Economic Appraisal Of The Environmental Impacts Of River Basin Hydroelectric Planning

River basin hydroelectric development will produce a lot of benefits, and it will also influence the ecological environment of river basin to a great extent. It is realized that we should pay more attention to the negative impacts caused by river basin hydroelectric development, so it is important to carry out the environmental impacts assessment of river basin hydroelectric planning. The economic appraisal of river basin hydroelectric planning is a necessary part of the environmental impacts assessment. The social and environmental impacts are evaluated in advance and the costs and benefits of ecological environment and social economy are discussed from the social perspective during economic appraisal process. Economic appraisal of river basin hydroelectric planning makes up for a deficiency of environmental quality impact assessment and integrates environmental protection and economic development, in expectation of giving the scientific support for the decision-making of river basin hydroelectric development.In this dissertation, the environmental impacts of river basin hydroelectric planning are studied by means of reference and material research, theoretical analysis, public participation, expert consultation, field survey, local exploration and case study, using the interdisciplinary theories in environmental assessment, environmental economics, environmental management and ecological economics, etc. The methodology of the economic appraisal of the river basin hydroelectric planning was established, and then applied to the case. The main achievements of this dissertation were as follows.First, the relative concepts such as river basin hydroelectric planning, environmental impact assessment, environmental impact assessment for planning, etc, were put forward, and the relationship between economic appraisal of environmental impacts for planning and environmental impacts assessment for planning was analyzed. The theoretical foundation of economic appraisal was discussed, including Pareto Optimality, Willingness to Pay, Consumer's Surplus and Externality, from the perspective of welfare economics. Second, according to the character of economic appraisal of river basin hydroelectric planning, the space-time scope was defined, and the environmental impacts of river basin hydroelectric planning were analyzed, and then the identification matrix is formed. The existing methods for monetary evaluation of environment were discussed, and their applicable conditions, advantages and disadvantages were roundly compared, which laid the foundation for establishing the indexes, models, methodology of the economic appraisal of river basin hydroelectric planning.Third, based on the reality and concreteness, the methodology of the economic appraisal of river basin hydroelectric planning was applied to Jiulong River basin hydroelectric planning, and monetary evaluation of environmental impacts of river basin hydroelectric planning was carried out. The results showed that remarkable economic effects were obtained from Jiulong River basin hydroelectric planning in short term, which was at the expense of ecological environment destruction. Because the ecological environment destruction, for example, the wild fish's extinction, was not reversible, the social benefits were probably less than the social costs. Fang Yang Key Water Control Project was feasible, considering the impacts of ecological environment and social economy. The economic net benefit of Tai Kou hydropower station would be RMB10.6253 million a year, while the net cost of ecological environment destruction was RMB517,440, and the social net profit was RMB-31.2782 million, so it was not feasible from the perspective of ecological environment and social economy. The economic net benefit of Du Tou hydropower station would be RMB2.7316 million a year, while the net cost of ecological environment destruction was RMB 10.5922 million, and the social net profit was RMB-5.0995 million, so it was not reasonable. In conclusion, the negative environmental impacts from Jiu Long river basin hydroelectric development were noticeable, so we should keep away from ecological environment destruction during the process of hydroelectric development.