{"id":537,"date":"2014-06-09T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T05:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tibetnature.lhasocialwork.com\/en\/?p=537"},"modified":"2014-06-12T16:39:25","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T11:09:25","slug":"current-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/current-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water Pollution and Scarcity<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is obvious that there would be catastrophic consequences\u00a0to the billions of people downstream if Tibet\u2019s rivers were\u00a0to become severely polluted. In many of the reliant regions\u00a0water treatment facilities are very basic, and many people\u00a0rely on the rivers for drinking water as well as for irrigation\u00a0and for other daily needs. In China water pollution is already\u00a0a serious problem. Up to 45,000 million tons of untreated\u00a0waste water currently enters China\u2019s rivers every year(Edmonds 1994).<\/p>\n

Approximately 700 million people \u2014 over\u00a0half of China\u2019s population \u2014 consume drinking water\u00a0contaminated with animal and human waste (Cai 1993). In\u00a0many Chinese cities today, rivers are biologically dead and\u00a0are little more than a toxic soup of human and industrial\u00a0wastes. One half of the ground water in the cities of China\u00a0is contaminated (Zhang 1994).China\u2019s unbridled economic growth, industrialisation and\u00a0urbanisation have contributed to widespread water pollution\u00a0and scarcity.<\/p>\n

China has some of the extreme cases of water\u00a0shortage in the world. Out of 640 major cities, more than\u00a0300 face water shortage, with 100 facing severe scarcities\u00a0(NEPA 1997). Water shortages in cities cause a loss of an\u00a0estimated US$ 11.2 billion in industrial output each year.\u00a0The impact of water pollution on human health has been\u00a0valued approximately at US$ 3.9 billion annually (The World\u00a0Bank 1997).\u00a0Until China deals with this problem in its industrial centres,\u00a0it seems unlikely it will devote significant attention to the\u00a0quality of water flows outside its borders. In Lhasa, plastic\u00a0waste and oil waste from mechanical workshops can be seen\u00a0dumped on the banks of rivers. During the flood season\u00a0these get washed into rivers.<\/p>\n

A \u2018TAR\u2019 government report\u00a0on the state of its environment in 1996 reported that 41.9\u00a0million tons of waste liquid were produced that year. The\u00a0report also noted that the trend for rivers in the Lhasa area\u00a0was towards increasing pollution (Tibet Daily 1997). Lhasa,\u00a0therefore, appears to be following the path of Chinese cities.\u00a0For rivers such as the Indus, Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0(Brahmaputra), Sutlej, Karnali, Bhumchu (Arun), Lhodrak\u00a0Sharchu (Manas), Salween and Mekong which all originate\u00a0from the Tibetan plateau to flow into various regions in\u00a0Asia, the threats of Chinese development on the Plateau\u00a0are far-reaching.<\/p>\n

While industrial development is still relatively\u00a0small-scale in the upper reaches of these watersheds, and\u00a0population density also relatively low, the main sources of\u00a0severe pollution can be traced to mining activities. Mining is\u00a0one of the \u201cFour Pillar\u201d industries in the \u2018TAR\u2019 and it is a\u00a0considerable threat to the purity of rivers in Tibet. Tailings\u00a0from copper, gold, chromite and other mines on the plateau\u00a0pollute rivers with sulphuric acid, cyanide and heavy metals.\u00a0These are carried downstream where they infiltrate soils as\u00a0well as the water supply of millions of people.<\/p>\n

Other major\u00a0pollution threats can be attributed to increasing levels of\u00a0untreated sewage, increasing nitrate run-off as a result of\u00a0the intensification of agriculture and increasing levels of\u00a0animal wastes due to the increase in meat production.<\/p>\n

Development Disasters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additional threats to Tibet\u2019s rivers depend upon the level to\u00a0which China allows the mountains surrounding the Yarlung\u00a0Tsangpo, Mekong and Salween watersheds to become\u00a0deforested as well as the strategy China chooses for\u00a0developing hydro power and irrigation resources on these\u00a0rivers. By controlling Tibet, China controls the ecological\u00a0viability of a massive section of South and Southeast Asia\u2019s\u00a0river systems.<\/p>\n

To date, China has most extensively affected\u00a0its own principle rivers \u2014 the Yellow and the Yangtze \u2014\u00a0with its current development strategies on the plateau. The\u00a0Yellow River is suffering dramatically from a shortage of\u00a0water in its lower reaches, partly due to the huge dams in\u00a0the upper reaches in Amdo. The Yangtze has suffered from\u00a0deforestation in its upper reaches which triggers to turn the\u00a0annual flood into a disaster scenario. In March 1999 the\u00a0Director of China\u2019s State Environment Protection\u00a0Administration, Xie Zhenhua, suggested that \u201cecological\u00a0reserves should be developed in source areas of the Yellow\u00a0and Yangtze rivers\u201d (Xinhua, 14 March 1999).\u00a0Mekong and Salween are threatened by increased\u00a0deforestation in the upper reaches in Tibet as well as by\u00a0hydro power development.<\/p>\n

The Yarlung Tsangpo is becoming\u00a0increasingly interrupted by medium-sized dams in Tibet and\u00a0may one day host the biggest dam in the world. If this scheme\u00a0were implemented it would impede the downstream flow\u00a0of the primary resources \u2014 water and alluvial sediment \u2014that India and Bangladesh depend on. These issues demand\u00a0an urgent and unprecedented degree of regional and\u00a0international cooperation if Tibet\u2019s resources are to continue\u00a0to benefit the billions of people who live downstream.<\/p>\n

Since the occupation of Tibet, the Chinese government\u00a0has embarked upon unsustainable development schemes in\u00a0the region which have adversely impacted most of the rivers\u00a0and some of the lakes in Tibet. The level of industrial and\u00a0other development in the region is not geographically\u00a0balanced. The northeastern province, Amdo, has far more\u00a0industry than U-Tsang \u2014 or Central Tibet \u2014 so pollution\u00a0problems are higher there and dam-building is on a much\u00a0larger scale. In the southeastern province, Kham, the main \u00a0issue is deforestation as well as increasing river fragmentation\u00a0caused by extensive dam-building. In U-Tsang pollution and\u00a0dam construction is only recently on the increase.<\/p>\n

Water\u00a0utilization is set to increase as agricultural intensification is stepped up. Decreasing levels of precipitation in U-Tsang\u00a0and shrinking glaciers could multiply the impact of new water intensive\u00a0developments . Lakes, which are also experiencing\u00a0accelerated shrinking due to human interference and partly\u00a0due to climatic change, are also being increasingly exploited\u00a0for water, fish and power production within the last five\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n

These issues will be examined on a watershed basis\u00a0in order to assess the specific impact of developments on each watershed\u2019s ecological function. Currently the\u00a0watersheds of concern are the Yarlung Tsangpo, Mekong,\u00a0Salween, Yellow and the Yangtze river basins.<\/p>\n

YARLUNG TSANGPO WATERSHED<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Yarlung Tsangpo watershed drains most of the southern\u00a0part of Tibet except for the area just north of Chomolungma\u00a0(Mt. Everest). It originates from Western Tibet just southeast\u00a0of Mapham Tso (Lake Manasarover). The Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0flows east through the most densely populated region of\u00a0Tibet, irrigating most of the agricultural land in the historical\u00a0Yarlung valley.<\/p>\n

Then it passes through Shigatse City and,\u00a0flowing south of Lhasa, it drains the Kyichu river. East of\u00a0Lhasa it flows through the once forested and now degraded\u00a0Kongpo region before turning abruptly near Mt.\u00a0Namchakbarwa to the south, cutting straight through the\u00a0Himalayan divide to flow into India as\u00a0Brahmaputra and then to Bangladesh.\u00a0The Yarlung Tsangpo and its two major\u00a0tributaries, the Nyangchu and the Kyichu, have\u00a0become the foci of development plans in the\u00a0\u2018TAR\u2019. The Three Rivers Development Project\u00a0(TRDP), also known as \u201cOne River Two\u00a0Streams\u201d was first announced in May 1991. It refers to the area encompassing the Yarlung Tsangpo, theNyangchu and the Kyichu and is bordered in the north by\u00a0Nagchu and in the northeast by Chamdo. It includes 18\u00a0cities, 231 towns and 1,890 villages (Yan 1998a). It is a\u00a0comprehensive infrastructural development plan\u00a0concentrating principally on agricultural development but\u00a0also on communications, transport and energy sectors.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with the TRDP, a further list of \u201c62 Aid\u00a0Projects\u201d for the \u2018TAR\u2019 was announced in 1994. The term\u00a0\u201cAid\u201d in the title of this plan refers to the funding for the\u00a0project, which comes from individual cities or provinces in\u00a0China as an \u201caid gift\u201d to support the development of the\u00a0\u2018TAR\u2019. The \u201c62 Aid Projects\u201d and the TRDP include the\u00a0largest irrigation projects to be built so far in the \u2018TAR\u2019. The\u00a0plans also involve a significant increase in energy generation\u00a0capacity in the \u2018TAR\u2019, most of which isderived from\u00a0hydropower.<\/p>\n

Aiding Who?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under the recent development plans encompassed by the\u00a0TRDP and the \u201c62 Aid Projects\u201d, increased exploitation of\u00a0the Yarlung Tsangpo watershed\u2019s resources is a major feature.\u00a0The main emphasis has been on increasing irrigation capacity,\u00a0particularly in the Gyangtse and Shigatse areas where the\u00a0Nyangchu is especially exploited. This is to increase the\u00a0production of rapeseed, potatoes, vegetables, winter wheat\u00a0and other crops. This is in itself a controversial policy, as\u00a0these crops are primarily preferred by the Chinese population.\u00a0The Shigatse and Gyangtse region has the largest available\u00a0agricultural land area in the \u2018TAR.\u2019 Most other regions are\u00a0also increasing their irrigation capacity.\u00a0Until recently, Central Tibet has had sporadic electricity\u00a0supplies. These were based on a few key stations around\u00a0Lhasa and some 400 small hydropower plants, most of which\u00a0have been badly planned and maintained, making many of\u00a0them inoperable (Wang and Bai 1991). The new\u00a0developments are likely to change this dramatically with a\u00a0number of large hydropower stations recently being put into\u00a0operation and additional ones under construction, or at the\u00a0planning stage. Many existing small stations are being\u00a0upgraded and improved, such as the Tongchu power station\u00a0northwest of Shigatse.\u00a0Improved power generation is probably welcomed by\u00a0Tibetans, rural and urban alike, and the smaller hydro power\u00a0stations will be relatively environmentally friendly. However,\u00a0the inclusion of a number of bigger plants, and the dual\u00a0facility of some of these for intensive irrigation, may have\u00a0an increasing impact on the environment. Sacrificing\u00a0environmental security to provide irrigation for exotic species\u00a0of food crops for the Chinese population in the region is a\u00a0price many Tibetans do not wish to pay.<\/p>\n

Reservations About Reservoirs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The creation of reservoirs behind dams often results in the\u00a0flooding of prime agricultural land. The poor record of\u00a0dam builders and governments in relocating populations\u00a0ousted by reservoirs is well documented.Resettlement has\u00a0been involuntary in Tibet and has often disenfranchised the\u00a0oustees (see Manlha Water Project). The impact of a reservoir on the hydrology of the river\u00a0is well-documented. A reservoir transforms a flowing river\u00a0into a semi-stagnant body of water. Although there are outflows and inflows these are nothing like the natural\u00a0functions of a river, especially as water releases into the\u00a0river below are governed entirely according to the needs of\u00a0electricity generation. The reservoir remains a still body of\u00a0water most of the time. This affects the chemical, thermal\u00a0and physical characteristics of the water. Therefore, the\u00a0temperature and chemical composition of the water released\u00a0from the dam into the river below is often quite different to\u00a0the natural flow. For example, in summer the sun can heat\u00a0the surface of the reservoir while the lower depths will remain\u00a0cold. Releases of water from the top of the reservoir will\u00a0be too warm and likewise those from the lower depths too\u00a0cold. This can have serious consequences for aquatic life.\u00a0Considering the high level of solar radiation in Tibet, and\u00a0the extensive hours of sunshine, surface heating of reservoirs\u00a0is likely to be high in the summer. Reservoirs also encourage\u00a0certain breeds of fish well adapted to lakes to thrive while many species uniquely adapted to the river environment\u00a0may die out thus affecting biodiversity.\u00a0Another feature of reservoirs is that they cause river\u00a0sediments and silt to settle to the bottom. This can cause\u00a0problems over the longterm with the reservoir\u2019s capacity to\u00a0hold water being reduced by the build-up of these sediments.\u00a0A further ecological concern is that this causes the water\u00a0released from the reservoir to become what is termed as\u00a0\u201chungry\u201d. The sediment-free waters seek to recapture their\u00a0sediment load, which causes the water to be more corrosive,\u00a0eroding the bed and banks of the river at a far greater rate\u00a0than normal. This can remove all the erodible material\u00a0from the riverbed below the dam, destroying the habitat of\u00a0benthic invertebrae such as insects, molluscs and crustaceans\u00a0that live in the gravels on the riverbed and provide food for\u00a0fish and waterfowls (McCully, 1996). The longterm effects\u00a0on the morphology of the river are also far reaching. Patrick\u00a0McCully (1996), commenting on this problem, notes:<\/p>\n

In the long run, the major impact on the downstream<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0river channel will often be to make it deeper and<\/strong><\/p>\n

narrower, turning wide-braided, meandering rivers<\/strong><\/p>\n

with gravel bars and beaches and multiple channels<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0into relatively straight single channels. Reducing a<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0braided river to a single channel will greatly<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0diminish the diversity of plants and animals it can\u00a0support.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fragmented and Stagnant Rivers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The overarching consequence of damming rivers is the\u00a0resulting fragmentation of each river as an integral ecosystem.\u00a0This has a devastating effect on many of the species that\u00a0migrate up and down the river with seasonal changes, as\u00a0well as on the morphology and ecology of the river and its\u00a0adjacent flood plains. Fragmentation isolates groups of fish\u00a0species and other aquatic organisms so that breeding within\u00a0a small group causes genetic problems. In cases of already\u00a0endangered species this can lead to an insufficient gene pool\u00a0for breeding and leads to subsequent extinction (McCully\u00a01996).<\/p>\n

Nearly all dams restrict seasonal flooding by storing\u00a0floodwaters and this is often seen as a benefit of the dam. However, seasonal flooding performs a function which is highly beneficial to soil fertility, groundwater recharge and aquatic species regeneration. As floodwater covers the flood plain it brings with it rich nutrients which are left on the soil when the floodwaters recede. This is one of the reasons why flood plain lands are often prime fertile agricultural lands.<\/p>\n

Fish populations have declined severely in many dammed rivers due to fragmentation of their habitat. Sediment buildup in river estuaries is also greatly reduced causing similar problems of soil viability and fish species decline. This has had a severe impact on the breeding grounds of 80 per cent of the world\u2019s fish catch. Mitigation efforts, which involve attempting to release waters in a manner that mimics the natural flow of the river, are rarely successful (McCully 1996).<\/p>\n

Given the highly erodible and fragile soils of the Yarlung Tsangpo valley and its tributaries, this is of major concern in light of the increasing hydro-development in the area. Silt build-up in reservoirs in the Yarlung Tsangpo watershed is also likely to be reducing the overall life of the hydropower\u00a0stations. Additionally, freezing for long periods in the winter\u00a0will reduce the benefits of these developments.<\/p>\n

There are over 400 hydropower stations in the \u2018TAR\u2019\u00a0(Tibet Daily, 27 June 1997). Many of these are concentrated\u00a0in the Yarlung Tsangpo watershed. These are generally small\u00a0run-of-the-river schemes generating less than 500kw, which\u00a0individually have little environmental impact on the river as\u00a0long as they are operated properly.<\/p>\n

Wang and Bai reported\u00a0in 1991 that of 816 small hydro stations set up in U-Tsang,\u00a023.3 per cent were scrapped and 15.7 per cent were\u00a0malfunctioning. Given that recent Chinese news sources\u00a0quote figures of just over 400 stations since then, many\u00a0more have been scrapped. Since 1991, larger-scale projects\u00a0have been emphasised, including at least five projects over\u00a010,000kw (see Table 2). The measure of environmental\u00a0impact of these plants is generally linked to the size of the\u00a0dam and reservoir and the proportion of the natural flow\u00a0of the river that is interrupted.<\/p>\n

Yet other important factors are the amount of water\u00a0used for irrigation, and the degree of intensive irrigation.\u00a0The number of medium-to-large-scale power plants and\u00a0reservoirs created for irrigation in the Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0watershed suggest the beginning of a breakdown of the\u00a0river\u2019s ecological integrity. This could manifest itself in a\u00a0number of ways. The course and condition of the river\u00a0beds may change, becoming less supportive to aquatic wildlife\u00a0to affect the biodiversity of fish and aquatic organisms in\u00a0the river. Sediment transportation may be reduced, affecting\u00a0downstream agriculture. Water transfers downstream from\u00a0irrigated areas may contain higher levels of salts and nitrate\u00a0contamination from chemical fertilisers.<\/p>\n

Over time, the river\u00a0may become like the majority of rivers in the developed\u00a0world today, less of a natural and wild feature supporting\u00a0biodiversity and flood plain vitality, and more of a stagnant\u00a0water body simply carrying water from one utilisation point\u00a0to another.\u00a0This is additionally worrying given the changing climatic\u00a0pattern in the Yarlung Tsangpo watershed.<\/p>\n

In Western Tibet,\u00a0near the source of the river, decreasing precipitation has\u00a0caused the county seat in Dongpa (Ch. Zhongba) County to\u00a0be relocated. According to Yang Yong \u2014 a geologist working\u00a0in the area \u2014 there is the possibility of the Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0becoming a seasonal river in its upper reaches. He attributes\u00a0this to global warming causing glacier reduction and falling\u00a0rates of precipitation in what is already the most arid part\u00a0of the region (Xinhua, 17 September 1998). If the sources\u00a0of the Yarlung Tsangpo dry up, and the trend of falling\u00a0precipitation rates in south-central Tibet continue, the impact\u00a0of major diversions on the river will be greatly increased.<\/p>\n

\"rere\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Saline Soil From Irrigation<\/strong>
\nLarge-scale irrigation projects are known to be notoriously\u00a0wasteful and inefficient in their water use. China\u2019s record of\u00a0efficiency in this respect is far from adequate. According to\u00a0Dong (1990), inefficiency in agricultural irrigation in China\u00a0results in the use of an estimated 66 per cent more water to\u00a0produce the same amount of wheat as in an average\u00a0developed country. China\u2019s irrigation projects, have a longstanding\u00a0reputation for wasting water and causing erosion\u00a0and salinisation \u2014 especially in arid and semi-arid regions.<\/p>\n

About one-sixth of China\u2019s irrigated cropland suffers from\u00a0salinisation. By 1990, 50.4 per cent of the cropland of the\u00a0North China Plain had reached this degraded condition\u00a0(Edmonds 1994). In 1991, salt-affected areas in Northwest\u00a0China were estimated at three million hectares (Umali 1993).<\/p>\n

Saline soil affects the ability of crops to utilise water and\u00a0make biochemical adjustments necessary to their survival.\u00a0Therefore it can greatly reduce yields and in extreme cases\u00a0renders land uncultivable. On the Sarda-Sahayak canal\u00a0irrigation project, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it\u00a0was found that farms with salt-affected land were yielding\u00a041-56 per cent less than non-degraded land in the area.\u00a0Consequently net incomes were reduced by 82-97 per cent.\u00a0At the Menemem irrigation and drainage project in Izmir,\u00a0Turkey, average incomes on salt-affected paddy lands were\u00a0unaffected lands (Umali 1993).<\/p>\n

The disposal of saline water into rivers can have adverse\u00a0downstream impacts. This will compound problems for\u00a0downstream irrigation, municipal and industrial users and\u00a0can also affect wildlife (Umali 1993).<\/p>\n

MANLHA WATER PROJECT<\/strong>
\nJust off the road to Lhasa via Yamdrok Tso, 20 km east of\u00a0Gyangtse, is a huge construction site. This project, the largest\u00a0of the \u201c62 Aid Projects\u201d, involving an investment of 1 billion\u00a0yuan (US$125 million), will irrigate 16,000 hectares of land\u00a0and will have an installed capacity of 20MW (Xinhua, 6\u00a0October 1998). According to eyewitnesses, in 1997 a huge\u00a0town had sprung up around the site to house Chinese workers.\u00a0The dam for Manlha Water Control Works is the largest\u00a0currently under construction and the largest ever built in\u00a0Central Tibet.<\/p>\n

Since the late 1970s, extensive waterworks have been\u00a0built on the Nyangchu. Prior to the Manlha water project,\u00a055 irrigation ditches totalling 399 km, eight small, and
\nmedium-sized reservoirs, 39 ponds and two medium scale\u00a0pumped storage power plants were built up to 1992 (Xiao\u00a01992). All of this development is on a 90 km river in an\u00a0area with only 400 mm average annual rainfall. With the\u00a0implementation of Manlha it appears that the Nyangchu\u00a0will be utilised to its maximum potential. Its course has been\u00a0changed and most of the river is diverted into a series of\u00a0canals. The benefits from this are highly dubious. More land\u00a0is being irrigated and a more diverse range of crops arebeing cultivated. However, the sustainability of these practises\u00a0and the benefits for local Tibetans are questionable.<\/p>\n

Plans for The Great Bend of Yarlung Tsangpo<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Mt. Namchakbarwa (7,756 metres) near the Tibetan\u00a0village of Jodong in Southern Tibet, the Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0enters a canyon that has been recently recognised as the\u00a0longest and deepest canyon in the world (Ciu Bian in Beijing\u00a0Review, 30 March – 5 April 1998). The Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0Gorge is eight times as steep and three times as large as the\u00a0Colorado in the Grand Canyon (McRae 1999). The river\u00a0descends over 3,000 metres in approximately 200 km (Alford\u00a01992) and this constitutes one of the greatest hydropower\u00a0potentials anywhere in the world. Where the river emerges\u00a0from the canyon it enters India\u2019s northeastern state, Arunachal\u00a0Pradesh.<\/p>\n

At a July 1986 conference in Alaska, in which projects\u00a0under the Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF) were discussed,\u00a0the \u201cHimalayan Hydropower Project\u201d was short-listed. This\u00a0envisaged a series of 11 dams around the \u201cBrahmaputra\u00a0loop\u201d and included a tunnel through the mountains bringing\u00a0water to a powerhouse projected as having a capacity of\u00a048,000 Megawatt. The overall capacity of the \u201cloop\u201d was\u00a0speculated to be 70,000 Megawatt (Verghese 1990).<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0unclear what has happened to this ambitious plan; the GIF\u00a0certainly no longer publicises it. However, Chinese engineers\u00a0may be pursuing the idea of a single mega power station\u00a0with an installed capacity of around 40,000 Megawatt. By\u00a0comparison the largest power station in operation today isItaip\u00fa in Brazil, with a total installed capacity of 12,600\u00a0Megawatt. Three Gorges Dam, currently under construction\u00a0on the Yangtze River, will have a capacity of 18,200\u00a0Megawatt. It would become the world\u2019s biggest\u00a0dam.<\/p>\n

This project has also been associated with plans to divert\u00a0water from the Yarlung Tsangpo to the northwestern deserts\u00a0of China using so-called \u201cPeaceful Nuclear Explosions\u201d\u00a0(PNEs) to drive an underground tunnel through the\u00a0mountains (Horgan 1996). China signed the Comprehensive\u00a0Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996, which disallows PNEs.\u00a0Further, there are serious doubts as to whether this is even\u00a0possible.<\/p>\n

On January 7, 1998 ZDF television reported on its\u00a0programme \u201cDie Welt\u201d that indeed a large dam twice as big\u00a0as Three Gorges was proposed on the Yarlung Tsangpo and
\ninterviewed the Chief Planner, Professor Chen Chuanyu.\u00a0Chen described the plan to drive a 15 km (9.3 miles) long\u00a0tunnel through the Himalayas to divert the water before the\u00a0bend and direct it to the end of the bend. This would shorten\u00a0the distance of the roughly 3,000 metres altitude drop from\u00a0200 km to just 15 km. The hydropower potential was given\u00a0as 40,000 Megawatt. He further describes using the power\u00a0to pump water to Northwest China over 800 km (497 miles)\u00a0away.<\/p>\n

The Yarlung Tsangpo, before it emerges from the great\u00a0canyon onto the Indian plain, constitutes 33 per cent of the\u00a0total flow of the Brahmaputra, based on mean annual flow\u00a0(Alford 1992). It may constitute a larger proportion of stable\u00a0flow from glacial sources. The implications of a huge storage\u00a0dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo for India and Bangladesh would\u00a0be far reaching. These countries would be at the mercy of\u00a0China for adequate releases of water during the dry season,\u00a0and for protection from flooding during the rainy season. A\u00a0massive diversion of this water to China\u2019s northwest would\u00a0be even more devastating. Nutrient-rich sediments that\u00a0enrich the soils of India and Bangladesh would be held back\u00a0in the reservoir. The river\u2019s delta will become deprived of\u00a0silts; thousands of fish species which rely on the delta for\u00a0breeding and raising young will be affected, as well as the\u00a0maintenance of the delta itself.<\/p>\n

The reservoir for such a huge dam could stretch hundreds\u00a0of kilometres up the Yarlung Tsangpo well into the Kongpo\u00a0region. This would inundate vast areas of virgin forest within\u00a0the canyon and beyond. And as much of the flora and fauna\u00a0within the canyon is undocumented, rare species of flora\u00a0and fauna which have yet to be scientifically studied could\u00a0be lost. It is said to be home for more than 60 per cent of\u00a0the biological resources on the Tibetan Plateau (China Daily1998b).<\/p>\n

Water Pollution<\/strong>
\nAccording to the 1996 \u2018TAR\u2019 environment report published\u00a0in the Tibet Daily in June 1997, the trend in the Kyichu\u00a0(Lhasa River) basin is towards increased pollution. The report\u00a0stated that a total of 41.9 million tons of waste liquid was\u00a0discharged in 1996, 25.4 million tons was from industrial\u00a0sources. Pollutants included cyanide, arsenic, sulphides and\u00a0nitrates. The Toelung River, a small tributary of the Kyichu\u00a0was reported to be lightly polluted with arsenic and fluorine.
\nDespite this, water quality was said to be generally good\u00a0(Tibet Daily, 27 June 1997). Increasing pollution from\u00a0industrial, domestic and agricultural sources are a major
\nconcern considering the predicted increases in industrial and\u00a0agricultural activities in future years. With increasing use of\u00a0chemical fertilisers throughout the Yarlung Tsangpo\u00a0watershed, prospects for the maintenance of the river\u00a0hitherto clean waters are not good. This should be of major\u00a0concern to all downstream users.<\/p>\n

Flood Deaths<\/strong>
\nAt a time when nearly half the deaths from\u00a0nature are caused by floods, the summer of\u00a01998 saw severe flooding in the Yarlung\u00a0Tsangpo watershed, all over Tibet. At least 53 people were\u00a0killed in heavy flooding across 40 counties of the \u2018TAR\u2019.\u00a0Water levels were apparently at a record high level in the\u00a0Yarlung Tsangpo and Kyichu Rivers. It was reported that at\u00a0least 400 yaks and sheep were killed and that 80,000 people\u00a0were affected by the flooding. Tourists returning from Tibet\u00a0at the time said roads between Lhasa, Gyangtse and Shigatse\u00a0were impassable. Boulders and rocks were strewn around\u00a0the valley floors where flash floods had washed them down\u00a0from mountainsides (TIN September 1998). The causes of\u00a0the extreme flooding are difficult to assess, and were probably\u00a0the result of a mixture of factors.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Water Pollution and Scarcity It is obvious that there would be catastrophic consequences\u00a0to the billions of people downstream if Tibet\u2019s rivers were\u00a0to become severely polluted. In many of the reliant regions\u00a0water treatment facilities are very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-water-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":561,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}