The upper Yangtze River is extremely rich in hydropower, with 9 large-scale hydropower projects planned and 2 under construction. Current and projected large-scale hydropower projects pose difficult challenges as well as great hope for development of local impoverished areas. There are great difficulties in coordinating hydropower development and local regional development, owing to gaps in national policies, clear separation between enterprise and local communities, and problems with local management and the local economy. The local government faces the dilemma of supporting national hydropower development on the one hand, and safeguarding the interests of local people on the other. Local regional development requires general planning and a proper national policy for resettling dam migrants. A special national eco-district is proposed to delimit reaches in the upper Yangtze River area that will provide ecological security for the developed reaches and the dams lower down on the Yangtze River.
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