW),Reba (250MW), Ada (250MW), Geni (200MW), Tongha (200MW), Yingda (500MW), Xinlong (500MW), Gongke (400MW), and Gongbagou (500MW)."

Read more on this article...

Police shoot at Tibetan protesters: which dam project is it?

Two weeks ago in Tawu region in Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, there was a major protest against relocation of tens of thousands of Tibetans to make room for a dam/reservoir. The most shocking part of news was that officials from China's Public Security Bureau and People's Armed Police shot "indiscriminately" into the crowd and left six Tibetan women "seriously wounded." I blogged about the news sharing some photos and Google Earth images of the region.

Unfortunately, there is very little information about the protest. Both Tibetan language and English language sources use the same narrative about the incident with no specific information about the dam project. This leaves us wondering: how are so many Tibetans affected by a dam project? Which dam project is this? Here are my answers (please correct me if you think I am wrong):

It is the Lianghekou dam project (see copyright-free map below). The Lianghekou is a very large reservoir that will be built at the confluence of three rivers: Nyagchu (or Yalong), Qingda and Xianshui (does anyone know the Tibetan name for this river? Is it Dachu? Zhe Chu?). It is designed as one of the three regulatory reservoirs for 21 dams that are built/planned on the Nyagchu River by the Ertan Hydropower Development Company. According to information on company's website, the reservoir's capacity is 6.33 billion cubic meters, the second largest on the river. It is estimated that the reservoir will extend 90 km from the dam up the Nyagchu, 80 km up the Xianshui River approaching Tawu, and 28 km up the Qingda (see google earth image below).


[This map is copyright-free. Please use it!]


[Rough estimation of Lianghekou Reservoir extension according to altitude and distance. This is guesswork: do not use this image. Stay tuned. I will post more accurate information soon]

Who funds these dam projects?
Ertan Hydropower Development Company is jointly owned by China's State Development & Investment Corporation (48% of shares), the Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Co., Ltd. (48%), and China Huadian Corporation (4%). According to the General Manager Chen Yunhua, Ertan Hydroelectric Project was "the only project world-wide which received, as a single project, the biggest sum of loan (930 million USD equivalent) from the World Bank" (see p.5 of the link).

Is the project good for the local people, the economy or the environment?
Agriculture and pastoralism are the main livelihoods of the people in the region. The Lianghekou Reservoir will inundate most of the farms (agricultural fields) and villages within the area it will cover. The area is also famous for its forests and beautiful lakes. Below is a Google Earth image as an example of farmland and forest area near the Xianshui River that will be inundated by the reservoir. Marshall and Cooke has written about China's disturbing logging practices in the region, which probably continued until such practices were banned in the late 90's due to flooding downstream in the Yangtze River. I also found this essay about the region's wondrous beauty by a little girl from Kangding (Dartsedo) Middle School.



If the project is so bad for the local economy, the environment and the people, one has to ask why local authorities are so adamant about the project going ahead that they would shoot at protesters. What do you think?
Read more on this article...

Soldiers open fire "indiscriminately" at Tibetan dam protestors

The Tibetan Government in Exile has reported at least 6 identified Tibetan women have sustained serious gunshot wounds for protesting against dam projects near their home. I have copy/pasted the entire story below. For some reason I didn't see the news until this afternoon. Here are some more information and photos about/from the region that might help contextualize the story.

Here is photo of Tawu County (རྟའུ་རྫོང༑) called Daofu Xian administrative seat. The two photos shared here are from Marshall and Cooke's landmark study, Tibet Outside TAR. I recommend reading a description of Tawu County by the same authors. The River Xianshui flows West to East on the South of Tawu county seat, after which it takes a sharp turn South to join Ngyagchu (ཉག་ཆུ༑) or Yalong River, near Nyagchuka (Ch: Yajiang) county. The thousands of protesters reported here are from areas situated between these two county seats: Tawu and Nyagchuka.


Here is an aerial (satellite) shot of the same area from Google Earth. Date photo taken and longtitude/latitude coordinates are visible if you click on the photos.


Here is a photo of Nyagchuka's Tibetan town, on the East side of the river. Again, this photo is from Marshall and Cooke's study, Tibet Outside TAR.


Since I first located the Indus River (Senge Tsangpo) dam on Google Earth, a friend and I have been searching other areas of the Tibetan Plateau for noticeable images. We found a lot of interesting stuff, including many dams and mining sites. And guess what, two of the dams we had marked are from this length of river where the dam is being built! Unfortunately the resolution of much of the region is not clear except for one patch (of image) which was taken nearly two years ago. These two dams are from that patch of image. If any of the readers have paid subscription to Google Earth and can help find other interesting stuff, that'd be much appreciated.

Note that the dams identified here are (most likely) not the one people are protesting. As the images show, these are relatively small run-off-river dams with no reservoirs. It is possible that of these are being submerged by the reservoir against which people are protesting. Notice that much of the surrounding area are forests and agricultural lands.





Also, I wonder why there were so many protestors against one dam. It must be a very big dam, with a huge reservoir that requires inundation of vast areas of land.

Yalong, or Nyagchu, is also the site for a planned 175-meter high dam, which will be connected with a 131 km long water diversion tunnel for the Western Route of the South-North Water Transfer Project.

OK, here's the news article from the Tibetan Government-in-Exile:

6 Tibetans Seriously Wounded in Protests Against China's Hydroelectric Dam Project

Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 10:00 a.m.
Dharamshala: At least 6 Tibetan women have sustained serious gunshot wounds after Chinese security forces opened fire at a group of Tibetans in Tawu County, who were venting their anger against China's forceful relocation of tens of thousands of local Tibetans, sources reported Monday.

The Public Security Bureau officials and People's Armed Police indiscriminately fired at Tibetan residents of Tawu and Nyagchu County in Karze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, at around 11 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, 24 May.

The sources attributed the incident to China's construction of a major hydroelectric dam between Nyagchu and Tawu County, which is resulting in a large-scale displacement of local Tibetans. The government coerced local residents of Tawu County to sign a document as it begin to plan the construction work in early 2008.

This year the Chinese authorities again reinforce their relocation plan, which was vehemently opposed by the Tibetans who refused to leave their ancestral lands and houses.

Subsequently, on 5 May 2009, the Chinese government dispatched a large number of armed police to the region and destroyed homes of some families, including those of Ati Gyatso Tsang and Chego Pezi Tsang.

Earlier, the authorities convened a meeting and erected a stone pillar in their plan to relocate the residents of Wara Mato town to another place. Expressing strong opposition to the forced relocation policy, the angry residents led by an old woman named Lhamo, who is believed to be aged above 70, refused to move saying they are owner of the land and destroyed the pillar.

Consequently, as residents from Tawu and Nyagchu districts gathered in the region to protest the arrival of large number of troops on the morning of 24 May, the army fired shots leaving six Tibetan women seriously wounded.

Those wounded have been identified as Tsering Lhamo, Rigzin Lhamo, Dolma, Kelsang, Dolkar and Khaying.

But sources could not tell whether those injured are dead or alive as they were forcibly taken away after the firing incident. Read more on this article...