AMBER webinar on the 29th of June : register

On the 29th of June from 10:00 to 13:40, will take place the AMBER (Adaptive Management of Barriers in European Rivers) final webinar on Zoom plateforme. Over 800 confirmed attendees to date. The AMBER project unveils Europe’s first map of river barriers and what that means for the state of our rivers.

This webinar will include presentations from both the AMBER and FIThydro projects with 12 speakers from around Europe who will discuss river fragmentation and better ways to manage and mitigate barrier impacts. The programme is structured around facilitated discussions on three pressing topics: 1) the need to reconnect rivers; 2) the innovations, the tools and solutions available for better barrier management and 3) the applications, a framework for reconnecting Europe’s rivers.

full program

 register online  to attend

more infos on AMBER

Do you know the crowdfunding platform for dam removal?

Dam Removal Europe and WWF Netherlands launched just two years ago a crowdfunding platform for dam removal in Europe.

Since 2018, seven projects on the Danube, in Lithuania and the UK have been completed thanks to this fundraising.
The possibilities to submit a project (see conditions) and to participate financially are still open.
The current campaign is taking place in Ukraine for three dams in the Carpathians. 40% of the objective has been reached (out of the 31 000€)!  Participate in fundraising. More info on the project and donate : https://crowdfunding.wnf.nl/project/three-dams-in-ukraine.

Sélune: the work on the Vezins dam is coming to an end!

Since March, and in view of the health crisis, the Vezins works carried out by the DDTM 50 has been at a standstill. Only the central pier and the foundations remain today. With some delay, the work will resume until September so that the Sélune can finally be reopened. On the La Roche-qui-boit dam downstream, the only one remaining to date, EDF, the project manager for the site, will launch the sediment management work in June 2020. The final emptying of the reservoir is scheduled for April 2021 and the deconstruction of the dam at the end of 2021-early 2022.

>> More info on our dedicated pages

Publication of the 1st European inventory of hydropower plants …. Our rivers are damned by dams!

EuroNatur, Riverwatch, WWF and GEOTA have just published a new study on the extent of the pressure on the rivers of Europe. This is a real hydroelectric frenzy that rages across the European continent.

More than 8,700 new hydroelectric plants are planned on our rivers, and we know all the devastating impacts of these structures on biodiversity and society …

The inhabitants of the Balkans and their rivers are the most threatened.

 

Dowload the full report and the summary report

Also more infos below, in this Euronatur/Riverwatch Press Release :

 

Radolfzell, Vienna, November 28, 2019. The first pan-European inventory of existing and planned hydropower plants shows the immense pressure on rivers throughout the continent. In addition to the 21,387 existing hydropower plants, another 8,779 are planned, mainly in the Alps and the Balkans. Previously untouched rivers – especially in the Balkans – are to be destroyed. More than a quarter (2,500) of these hydropower projects are situated in protected areas, mainly in national parks and Natura 2000 sites.

© FLUVIUS, commandé par le WWF, Riverwatch, EuroNatur, GEOTA
Les rivières d’Europe sont minées ! La carte montre les centrales hydroélectriques existantes et prévues sur le continent. L’un des foyers géographiques: les Balkans.

The study was commissioned by EuroNatur, Riverwatch, WWF, and GEOTA. Its findings highlight the failure of governments both within and outside the EU to protect rivers and biodiversity, and document plain disregard of EU water protection legislation, in particular the Water Framework Directive.

“We are facing the end of free-flowing rivers in Europe and a collapse of biodiversity if we do not stop this hydropower madness. The EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen and the national governments have to stop this expansion. Above all, they must put an end to subsidies for hydropower and improve river protection. It is unacceptable that our electricity bill finances hydropower investors and thus the destruction of Europe’s lifelines,” says Ulrich Eichelmann of Riverwatch.

A small hydroelectric power plant on the Ugar River near Knezevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina© Amel Emric
Small hydropower plant Ugar in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Many of the planned hydropower plants are so-called small hydropower plants, however, their damage to nature is anything but small.
At this river, the globally endangered Huchen has lost its spawning ground.

“The largest number of hydropower plants – more than 3,000 – is planned to be constructed in the Balkans. Most of these rivers are still intact, some even untouched. They are a European treasure that we cannot afford to lose. We urge the European Union to address these developments in the accession negotiations and to insist on compliance with nature conservation legislation. In the Balkans, there is excessive investment in hydropower, while the potential for solar power – a truly renewable energy source – remains largely untapped,” says EuroNatur CEO Gabriel Schwaderer.

Hydropower dams destroy rivers and their surroundings, and they substantially contribute to biodiversity loss. They interrupt the natural flow of the river, block fish migration – affecting fish stocks and the survival of endangered species – and intercept sediments that protect river banks and deltas from flooding and rising sea levels. Local communities are literally being dried up. In addition, over 90 percent of the planned hydroelectric power plants generate only small amounts of electricity (less than 10 MW), i.e. they are so-called ‘small’ hydropower plants that cause great damage to nature with little economic benefit.

 

© Amel Emric
The Jadar dam in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Steven Weiss, Assoc. Univ.-Prof. Uni Graz, emphasizes the devastating effects of hydropower: “Based on extrapolations from my more detailed study on the Balkans, as well as the IUCN red list, we can predict that at least 20 and perhaps up to 30 freshwater fish species would go extinct if all of these plans would be carried out. Furthermore, a large percentage (> 95%) of the southern European fish fauna would be placed in an IUCN threat category. We must understand that the already high demand for water resources, especially in southern Europe will be exacerbated by such large-scale hydropower exploitation, resulting in a deadly combination for freshwater biodiversity.”

In order to tackle freshwater biodiversity loss, we demand from all European countries and the EU

  • a Blue New Deal for European Rivers
  • no more subsidies
  • better protection of valuable river stretches
  • a new pan-European river restoration program

Background information

  • Download the FULL REPORT and the SUMMARY REPORT
  • Campaign to save the Balkan rivers: Around 3000 new hydropower plants are currently planned or under construction between Slovenia and Albania. The nature conservation organisations EuroNatur and Riverwatch as well as local partners in the Balkan countries run the campaign ‘Save the Blue Heart of Europe’ to counter this wave of destruction.
  • Footage: The pictures enclosed are free for one-time use in the context of this press release on the condition of credit attribution.

Contact information
Anja Arning
Head of Public Relations, Euronatur
E-mail: anja.arning(a)euronatur.org

Ulrich Eichelmann
CEO, Riverwatch
E-mail: ulrich.eichelmann(a)riverwatch.eu

 

Ilisu Dam Project (Turkey) : Let’s act now for Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley!

Important message from Hasankeyf Coordination (founded on 5th July 2019 as an umbrella for all fighting the Ilisu Dam):

The Turkish government aims to destroy the 12,000 year old town Hasankeyf and the entire Tigris Valley through the Ilisu Dam project, which only has an economic lifespan of 50 years. We would like to borrow the sentence of a Roman poet “De te fabula narratur” (What is told is your story) and transform it into “What is set to be destroyed is your history”. A site where you can find the footprints of many people of this world is threatened with extinction. The cry rising from Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley is growing daily.

The open air museum of Hasankeyf exhibits the first traces of humans from 300,000 years ago, and of the first human settlements from 12,000 years ago. Hasankeyf is the only historical site in Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia which could be entirely preserved in its integrity. Hosting at least 24 cultures in its past, Hasankeyf is one of the most distinct examples of how humans transitioned to settled life.

We do not and will not be able to know much about the past of the Tigris River which itself is a living being, and which has created life in its valley for millions of years, but the life created by the waters of the Tigris River is facing inundation by its own waters. The Ilisu Dam, which has been constructed at the Tigris River over the last years, initiated the filling of the dam reservoir in July 2019. If filled completely, aside from Hasankeyf, it would bury 289 archaeological sites, of which only 20 have been excavated partly, 199 villages fully or partly, and the habitat of at least 100 endemic and threatened species. The climate of the region would be affected as well. We, as campaigners and affected people, do not really know the dimension of the cultural and natural heritage.

With its 550 monuments and 5,500 human-made caves determined up to date, Hasankeyf was selected as one of the 7 most endangered cultural heritage sites by Europa Nostra in 2016. Although Hasankeyf has been put under conservation according to Turkish law, no serious effort has been made by the officials to conserve it for the following generations. The former director of the German Archaeology Institute, Prof. Adolf Hoffman, has stated that despite excavations done since 1986 only around 10% of the site of Hasankeyf has been excavated and analyzed.

It is not too late to save the Tigris Valley, home to millions of living beings, from impoundment and destruction as an ecosystem. While some destruction has occured recently, there is much more culture, nature and social structure in the Tigris Valley which could be defended. It is not too late to save 400 kilometres of riverine habitat and all the millions of life existing in this oustanding ecosystem. It is not too late to save 200 settlement sites with a population of up to 80,000 people and their unique ways of life. It is not too late to save the Mesopotamian Marshes in South Iraq, the biggest wetlands of the Middle East.

We would like to thank in advance all those supporting and spreading the urgent cry of Hasankeyf and the Tigris River on behalf of the natural and cultural heritage created over thousands and millions of years in the magnificient Tigris Valley.

It is possible to save the 12,000 year old Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley, which gave and gives life to all of us.

We call upon on everybody to stand for Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley immediately. Now and not later, it is urgent to act!

email: hasankeyfgirisimi@gmail.com
Twitter: @HasankeyfKoord and @hasankeyfdicle
Instagram: @hasankeyfkoord
Facebook: @HasankeyfKoord and @hasankeyfyasatmagirisimi
Website in English and Turkish: www.hasankeyfgirisimi.net

Sélune: the demolition of the Vezins dam on the way

It is a historic moment for Sélune! In recent days the cranes are at work on the left side of the dam and started the deconstruction of Vezins dam itself.

By the end of May the machines were present on site to dismantle the old hydroelectric power plant and make work to be transparent to floods. In this way in June three big openings (4X5meters each) were realized and the three bottom sluices open allowing passage of centennial floods.

In a few weeks another gear will come into action. Already installed at the foot of the dam this crane and 55 meters long articulated arm will dismount the central part of the dam.

Work are schedulde throughout the summer and until the fall.

The international media cover the Selune case : among others the international network of WWF, the BBC, AL Jazeera, La Vanguardia and Eldiario in Spain, Dennik N in Slovakia will report on the spot.

More about the project and the steps that led to this decision, see our dedicated page

 

New Poutès : the three sluices will be removed at the end of this summer

The work for the new Poutès in the upper part of the Allier basin (France) is ongoing. And we will soon have an important momentum in the history of the Poutès dam. Indeed, at the end of the summer, the three sluices, each 14x5m and 20 tons, will be removed from the structure.

Since the end of May, the reservoir is completely emptied, revealing the old bed of the Allier river.

The bottom sluice gate is fully open. The machines will soon invest the area. A platform that will remain until 2021 (expected end of works) will be installed in front of the dam to allow work on the structure. A crane will then take the sluice, put them on the platform, where they will be cut before joining a revaluation workshop. The reservoir will be refill during the winter 2019. The removal of a part of the dam itself will then continue during spring of 2020 after the smolts downstream migration.

See schedule for work until 2021, and the history of Poutès dam in our dedicated webpage

Reminder, the Poutès dam will be lowered by 10 meters (now it is 17m) and completely retrofit to facilitate fish migration and sediment transport.

© Louis Sauvadet – APS – 31 mai 2019

24-26 sept.2019 : International conference on dam removal Register now !

The final program is well on the way ! The last major speakers have already confirmed their participation like the French Ministry of Environment and the French National Federation of Fishing, as well as representatives of the State of Massachusetts (US) and the Danish University (DK).

Of course, Sélune river – the erasing of its dams but also the future of the valley- will be the feature project with varied presentations from State, scientists, local actors !

You will learn more about French and European state of the art in establishing ecological contuinity with a focus on removal and the current results of Amber project. And also about the economic benefits of dam erasures.

Many interesting examples will be introduced by speakers from France, Spain, Japan and Finland, etc.

At the end of the second day, you will have the opportunity to visit the “Mont Saint Michel”, and, the day after, to go on field of Selune Valley.

More info and registration

France: Biggest dam removal in European history started

Photo : Copyright Vincent M.

 

Sélune River, Normandy, France – In a historic moment for Europe’s rivers, the first, irreparable breach was made today in the 36 metre high Vezins Dam – kick-starting the biggest dam removal in Europe so far.

This landmark event is part of a long-term project to free the Sélune River, and bring salmon, eels and other wildlife back to the river and the famous bay of Mont-Saint-Michel – a UNESCO world heritage site and one of Europe’s prime tourist attractions.

Along the Sélune River in Normandy, the removal of two old, obsolete dams over the next two years – the Vezins and La Roche Qui Boit— will open up 90 km of river, improving water quality, allowing migratory salmon to return to their ancient spawning grounds and benefiting people and nature all along the river.

“The removal of the Vezins Dam signals a revolution in Europe’s attitude to its rivers: instead of building new dams, countries are rebuilding healthy rivers and bringing back biodiversity,” says Roberto Epple, president of European Rivers Network and 2018 Euronatur Award recipient. “Nature can recover remarkably quickly when dams are removed and I look forward to watching salmon swimming past Mont St Michel and spawning in the headwaters of the Sélune for the first time since my grandparents were young.”

Historically, the Sélune River was home to salmon that travelled from the river mouth, near Mont Saint Michel, upstream to mate and lay eggs. However, construction of these two dams stopped the salmon from migrating and this effectively stopped the recreational and commercial harvest of them as populations collapsed. The removal of these dams will help to bring more wildlife and biodiversity back to the river along with other recreational and touristic opportunities.

Artificial barriers (dams) are one of the biggest threats to river ecosystems, resulting in river fragmentation and loss of habitat connectivity. They stop the natural flow of sediments downstream and affect migratory fishes from travelling up- or downstream to complete their lifecycles. These impediments often lead to the decrease or decimation of native fish populations and can harbour other, non-native species in their adjacent impoundments. A new study in Naturerevealed just one-third of the world’s longest rivers remain free-flowing with river “fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity.”

Globally, freshwater species populations have declined by 83% on average since 1970. The recently approved Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reportspecifically recommends conserving and restoring river connectivity to boost freshwater biodiversity. As prescribed by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), each of Europe’s rivers must attain a ‘good’ ecological status and yet 40% of rivers fall short. Removal of old, obsolete dams is a viable option to help reach WFD goals, reconnect and restore rivers and allow fish populations and other wildlife to return and flourish. In fact, many countries in Europe are now removing dams as the economic, environmental and social benefits of doing so far outweigh the alternative of restoring the dam.

It is estimated that over 3,500 barriers have been removed across Europe including the biggest dam removal in Spain last year and an ongoing historical river restoration project in Estonia that will remove 8-10 dam and open up 3,300km of river basin. Moreover, European citizens are also donating funds to see these barriers go as a part of a larger dam removal crowdfunding campaign.

“There are tens of thousands of old, obsolete dams in Europe that can and should be removed,” says Arjan Berkhuysen, managing director of the World Fish Migration Foundation.  “We are hopeful that by removing not only big dams like this but also by removing small barriers through local efforts we can restore these important life sources.”

The unique project will measure the effects of dam removal with ten-years worth of environmental data.

More information :  https://www.ern.org/en/selune-libre/

Dowload Press Release here

##

Notes for Editors:

Photographs of the dam and start of its removal are available here, please respect the copyrights.

Contact:
Roxanne Diaz, WFMF Communications Officer, Mob +31 (0) 6 18918786 Email: roxanne@fishmigration.org
Roberto Epple, Chairman ERN European Rivers Network / Friends of the Sélune, Mob. +33 6  08 62 12 67 , Email : roberto.epple@ern.org

Dam Removal Europe The Dam Removal Europe initiative aims to connect local dam removal projects, stakeholders and organizations to better highlight and disseminate the positive impacts dam removal provides for rivers. It is an initiative that allows relevant specialists share knowledge and inspire new visions for a free-flowing Europe. Dam Removal Europe better enables support and guidance for future dam removal projects under the umbrella of the European Dam Removal movement.

ERN European Rivers Network > www.ern.org  ERN is an NGO engaged in the preservation and sustainable management of water and rivers. ERN is based in France and is Freshwater-Partner of WWF France.