Overview

• By December 2024, authorities had dismantled 300 of 357 dams and decommissioned 342 of 373 small hydropower stations along the Chishui He.
• Experts say removing barriers has reconnected fragmented habitats and reopened migratory pathways across Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.
• Researchers released hatchery-bred sturgeon in 2023 and 2024 and confirmed in mid-April that spawning behavior produced fry in the restored river.
• A fishing ban introduced in 2020 and new restrictions on sand mining have bolstered water quality improvements that support the river’s recovering ecosystem.
• Conservationists regard the Chishui River as a critical refuge for endemic fish species and view the project as a blueprint for river restoration in the Yangtze basin.