Construction of the Three Gorges Project and Ecological Protection

November 27, 2007

Survey on the Construction of Three Gorges Project

The Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River of China is one of the world biggest water conservancy and hydropower projects. As early as 1919, Dr. Sun yat-sen, the fore-runner of the democratic revolution of China , brought forward the vision of building a dam across the Three Gorges for the sake of improving the navigation of the Yangtze River Sichuan, and developing and making use of the hydroelectric resources of the Yangtze River .

Since the establishment of the new China in 1949, the Three Gorges Project has attracted the attention of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. And from the initial demonstration in 1954, the construction of the project was finally approved 38 years later in 1992. Not only several generations of people from domestic scientific circle and engineering technological field have made painstaking efforts to do researches on the project, but many foreign experts have participated in the project planning, design, research and consulting. The powerful technical input and immense workload devoted to the project are hardly seen in the world engineering history.

In 1983, the Ministry of Water Conservancy submitted the feasibility report on the Three Gorges Project; between 1986 and 1988, a leading group for demonstration of the Three Gorges Project was specially established, including 412 domestic senior experts in 14 special teams, which re-conducted feasibility demonstration on the Project, and put forward 14 special demonstration reports. After meticulous researches, sufficient discussions and repeated demonstration, the Feasibility Research Report of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River was recompiled in May 1989. It concluded that, Three Gorges Project was necessary for the modernization drive of China , and was technically feasible and economically reasonable; the construction of this project would bring more benefits than cost, and the earlier the better. Hereafter, the Party Central Committee and the State Council established the Examination Board of Three Gorges Project, and invited 163 experts from various circles as well as heads of related departments of the State Council to examine the feasibility research report, and to bring forward examination opinions.

On April 3, 1992, the Resolution on Construction of Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River was passed at the Fifth Meeting of the Seventh National People's Congress, and the Three Gorges Project Construction Commission of the State Council and its Executive office were established.

From the process of determining the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the decision of the Party Central Committee and the State Council was extremely deliberative, democratic and scientific, which sufficiently absorbed the wisdom of the human being, displayed the powerful cohesiveness and ethos of the Chinese nation, and embodied the comprehensive national strength of the People's Republic of China as well as the superiority of the socialist system.

The construction of the Three Gorges Project is composed of three parts: The first is the construction of the key project of the Three Gorges; the second is the move and resettlement of affected residents of the Three Gorges area; and the third is the construction of the power transmission and transformation engineering of the Three Gorges. The Project "statically control and dynamic manage" its investments. Where, static investment could be controlled within the budgetary estimate approved by the country, and dynamic investment could also be controlled within the predicted range. As of September 2007, a total static investment of RMB 45.7, 28.6 and 38.0 billion was completed for the key project, power transmission and transformation engineering, and resettlement of affected residents respectively, occupying 91 percent, 89 percent and 95 percent of the budgetary estimate. By combining the above three engineering investments, as well as newly increased policy investments, and funds for adjustments to regulations and budgetary estimate for resettlement of affected residents, the total static investment of RMB 115.347 billion was completed as converted according to the price level of 1993, occupying 92 percent of the budgetary estimate approved by the country.

(1) Survey on the key project of the Three Gorges: The Three Gorges Project adopts the construction proposal of "first-level development, completion at one stroke, water storage by stages, and continuous resettlement of affected residents". According to the primary design, the key project was constructed by three stages. The first-stage engineering was finished within 5 years from 1992 to the end of 1997, with the Yangtze River interception as the mark of completion; the second-stage engineering was finished within 6 years, with the dam having the gate opened for water storage in the cofferdam period, the trial navigation of the ship lock, and the power generation and grid connection of the first batch of generating units in 2003 as the mark; the third-stage engineering will be finished within 6 years, namely the whole project will be completed in 2009. And the total construction period will be 17 years.

As for the water storage by stages of the reservoir, at the initial stage (after the flood period in 2006), it will be operated as per the water storage level of 156m, and the final normal storage level will be 175m. The reservoir is of riverway type, 660Km in length and 1.1Km in average width, and covers a surface area of 1,084km2. In addition, the total storage capacity is 39.3 billion m3, including 22.15 billion m3 anti-flood storage capacity.

The key project of the Three Gorges is composed of barrage, hydropower station and navigation buildings, etc. Where, the barrage is of concrete gravity dam, 2,309.5m in whole length, and 185m in the crest elevation.

The Three Gorges Hydropower Station adopts the form of power house at dam toe, with a total of 26 sets of machines installed, including 14 sets on the left bank and 12 sets on the right bank. The single and gross installed capacity is 700,000KW and 18,200,000KW respectively, and the annual average power generation capacity is 84.7 billion kWh. In addition, there are 6 sets of generating units for underground power plants, with each set having an installed capacity of 700,000KW.

Navigation buildings include a double-line grade-five ship lock and a one-line vertical ship lift, and the annual unilateral carrying capacity of the ship lock is about 50 million tons.

(2) Survey on the move and resettlement of the affected residents in the reservoir area of the Three Gorges: The Three Gorges reservoir covers 227 villages and towns of 21 counties (cities, districts) in Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality . It is planned to resettle over 1.20 million immigrants, and move 1,629 industrial and mining enterprises. More preferential policies have been applied to the immigrant in reservoir area to help them resettle and become rich.

(3) Survey on the power transmission and transformation engineering of the Three Gorges: The power supply scope of the power transmission and transformation engineering of the Three Gorges involves Central China, Eastern China, Sichuan and Chongqing, and the Southern Grid; and covers nine provinces and two cities, namely Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Guangdong, as well as Chongqing and Shanghai.

Significant Achievements in the Construction of the Three Gorges Project by Phases

(1) The key project has gone well. The general construction progress of the key project has been advanced, the project quality and safety in production are both under effective control, and the project quality is generally excellent. At present, except the underground power plants, the civil construction has been basically completed.

(2) The construction of power transmission and transformation engineering has been basically completed. Except the out-delivery part of the underground power plants, the power transmission and transformation engineering of the Three Gorges has been basically completed. As of November 2 of this year, the total electric power delivered out had been over 200 billion kWh. All the projects operate in a safe and stable way and in high quality. No safety and quality accident has ever occurred.

(3) The comprehensive benefit of the key projects has been initially exerted in an all-around way. In 2006, the whole line of the Three Gorges Dam was completed, with the early-stage objective of 156m storage level realized. The flood control system in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was initially formed, and the flood control standard was upgraded from a-ten-year return period to a-hundred-year return period. In 2007, the Three Gorges Project successfully exerted the function of flood blockage and peak alternation. Up till now, the power plants on the left and right banks have had total 19 sets of generating units put into production and operation, had an installed capacity of up to 13.30 million KW, and generated power of over 200 billion kWh accumulatively. After the water storage of the Three Gorges reservoir, the navigation conditions of the reach of 600km length in reservoir area have been greatly improved, and the transport cost been effectively decreased. In 2006, under the conditions of 3.5-month single-line operations due to project completion, the Three Gorges ship lock had its freight capacity topped 50 million tons, much higher than the highest freight volume of 18 million tons before the water storage. It has become a "gold water course" worthy of the name, and has vigorously promoted the economic and social development at the Yangtze River Valley .

Millions of Residents Affected by the Three Gorges Project Have Been Properly Resettled.

The Three Gorges Project adopts the development resettlement policy, and according to the proposal of "water storage by stages, and continuous resettlement of affected residents", the Three Gorges Project has the resettlement of affected residents linked up with the key project, finished the resettlement of affected residents as required for the Yangtze River interception water storage of cofferdam of 139m in water level, the early-stage water storage of cofferdam of 156m in water level by stages. At present, the resettlement of affected residents involved in the water storage of 175m in water level and related move & construction are in process. Up till now, 1.22 million residents have been resettled, 45.83 million m2 of various houses built and 1,570 industrial and mining enterprises moved. Also, cultural relics in the reservoir area are effectively protected. Among the 12 counties overwhelmed for the construction of Three Gorges Project, 11 have finished overall move and resettlement. Infrastructures such as traffic and communication, etc. in the reservoir area have been greatly improved; and the villages and towns in the reservoir area look brand-new.

After move and resettlement, the affected residents of the Three Gorges area have enjoyed obviously improved production and living standard. The Party Central Committee and the State Council have adopted related measures to provide long-term supports and assistance for the affected residents, and to help the affected residents to develop and get rich. For example, through the national coordinated supports to the resettlement of affected residents in the Three Gorges reservoir area, a total of RMB 34.146 billion has been introduced to the reservoir area at present. The national economy in the 19 counties (areas) in the Three Gorges Reservoir area operates stably and realizes sustained growth. In 2007, regional total output value was RMB 100.43 billion Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.5 percent; and local fiscal revenue was RMB 6.503 billion, a year-on-year growth of 28 percent In addition, in the reservoir area, the per capita net income of the affected residents in rural areas has increased by 20 percent, and the per capita disposable income in towns has grown by 13 percent compared with that of the same period last year respectively.

The Ecological Environment in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area Is Generally Good, and the Protection and Construction Have Further Developed.

Three Gorges Project is a backbone engineering for governing and developing the Yangtze River , and is also an ecological engineering beneficial for optimizing the ecological environment. After water storage, the Three Gorges Project has given great play to its function of flood control, and displayed its ecological benefits with each passing day. Especially, through controlling the flood discharge, reducing the siltation of Dongting Lake , supplementing water in dry season, and increasing the flow discharge, the project has exerted very great functions for improving the riverway and navigation in the middle reach of the Yangtze River . After the 26 sets of generating units of the Three Gorges Project are all put into production, the project will reduce emission of equivalent 100 million tons of CO2 annually compared with coal-fired thermal power generation. The Party Central Committee and the State Council pay much attention to the environmental protection and construction in the Three Gorges area. The monitoring results of multi-level environmental monitoring networks show that, the environmental quality in the construction area and resettlement area of the Three Gorges Project is generally good, and the water and soil loss is effectively controlled; the water quality of the main stream is generally stable, most of which is superior to type III; the water and soil loss in the upper reach is effectively governed, the incoming sediment in reservoir area decreases, and the sediment siltation in the reservoir is less than the expected value; the reservoir-induced earthquake is maintained at a low-intensity level, and will not affect the safety of the dam; and the aquatic and terrestrial rare animals and plants in the Three Gorges have been effectively protected. The geologic hazard governing project in the reservoir area proceeds smoothly; and no abnormality is discovered in the geologic environment. Since the commencement of the Three Gorges Project, the country has invested a large amount of funds especially for prevention, control and governing of geologic hazards, and has effectively avoided and reduced geologic hazards. Since water level reached 156m, no serious geologic hazard and serious personal casualty caused by disasters has occurred in the area.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council had made deployment and arrangement for the environmental impact research and assessment on the Three Gorges Project as early as the 1950s. After several decades of efforts, related experts have brought forward a batch of research achievements and assessment reports about the positive and negative influences of the Three Gorges Project on ecological environment. Along with the perfection of environmental protection laws and rules, as well as the development of ecological environment science of our country, the environmental impact assessment on the Three Gorges Project has been constantly deepened. In 1984, China listed the ecological and environmental impact of the Three Gorges Project as a national important scientific research project; between 1986 and 1988, the State Council organized 55 experts in ecological environment, social economics, resettlement of affected residents, water conservancy, sediment, medical treatment, power, meteorology, navigation, cultural relics, and geology, etc. for centralized researches on ecological environment. In 1991 before the Three Gorges Project was submitted to the National People's Congress for review, Environmental Assessment Department of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Changjiang Water Resources Protection Institute (CWRPI) jointly compiled the Environmental Impact Report of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River; and in February of the next year, the State Environmental Protection Administration organized review on the Report. The Report has made a scientific conclusion on the positive and negative influences of the construction of Three Gorges Project on ecological environment, "The main positive influences rest with the middle reach of the Yangtze River; primary negative influences may be greatly reduced and avoided by adopting proper actions and measures, and the problem of ecological environment will not affect the feasibility of the project. Generally speaking, the advantages outweigh disadvantages in terms of ecological environment. Meanwhile, the Report has brought forward a batch of ecological environment construction and protection projects for reducing and avoiding negative influences, and listed them into the project budget". And the repeated demonstrations have provided detailed scientific evidences for the National People's Congress to approve the Three Gorges Project by vote in 1992. It needs to note that the Party Central Committee and the State Council, as well as related departments concerned have paid much attention to different opinions in the demonstration process, and adopted different opinions for many key problems. Therefore, the repeated demonstration process of the Party Central Committee and the State Council sets an example of democratic decision-making process of our country.

Since the commencement of Three Gorges Project, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have paid much attention to the ecological and environmental protection of the Three Gorges Project, and adopted a series of policies and measures to promote the ecological environmental protection in the reservoir area and dam area.

The first measure is to strengthen the governing of water pollutions in the Three Gorges reservoir area and its upper reach. In 2001, the Party Central Committee and the State Council approved the implementation of the Planning for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollutions in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and Its Upper Reach. From 2001 to 2010, the country will allocate RMB 39.22 billion investment for the construction of sewage disposal plants and refuse treatment sites in the reservoir area and its upper reach, as well as for governing of source pollutions at industrial points, ecological protection engineering, construction of basic capacity, and pollution governing of vessels, etc. At present, total 58 sewage disposal plants and 41 refuse treatment sites have been completed in cities and towns in the reservoir area. To ensure normal operations of the sewage disposal plants, the country has adopted the measure of "promoting improvement with subsidy", appropriated special fund as subsidy, and realized the marketized operations of sewage disposal plants gradually. Meanwhile, our country has made great efforts to develop the construction of biogas, implemented soil testing and fertilizer application, and controlled non-point source of pollutions. In addition, our country has carried out vessel pollution prevention and control in the area, and established the emergency reaction mechanism for vessel pollution prevention in the Three Gorges reservoir area.

Second, strengthen the governance to the geologic hazard in the reservoir area. In January 2002, the Party Central Committee and the State Council approved the implementation of the General Planning for the Prevention and Control of Geologic Hazard in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. At present, the phase II geologic hazard governing projects have been fully completed; the water-involved projects in the phase III emergency governing of geologic hazard have been basically completed; and the geologic hazard prevention & control and prewarning system has been established in the reservoir area, which could ensure the safety of people's life & properties and of reservoirs at the largest degree.

The third is to execute policy adjustment, and relieve the pressure on the ecological environment in the reservoir area. For the sake of relieving the pressure on the ecological environment in the load-bearing space, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have resettled partial affected residents by external migration, and closed and stopped those industrial and mining enterprises of high energy consumption and high pollutions. Altogether, over 190,000 residents have been relocated (resettled in developed provinces and cities along the Yangtze River and coast, etc.), closed, stopped and moved over 1,500 enterprises, developed environment-friendly enterprises, and effectively relieved the people-land contradiction and industrial pollutions in the reservoir area.

The fourth is to develop the construction of biodiversity protection engineering for the Three Gorges Project. According to the environmental impact report and preliminary design of the Three Gorges Project, the construction of biodiversity protection engineering is mainly classified into two types, namely terrestrial plant and aquatic animals protection. Over the past dozens of years, the Office of Three Gorges Project Construction Commission of the State Council has successively organized the implementation of terrestrial plant protection engineering construction projects, including the construction of Hubei Yichang Dalaoling Plant Reserve, the Nature Conservation Protection of Hubei Xingshan Longmen River Evergreen Broad-leaved Forest, protection of ancient and big trees, and rescue protection of Myricaria laxiflora and Adiantum reniforme var. Sinense, etc.; the project of Hubei Yichang Chinese Sturgeon Nature Reserve and the project of Shanghai Municipal Chinese Sturgeon Natural Reserve at the Mouth of the Yangtze River. In addition, the Center for Rescue of Rare and Endemic Fishes in the Upper Reach of the Yangtze River has also been finished demonstration, and will be put into effect soon.

The fifth is to organize the implementation of proliferation and releasing of rare fishes for the Three Gorges Project. Developing proliferation and releasing is one of the important measures for protecting fish resources. The preliminary design report on the pivot of the Three Gorges Project has specially arranged the releasing of rare fishes and appropriated related funds. At the beginning of 2005, the Ministry of Agriculture compiled the implementation plan for the proliferation and releasing of rare fishes, and organized related organizations, provinces and cities along the Yangtze River to implement the projects. According to related statistics, in 2005 and 2006, over 510,000 rare fishes were released, including about 200,000 Chinese Sturgeon and nearly 300,000 mullet. About 270,000,000 important economic fishes were released. In addition, the releasing tracking, supervision and monitoring, as well as effect analysis and assessment, etc. have been strengthened.

The sixth is to intensify pilot scientific research and ecological construction. The ecological environment in the Three Gorges area is extremely complex; some problems at the demonstration stage still need to be researched on the basis of monitoring, and to be discovered and solved in time. During the over ten years, plentiful effective researches have been conducted, including the researches on control of water pollution, on biodiversity protection, on ecological construction, and on environmental monitoring and management. Meanwhile, experiments and tests on ecological governing have been carried out to explore for effective approaches to construct and protect ecological environment.

The seventh is to protect environment in the construction area. China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation is devoted to protecting the environment in the construction area strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Implementary Plan for Environmental Protection in the Construction Area of the Three Gorges Project. It established facilities for treating production waste water, conducted greening for the completed construction site in time, disposed refuse in a centralized way, ensured the quality of living water for people in dam area, and maintained excellent environment in the area.

The eight is to establish and perfect the ecological and environmental monitoring system for the Three Gorges Project. In 1995, under the organization and harmonization of The Executive Office of State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, over ten ministries and commissions as well as related departments, the ecological and environmental monitoring system was established to track and monitor the ecological environment problems possibly caused by the Project. The monitoring contents of the system cover many aspects, such as hydrology and water quality, pollutant sources, fishes and aquatic animals, terrestrial animals and plants, local climate, agricultural ecology environment, ecological environment at river mouth, publish health, and social and economic environments in the reservoir area, etc. The monitoring scope takes the reservoir area as the key point, and extends to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as related areas at estuary The combination of remote-sensing and ground monitoring sites and networks is adopted as the monitoring method, which realizes a space-time monitoring system combining "point, line and surface", etc. In 2002, the construction engineering of ecological environmental information system was started, which played an important role in providing information services, information sharing, information release, comprehensive information analysis, and centralized management service of dynamic information, etc. Since 1997, the State Environmental Protection Administration has issued the Bulletin of Ecological and Environmental Monitoring for Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River at home and abroad annually. This bulletin has now become an important periodical of our country on ecological environmental monitoring, which covers multiple regions, departments, and multi-subjects. The state of ecological environment in the Three Gorges area and related data are all released in this bulletin.

In addition, related departments and industries, including water resource, agriculture, forestry, environmental protection, traffic, construction and health, etc., have all developed ecological environment construction and protection in the Three Gorges reservoir area according to the division of responsibility, and made excellent achievements. Before each phase of water storage, the reservoir bottom has been cleaned up thoroughly; and the mechanism for refloatation of surface floats on main stream and tributaries has been established. The legislation for management of the Three Gorges reservoir proceeds smoothly, and the planning for the sustainable and comprehensive utilization of reservoirs is also in the process of compilation; the green belt engineering and model area construction surrounding the reservoir have preliminarily taken shape; and scientific research subjects related to the sediment deposit and scouring after impoundment of the dam have been listed into the national scientific and technological support plan during the "11th five-year" period. In a word, the ecological environmental construction and protection in the area has attracted the attention of the governments at all levels, and achieved remarkable results.

Comprehensively Fulfill the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Practically Promote the Construction of Ecological Civilization.

In September 2007, The Executive of State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee held a symposium on ecological environment construction and protection of the Three Gorges Project in Wuhan . The conference summarized the outstanding achievements of the Three Gorges Project construction in every aspect during the past over ten years, researched and arranged the key missions in ecological environment construction and protection in the future. The guiding thought and target brought forward at the conference was to fulfill the scientific outlook on development earnestly, strengthen the ecological environment construction and protection of the Three Gorges Project practically, create "power Three Gorges, ecological Three Gorges, cultural Three Gorges, and harmonious Three Gorges" comprehensively, make efforts to realize "double top-ranking" work target, namely top-ranking hydropower engineering and top-ranking ecological environment, and promote the good and rapid development of the economy and society in the reservoir area.

The National Eco-environment Construction Plan made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council requires that, the governing on highlighted areas with heavy water and soil losses in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River shall show the initial effects between 1998-2010, and shall demonstrate great effects between 2011-2030. According to the Outline of National Ecological Environment Protection, between 2000 and 2010, the ecological system and functions of important ecological functional areas such as the Yangtze River , etc. shall be protected and restored, and partial counties (cities and areas) shall basically realize the virtuous cycle of the ecological system. The ecological environment construction and protection of the Three Gorges Project will set an example among the national super hydropower projects. According to the spirit of "persisting in scientific outlook on development, and establishing ecological civilization" as brought forward at the Seventeenth National People's Congress of CPC, the work in the following three aspects will be emphasized for the ecological environment construction and protection in the Three Gorges reservoir area:

The first is to carry out scientific planning, and intensify the force of measures. That's to say, follow the requirements of the Notice about Strengthening the Management of the Three Gorges Reservoir in the Construction Period of the Three Gorges Project of the State Council, pay much attention to the ecological environment construction and protection of the Three Gorges Reservoir, further make clear the tasks, perfect the planning, and fulfill related responsibilities. And also, in line with the people-first and prevention-oriented principles, and according to the near-term, medium-term and long-term targets and keystones in work of the modernization of ecological environment, we shall strengthen policy supports and measure guarantee, accelerate the pace of compiling the Planning for Sustainable Comprehensive Utilization of the Three Gorges Reservoir and the Planning for the Water Area Functions of the Three Gorges Reservoir, as well as other special planning, and upgrade the ecological environment construction and protection in the Three Gorges reservoir area to a new level.

The second is to provide policy guiding, and fulfill comprehensive governing. Various plans on ecological environment construction and protection will be carried out under the guidance of national policies and by taking comprehensive economic, legal, administrative and educational measures, including the policy of returning the VAT for revenue of power generation, the policy of "increasing with subsidy" for fee charging of sewage disposal plants, the policy for supporting industrial development, as well as policies of each department supporting investments in reservoir areas, etc. In addition, some funds will be taken from the fund of large and middle-scale reservoirs and will be applied to the management and maintenance of the Three Gorges reservoir, including the ecological screen management at the reservoir bank belt, the cleaning and bleaching of the reservoir, the maintenance of the reservoir banks, the emergency treatment in conditions of reservoir landslide and water pollution, etc., as well as water quality protection and monitoring, publish health monitoring, and biodiversity protection, etc. Meanwhile, it is planned to establish the ecological compensation mechanism, conserve energy and reduce emission in reservoir area, strictly control the backward productivity from transferring to the reservoir area, accelerate the on-line monitoring of pollution sources, and develop general investigations on pollution sources, etc., so as to keep promoting ecological environment construction and protection in the Three Gorges Project.

The third is to make pilot study and set a good example, and gradually realize the harmonious relations between people and the nature. It is mainly to strengthen eutrophication prevention and control in the reservoir tributaries and reservoir bay; intensify the protection of drinking water sources; strongly control the normal operations of urban sewage and garbage disposal facilities, and ensure their discharge up-to-standard; reinforce the governing, supervision and management of industrial and floating pollution sources, and reinforce the management on the comprehensive up-to-standard discharge of industrial pollution sources; make efforts to promote the techniques for construction of biogas pool and soil testing & fertilizer application; practically control the high-efficient and ecological agriculture, develop advantaged industries in the reservoir area, and lighten the non-point source pollutions in rural areas; develop researches on the reservoir banks greening in ecological screen areas as well as on institutional reform of forestry right, etc.; consolidate the construction of ecological environment monitoring system and reservoir environment supervision capacity, and establish the mechanism of reporting and responding to water pollution emergencies; continue to carry out phase III geologic hazards project, complete the construction of high-slope protection engineering and monitoring & pre-warning system, and ensure the life and property safety of the people in the reservoir area, as well as social stability. Focusing on the above mentioned important tasks, the State Council the Office of Three Gorges Project Construction Commission of the State Council is endeavoring to promote the special plan of "7+1", namely 7 pilot and model projects about ecological environment construction and protection (governing on ecological environment in fluctuation zone of the reservoir, comprehensive control on the water environment of tributaries, security of drinking water sources in tributaries, construction of ecological screen areas at the reservoir bank belt, pollution blocking in rural and urban areas, and biodiversity protection project) and 1 project specially about the performance assessment on the ecological environment monitoring system of the Three Gorges Project. To explore effective ways to comprehensively execute the ecological environment construction and protection project in the Three Gorges Project, we are sparing no efforts to construct an environment-friendly society in which the people and the nature co-exist with each other in a harmonious way.