24,000 small dams draining China's Yangtze River

The proliferation of small dams is steadily drying up China's along Yangtze River and its tributaries.

A study carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that thousands of small dams have been built in recent years along the Yangtze River also known in China as the Blue River.

According to a report published by the asianews.it, the updated NAO data at the end of 2017 shows that around 24,000 dams have been built.

The hydraulic works are small and medium-sized. They stand only a few hundred meters away from each other. Because of this, around 300 smaller rivers intermittently dry up.

The course of the over 6,000-kilometer-long Yangtze and its eco-system are severely tested by other great works: the Three Gorges Dam and, 700 km further upstream, that of Xiaonanhai.

The urban and economic areas overlooking the river are among the most important in China. These are 11 provincial areas that cover a total of 2.05 million square kilometers.

Pollutant levels in air and water have recently decreased. The levels of ammonium nitrate, sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide compared to 2016 fell respectively by 4 percent, 9.24 percent and 3.97 percent. However, some critical issues remain: adequate infrastructures such as water purification plants and modern landfills are lacking.

The office that conducted the study also found some irregularities in funds for environmental care.

The 1.3 billion Yuan allocated to counter water pollution and desertification in eight of the regions has not been used for at least a year. Between December 2013 and January 2018, the 26 million Yuan for environmental protection went into administrative costs. In the last two years, 100 thousand environmental violations have been registered, 2,600 people have been investigated.