this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
186 points (99.5% liked)

news

24194 readers
709 users here now

Welcome to c/news! Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember... we're all comrades here.

Rules:

-- PLEASE KEEP POST TITLES INFORMATIVE --

-- Overly editorialized titles, particularly if they link to opinion pieces, may get your post removed. --

-- All posts must include a link to their source. Screenshots are fine IF you include the link in the post body. --

-- If you are citing a twitter post as news please include not just the twitter.com in your links but also nitter.net (or another Nitter instance). There is also a Firefox extension that can redirect Twitter links to a Nitter instance: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ or archive them as you would any other reactionary source using e.g. https://archive.today/ . Twitter screenshots still need to be sourced or they will be removed --

-- Mass tagging comm moderators across multiple posts like a broken markov chain bot will result in a comm ban--

-- Repeated consecutive posting of reactionary sources, fake news, misleading / outdated news, false alarms over ghoul deaths, and/or shitposts will result in a comm ban.--

-- Neglecting to use content warnings or NSFW when dealing with disturbing content will be removed until in compliance. Users who are consecutively reported due to failing to use content warnings or NSFW tags when commenting on or posting disturbing content will result in the user being banned. --

-- Using April 1st as an excuse to post fake headlines, like the resurrection of Kissinger while he is still fortunately dead, will result in the poster being thrown in the gamer gulag and be sentenced to play and beat trashy mobile games like 'Raid: Shadow Legends' in order to be rehabilitated back into general society. --

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

China has demolished 300 dams and shut down most of the small hydropower stations on a major tributary of the upper Yangtze River to safeguard fish populations as part of an effort to restore the ecology of Asia’s longest waterway.

According to a report by the state news agency Xinhua on Monday, 300 of the 357 dams on Chishui He – also known as the Red River – had been dismantled by the end of December 2024. In addition, 342 out of 373 small hydropower stations have been decommissioned, enabling many rare fish species to resume their natural reproductive cycles, the Xinhua report said.

The Red River flows for more than 400km (249 miles) through the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. It is regarded by ecologists as the last refuge for rare and endemic fish species in the Yangtze’s upper reaches.

Over the decades, water flows have been increasingly blocked by the dense network of hydropower stations and dams, restricting water volumes downstream and occasionally even causing some sections to dry up entirely.

This has drastically reduced the amount of suitable habitat and spawning grounds. The stations also blocked the routes of migratory fish species between breeding grounds and non-breeding areas.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] bort@hexbear.net 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] gueybana@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

What exactly do you think I’m asking about here?

A proposed dam literally the size of the entire subcontinent?

[–] bort@hexbear.net 15 points 1 week ago

If you’re making a joke I’m sorry I’m just drunk and missing it.

[–] bort@hexbear.net 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Why would a dam displace hundreds of millions of people?

Water still passes through them even if it’s slightly reduced while they fill. It’s not like the rivers in India suddenly dry up.

[–] gueybana@hexbear.net 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Dams can have downstream environmental impacts, among them are changes in water flow and water quality from the wild fluctuations in temperature. The river in question is one of the 10 largest in the world and it feeds into an even larger system

This dam has been a topic I’ve heard discussed a few times among people I know and I tend to feel like an idiot for not having a response because this does sound like a pretty big deal.

It could just be scare mongering from rightists I’m hearing. Maybe China has somehow found an appropriate environmental management plan. My OP sounded confrontational but I’m honestly concerned by this and I was hoping someone with more knowledge of the Chinese side of thinking give me some insight.

Edit: I almost forgot, I’m literally in a thread celebrating the destruction of dams by China for good reason.

[–] semioticbreakdown@hexbear.net 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

the raised water levels as a result of the dam is what necessitates displacement. but it wouldnt be hundreds of millions. Three Gorges resulted in 1+ million ppl being resettled

[–] gueybana@hexbear.net 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Three Gorges resulted in 1+ million ppl being resettled

The Yangtze river spans almost entirely in China. China has the logistical capacity to make all of the necessary efforts for environmental impact mitigation and the prevention of the displacement people. This number would be much worse in a different country.

This new dam spans several different countries. I dunno, seems pretty bad on the surface

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

China would be building the dam within China, right? So the raised water level doesn't impact India (and India might have a slightly lower water level and the other issues expressed, but those aren't nearly as extreme effects as far as human settlement goes). It looks like the river between the origin point and the station is located entirely in Tibet (almost the whole length of it that is in Tibet, the station is right near where it crosses the border to India).

I think some of China's environmental planning has been bad or negligent or short-sighted or whatever (e.g. encroaching on natural deserts and not just the ones they caused), but based on the given information, this seems like a manageable problem at worst.

[–] Meltyheartlove@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

From what I remember reading in the past, the rivers on the Indian side always get flooded and destroy villages every year so lower flow might be good for them but maybe the southern most states are affected? (not completely sure but that is how I remember it)

[–] Adkml@hexbear.net 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hundreds of millions certainly seems like a stretch but dams displace people when there's suddenly a 300' lake in valleys where people lived.

Not sure of the specifics of this project but it's one of the major drawbacks of large scale hydro, it was a big problem with the TVA dams in America. Old crow medicine show has a song about it called "half mile down".

https://youtu.be/4E_AjWGsQJ0

[–] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] Adkml@hexbear.net 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Obviously the bot won't reply to this but is there an easy way to post one of those links in the first place?

[–] blobjim@hexbear.net 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You can just replace the domain name "youtube.com" with one of those domains. They all use the same format as the official youtube URLs.

[–] Adkml@hexbear.net 1 points 1 week ago