On the Sélune river, in Normandy, the timeline of dismantling is becoming clearer. The Vezins dam, whose sediment management has been completed, will be erased from April / May 2019.
For that of La Roche which drinks, further downstream, the deadline is 2021.
More information on our free Sélune page
In April, the BBC radio came to Normandy to report on the Sélune dams removal.
Listen to Normandie Grands Migrateurs, INRA, SAGE de la Sélune and Amis du Barrage interviews (english) : www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09zxl85
Paris, 21 November – With thousands of proposed dams threatening Europe’s few remaining free flowing rivers, France’s decision to remove two large dams could signal the start of a new era on the continent – with countries focussing on reviving their rivers and on large scale dam destruction rather than construction.
Eight years after the idea was initially discussed, the French government agreed last week to remove the 35 metre-high Vezins and 15 metre-high ‘La Roche qui boit’ dams from the Selune river in Normandy in 2018.
read the Pressrelease by ERN and WWF intl.
The french Minister Nicolas Hulot announce the removal of the Vezin dam (35m) and the Roche qui boit dam (15m). The works starts in spring 2018 !
Read ERNs /WWF intl. Pressrelease in english (21 November)
For more information :
Visite ERN’s ” Sélune libre” Website ( in french only)
Read the official Press release by the Ministery (14 november, pdf) in french
Read the official Press release by French NGOs (pdf) in french
more information on “Sélune libre” in french by the friends of the Sélune (Facebook)
ERN France
ERN is the official WWF Freshwater Partner in France and cooperates with WWF Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands and others
Hermann Wanningen