Achieving an environmentally sustainable outcome for the Gulpur hydropower project in the Poonch River Mahaseer National Park, Pakistan

An holistic environmental flows (EFlows) assessment, undertaken as part of an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), led to improved planning and design of the Gulpur hydropower project (HPP) on the Poonch River, Mahaseer National Park, Pakistan. The park was declared a conservation area primarily because of its two globally threatened fish species, the endangered Mahaseer (Tor putitora) and critically endangered Kashmir Catfish (Glyptothorax kashimirensis). These triggered critical habitat thresholds for the funders, requiring special biodiversity protection measures. Despite the river’s conservation status, these two species are under threat of extinction from unsustainable harvesting and catchment practices, notably non-selective fishing practices and sand and gravel mining in the river bed. The EFlows study analysed various permutations of flow releases from the proposed dam, operational regimes and catchment management options. The need to contain existing adverse impacts on the threatened fish and river ecosystem, combined with the results of the assessment, influenced the planned turbine design, weir location and operational regime of the project. Additional management measures to enhance the protection status of the park and its fish to achieve a biodiversity net gain outcome were developed with conservation management stakeholders and communities. These measures were incorporated into a biodiversity action plan, which was approved by Pakistan’s regulatory authorities and paved the way for approval of the project financing by international lenders. The project represents a valuable case study on mechanisms for achieving ecologically sustainable HPPs.