Dam opponents, including vocal indigenous environmental groups, have waged a seemingly successful battle to protect Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Salween (the Nu River). In early 2005, three years after a new law on environmental impact assessments (EIA’s) was passed, the State Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPA), ordered the halt of 30 large projects, including 26 hydropower plants that had failed to submit proper EIA’s.
反对修建水坝的人士，包括当地敢于直言的环保团体展开了一场看似成功的斗争来保护虎跳峡以及怒江。2005年初，在新的环境影响评估法规通过三年之后，国家环保总局下令30个大型工程停工，包括26个没有提交合格的环境影响评估的水电厂。其中之一就是怒江上的第一个水坝。