The main ecological issues of water-level -fluctuating zone and the strategies in Three Gorges reservoir area

After the completion of the Three Gorges dam, a 30 m high water-level-fluctuating zone (WLFZ) will appear along the banks, and will form a seasonal wetland ecosystem. According to the program of storing water in the Three Gorges reservoir, the main ecological and environmental problems probably incurred in WLFZ are discussed, such as formation of contaminated belt along banks, appearance of epidemic diseases in the reservoir region (including urban districts), aggravation of geologic disasters, and degradation of biodiversity and exacerbation of the ecosystem vulnerability. Six items of strategies are put forward according to the causes, distributed features and trends of these problems in this paper.