水能是清洁可再生能源，是实现可持续发展战略的优质能源。我国水能资源丰富，优先开发利用水能是我国能源发展的重要方针。开发利用水能资源，可减少开采煤炭和燃煤发电对环境的污染，有利于保护环境与生态。但修建大坝截断河道，使河流水沙情势发生变化，对环境与生态产生不利影响，应研究采取对策措施，处理好开发利用水能和保护环境与生态的关系。开发利用水能应按流域综合规划要求，科学合理和适度有序地进行，把开发水能与流域水资源综合利用、保护环境与生态和推动地区经济社会发展有机结合起来，切实做好移民安置工作，改善移民生活和生产条件，促进库区经济建设与环境保护协调发展。

Hydroenergy is a kind of clean and renewable energy sources. As a high-quality energy source, it plays a key role in realizing the strategy of sustainable development. With consideration of the abundant hydropower resources in China, giving priority to its development becomes an important policy of China's energy resources exploitation. The development and utilization of hydropower resources may decrease the yield of coal and the environment pollution caused by thermal power generation. However, damming a river will lead to the change of water-sand regime, which will exert adverse impact on the ecosystem and environment. As a result, countermeasures should be studied and taken to well deal with the relationships between the hydropower development and the environmental & ecological protection. The development and exploitation of hydropower should be based on the comprehensive planning of a river basin and carried out in a scientific, reasonable, appropriate and orderly way. Moreover, it is necessary to reasonably combine hydropower development, environmental & ecological protection and promotion of regional economic & social development, so as to make the relevant work go smoothly, such as resettlement for reservoir areas, improvement of migrants' living and productive conditions and promotion of harmonious development between economic construction of reservoir areas and environment protection.