Discussion of small-scale hydropower station and ecological protection in Northern Guangdong: Ruyuan County as an example

There are large numbers of the small hydropower stations in Guangdong Province, especially in the North Area of Guangdong Province. It is one of regions where the small hydropower stations are the most densely. But most of them are constructed from 1970s to 1990s. Due to historical debt, problems of the small hydropower stations are becoming increasingly prominent, and can´t be ignored. The main existing problems on the stations are the water pollution, effect on hydrobios, lack of agricultural water supply, imperfect water resources ecological compensation, weak water resource protection consciousness and urgent informatization construction demand. The thesis bases on the case in Ruyuan County as a typical example of the problem of small hydropower stations in Northern Guangdong to improve management of small hydropower in rural areas and promote the ecological protection.