Montpezat and water sharing: a hot topic

On the occasion of World Water Day on 22 March and with a particularly dry spring and tensions on the resource already high, the media in the Haute Loire did not fail to talk about water sharing and the project we are proposing around the renewal of the Montpezat concession. Read the special report and Roberto Epple’s interview in the Eveil de la Haute Loire newspaper (in french).

About our campaign on “water sharing”. Study case of the Upper Loire and Ardèche basins :
The Montpezat hydroelectric complex (138MW) takes water from the Loire which is turbined in a powerplant to the Ardèche basin. This case of interbasin water transfer, about 220 million m3/year from the Loire basin to the Rhône basin, is unique in Europe. Beyond the energy aspect, water sharing is an issue. An important question that could emerge elsewhere in future. The Montpezat hydroelectric complex will reach the end of its concession in 2029. EDF must not be the only actor around the negotiating table and the public debate must take place as soon as possible to understand and considerate the issues. Thus, ERN wishes to inform, raise awareness, and prepare citizens for better water resource sharing, drought management and energy production.

More info about Montpezat

 

Albania : River Vjosa becomes (Wild River) National Park (Pressrelease NGOs)

Radolfzell, Vienna, Tepelena – 15 March, 2023 At a formal ceremony in Tepelena this morning, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Minister of the Environment and Tourism Mirela Kumbaro declared the River Vjosa a Wild River National Park. As from today, the entire River Vjosa in Albania from its border with Greece to the Adriatic sea and its free flowing tributaries – a river system totalling more than 400 kilometres in length – have the very highest level of protection. This is something unique in Europe.

After more than ten years of unstinting efforts working for the preservation of one of the last wild rivers in Europe, EuroNatur, Riverwatch, EcoAlbania and many other conservationists and river activists are rejoicing over this great milestone. However, the river conservationists have not yet finished.

“We have fought long and hard with our partners for this day, with court hearings, petitions and discussions with those responsible in government and with local communities. Today we can celebrate,” says Annette Spangenberg, EuroNatur’s Head of Conservation. “Now we will continue campaigning for the other free-flowing tributaries and the river delta to be given protection so that the entirety of the Vjosa’s unique river eco-system can be preserved for ever.”

> read the pressrelease

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Open Rivers : Second weir removed on the Tardoire !

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Save the date : international colloquium “Des Saumons et des Hommes 3 ” 19-21 October 2023 – Brioude (France)

Ten years after the last meeting, SOS Loire Vivante – ERN is organising a new conference on the Loire salmon. This is an opportunity to take stock of the situation of the Atlantic salmon in the Loire and elsewhere. National and international experts will try to understand the reasons for the decline despite restoration efforts and whether our actions are still in line with current and future challenges.
Is it due to climate change or to phenomena at sea or in the river? During the health check and the presentation of the results of restoration actions, we will compare the case of the Loire with other highly migratory river basins such as the Rhine, the Elbe, the Adour, the Garonne, the Sélune, etc,
Are you interested in this event?

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Sélune dams removals in video (12 min)

The Sélune has been free since last autumn. After the dismantling of the two large dams, the path is free for sediment and migratory fish for almost 100 km.

In a 12-minute video (in French and English) with spectacular images, you can follow the steps of the renaturalisation:

Video in french https://vimeo.com/549070141
Video in english https://vimeo.com/546711100

 

More infos about the Sélune

 

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Open letter: Counting on new hydropower to accelerate Renewable Energy deployment in Europe is irresponsible

ERN and more than 100 NGOs write to EU negotiators asking them to protect Europe’s rivers from new hydropower deployment in the revised Renewable Energy directive.
Already in 2020, 150 NGOs signed a manifesto asking EU decision-makers to stop new hydropower development in Europe.

Read the WWF press release:

 Ahead of the nextpolitical trilogue on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, more than 100 NGOs are sending an open letter to co-legislators from the European Parliament, European Commission and Council Presidency, asking them to exclude new hydropower from go-to areas as well as to include sustainability criteria recognizing that hydropower has direct impacts on freshwater ecosystems which must be mitigated.

 Because hydropower potential has been so exploited already in Europe, new hydropower would only make a small contribution to the energy transition, while causing immense damage to our waterways. According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022, freshwater species populations have seen the greatest overall global decline (83%), and within this species group, on average, monitored migratory fish populations have declined by 93% in Europe, making our continent the most affected.

Contact
Florian Cassier
Climate Communications Officer
fcassier@wwf.eu
+32 479 33 92 11

Open letter : Do not weaken legislation for the protection of aquatic environments

The new law concerning “the acceleration of the production of renewable energies” has seen the appearance in the Senate of amendments in favour of the development of micro-hydroelectricity to the detriment of water resources, biodiversity and, above all, the general interest. They were not in the project initially submitted. Fortunately, the Assembly did not retain these proposals and focused on large hydroelectricity under concession. Nevertheless, in order to prevent these anachronistic amendments from coming back during the final drafting of the texts and in the future, we wished to alert the members of parliament in a letter to the dangers and the truncated, even misleading, arguments propagated on the subject of small hydroelectricity. Read the letter (in french)

Participate in the European dam removal report by indicating obstacles removed in your area in 2022

Since 2020, Dam Removal Europe (DRE) has been reported the number of obstacles removed* from rivers in Europe, results that were also highlighted in 2021 by The Guardian.

From the beginning of this year and until 1 March, DRE is launching its 2022 data collection campaign, to share the final report in May 2023.

This collect is essential to evaluate the implementation advancement of EU policies and to analyze the progress of this river restoration measure in each country. Participate in this data collection and answer the survey by indicating the obstacles removed in 2022: https://damremoval.eu/news/tell-us-about-your-dam-removal/ .

*Fish passes and bypass rivers are not considered.

 

More infos : Foivos Mouchlianitis foivos@fishmigration.org

Access to previous reports:

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Open Rivers : First weir removed on the Tardoire !

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