Outcry over revived dam plans for China’s biggest freshwater lake

Opponents say damming Poyang Lake could inflict irreversible harm on the area’s environment, threatening migratory birds and the Yangtze finless porpoise

Authorities say the reservoir would keep more water in the lake during the dry season

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Dozens of bird species have been recorded at Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:57pm, 18 Jan 2021Updated: 11:01pm, 18 Jan 2021

More than 1,000 opponents of plans to build a dam on China’s biggest freshwater lake have signed a petition calling for the project to be abandoned, saying it will take a huge toll on endangered migratory birds and the rare Yangtze finless porpoise.

In an open letter to authorities in Jiangxi province last week, Let Birds Fly, a Hangzhou-based environmental group, said it would be “extremely irresponsible” of the government to approve the project for Poyang Lake.

“It goes against China’s efforts of to conserve the environment … It would do irreversible [damage] to our ecosystem,” the signatories said in the letter.

The letter came after the government released the plans online for public feedback.

The 13 billion yuan (US$2 billion) project includes building a 3km-long (1.86 miles) and 23.4 metre-tall sluice gate between Poyang and the Yangtze River, to stop water flowing out of the lake during the annual dry season between November and March, according to the notice posted online.

It would also aid irrigation, urban and rural water supply and shipping on the lake, the notice said.

Poyang’s water levels fluctuate widely between the wet and dry seasons but the dry spells have grown longer in recent years, turning parts of the lake into wetlands in the winter.

Herons fly to Poyang Lake to breed. Photo: Xinhua