Open Rivers programme funds the removal of small barriers in Europe : Apply before January 5, 2022

1 million barriers fragment Europe’s rivers, contributing to the decline of biodiversity and the deterioration of water quality. The AMBER EU project has revealed that the barriers less than 2 m high represent 68% of all the barriers in Europe, and that their removal is more effective environmentally and better accepted by the population than the removal of large barriers.

The Arcadia Foundation is involved in river restoration based on the AMBER EU study. To this end, the Open Rivers programme was created in October 2021 and will fund numerous small-scale barrier removal projects in Europe until 2023. ERN is involved in the programme as a member of the “Dam Removal Europe” network, which is among the managers of the programme.

The 1st application round is open from November 19, 2021 to January 5, 2022. The funding will be allocated in priority to removal works but also to complementary actions such as studies. To be eligible to funding, organisations must be of general interest (local communities, researchers …). The criteria and procedure for applying are presented on the Open rivers website, as well as the guide for applicants and the application platform. Among the main selection criteria, barriers must be less than 2 m high ; the removal works must be completed after one year; the ecological gains are significant and the local managers approve the project.

ERN is directly involved in the program by disseminating information, by following the proposals and the selected projects in France and by providing support to applicants. If you want advice or support to submit your application, contact us: emma.liberati(at)rivernet.org / 04 71 05 57 88

France : Public policies to safeguard the Loire Salmon : a total incoherence !

France: PUBLIC POLICIES TO SAFEGUARD THE LOIRE SALMON: A TOTAL INCOHERENCE!

On the Allier, while EDF is completing work on the “new Poutès”, which will improve the situation of the salmon in the Allier, its own subsidiary, SHEMA, is building a hydroelectric power station that will perpetuate the negative impacts of the Vichy dam, which will reduce to nothing the efforts made upstream. Absurd and revolting!

>>read the complet Press release (in french only) edited by ERN-SOS Loire vivante and other NGO

 

This autumn, on the Poutès dam (river Allier)…

On September 29th, on the almost finished construction site of the new dam of Poutès (Allier),
the installed gates were lifted for the 1st time, just in time for the arrival of the salmons!

Ideal conditions for a free circulation of migratory fish and sediments…

The beginning of the hydroelectric production is planned for Spring 2022.

Read the press release (french)

2021 sept. /New gates have been installed and lifted on Poutes dam!  photo R. Epple ERN

>> More infos on “le Nouveau Poutès”

Loire salmon: The coup de grace in Vichy?

While considerable efforts have been made by the State, local authorities, associations and citizens to safeguard the species, the Prefect of the Allier has just authorized the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Vichy dam, definitively condemning the possibilities of the re-conquest of the ALLIER by the salmon and directly threatening its survival.
This irresponsible and fatal project must be stopped.
A group of 10 national and local associations, including SOS Loire Vivante, has signed an appeal to the Prefect of the Allier. They are considering legal action, both national and European, to stop this deleterious project and replace it with an environmentally responsible solution.

> Read the press release of the associations (french only)
>> See the appeal (french only)

From July 5 to 11, Dam Removal Europe joins the Big Jump

Indeed, from July 5 to 11, Dam Removal Europe joins the Big Jump with its crowdfunding action in favor of dam removal projects.

This year, the theme of the Big Jump is “Free Rivers”. This means that the Big Jump is dedicated to the removal of dams and other obstacles on rivers across Europe, in order to bring them back to life.

To raise awareness of the dramatic situation represented by the existence of more than a million obstacles and, at the same time, to launch very concrete actions on the ground, we are launching a crowdfunding week from 5 to 11 July 2021, at the same time as the Big Jump.

This operation allows any group or organization to register a dam to demolish. They can then relay this project to their networks and get donations to carry out their river action.

Register your dam removal project before June 20th by following all the information given in the document available here.

It will then be able to benefit from the crowdfunding week planned from July 5 to 11!

Historic threat to our rivers: senators and deputies to vote soon

Several texts, supported by ill-informed or ill-intentioned deputies and senators, from the lobbies of the protection of mills and small hydroelectricity, will be voted during the month of June in the Senate and then in the Assembly. They brutally call into question more than 25 years of national efforts and investments to give back to the rivers, sources of life of our territories, their essential functionalities to nature and to our societies and totally ignore the impacts on the already very degraded natural aquatic environments.

The Collectif Rivières Naturelles led by our association, with already 3300 supporters via the current petition, is opposed to these texts. It has written personally to each member of parliament and senator to appeal to their responsibility and ask them not to support these texts which are far from the general interest and completely out of step with the environmental emergency, the commitments of France and the European imperatives.

> Read the letter of the Collectif Rivières Naturelles (French only)

> Read the press release ((French only)

> SIGN THE PETITION !

 

 

 

The international Dam Removal Europe seminar starts tomorrow!

This year, Dam Removal Europe International Seminar is being organized by WWF (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Dam Removal Europe partners, and in cooperation with regional and international partners. It will take place online from 4 to 7 May 2021 (every afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. Central European Time).

  • May 4, 2021: What is on stake? Why do we need dam removal?
  • May 5, 2021: How to push dam removal forward?
  • May 6, 2021: Benefits of dam removal to nature and people
  • May 7, 2021: Political frameworks and financing

ERN will be among the speakers on the subject of the removal of large dams on the Selune.

You can still register !

>> Find the whole program and register online

 

 

Report cover page

Hydropower in Europe : Transformation – not development (WWF Report)

European rivers are the most fragmented in the world, contributing to the rapid decline in freshwater biodiversity.
As a result, a drastic transformation of the hydropower sector is urgently needed to reduce its environmental
impact. This can be achieved through several steps: the first one is to stop building new hydropower plants which worsen the fragmentation of rivers and lead to the loss of precious habitats and species.

The second step is to lessen the environmental impact of existing plants through plant environmental refurbishment. From ecological flows to acquiring knowledge on fish migration patterns, hydropower plants can be adapted and managed in a more nature- sensitive manner, as illustrated by a case study on the Allier River in the Loire Valley, France.

The third step is the restoration of the rivers’ natural functions,
in particular continuity and habitats. The case study on the construction of a reproduction channel next to the Imatra hydropower plant in Finland, illustrates active restoration measures that should be taken to complement mitigation measures at the plant itself.

download the WWF Report :  https://www.wwf.eu/what_we_do/water/?uNewsID=2329866 

 

Documentary “Salmons and Men”

Photo : Saumon atlantique dans la rivière Allier. • © Stéphane Granzotto

Directed by Stéphane Granzotto, this film was broadcast on France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in November 2020.
This documentary is about the Atlantic Salmon (Loire Allier strain), and focuses on the journey of the species on the Allier River, a tributary of the Loire River (France). Among the obstacles presented, the Vichy dam or the Poutès dam and its redevelopment in favor of the migration of the Salmon.

Film again available in full on vimeo : To be seen here