Great Big Jumps in many places despite Covid .

Good news. Despite the official cancellation of the Big Jumps 2020 on July 12th due to the Covid 19 epidemic, some very original events took place. We already have knowledge of Big Jumps in Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain. In a few days we will be able to publish photos and videos

DAM BUSTERS : Dam Removal Europe presents the trailer of its new film

DAM BUSTERS is the new film by Dam Removal Europe and the World Fish Migration Fundation about dam removal. Worldwide distribution, premiere expected in 2021.

Following the journey around the world of Pao Fernández Garrido, a Spanish engineer, the film sets out to meet the “river heroes”, women and men, in all continents in their passionate quest to restore rivers and ecosystems. Laura Wildman from the United States, Roberto Epple – Founding President of ERN-France, are among the film’s personalities.

France, the first country, along with the United States, to have carried out major dam removals since 1996, will be in the spotlight with the removal of the major dams on the Sélune and the partial removal of the Poutès dam on the Haut Allier.

 

A film from Francisco Campos Lopez, in collaboration with Magen Entertainment, LLC.

#DamRemovalEurope #DamRemovalGlobal #WorldFishMigrationDay #dam removal #RiverResotrationHeroes

Dam Removal Europe Webinar / Practitioners : recording available

You missed the July 1st the #DREpractitioners webinar. Check out the recording  on You tube.

On this occasion the participants were able to see live removal of a hydropower dam: Marieberg , Sweden and ask their questions to the project team about the removal process.

Hydropower dam: Marieberg , Sweden

This webinar was specifically geared towards practitioners and answered a variety of practical questions: What are the best methods for removing a dam? | What are some of the technical difficulties encountered when removing a dam in a protected area? | What if the dam has a high cultural heritage value? Does this affect how you remove it or how much of the barrier you can remove? | What do I have to take into consideration if there are exotic species dwelling within the river on either side of the dam? Drilling away at a dam may sound easy—what is there to understand? What is there to expect and take into consideration?

With news and presentations from the USA, UK, France, Spain and Sweden.  

more infos about Dam Removal Europe

Selune River comes alive upstream the Vezins Dam

One year after the complet emptying of the reservoir, the Selune river is already welcoming its new inhabitants. Jean-Marc Rousel from INRA tells us “1km upstream the former Vezins dam the river is breathing vigorously now, incredibly rich in habitats and many invertebrates species (stone flies, caddis flies, dragon flies…) and some fish too! In particular the Sculpin (Cottus gobio) has returned from upstream. The invasive American crayfish is also spreading from downstream… but its upcoming predator, the European eel, is waiting for its turn, below the second dam (La Roche-qui-boit), ready for ascending…”.

The Selune River, 1 km upstream from the Vezins dam © Jean-Marc Roussel – INRA

Restitution of the AMBER project: webinar video, magazine

The June 29th webinar “Smart Ways to improve connectivity river” was a great success. If you missed the event and want to watch some presentations again, you can now watch the webinar video online.

One of the main outputs of AMBER is the Pan-European Atlas of In-Stream Barriers. It contains information on 630,000 barriers including not only large dams, but also hundreds of thousands of smaller weirs, ramps, fords and culverts. However, AMBER researchers have found that more than one third of barriers are unrecorded, bringing the total to well over 1 million. Of these 1 million, over 100,000 are obsolete barriers deteriorating Europe’s rivers. This scale of river fragmentation is alarming and makes Europe the most fragmented river landscape in the world, with hardly any unfragmented, free-flowing rivers left. more : https://amber.international/our-research-finds-at-least-100000-obsolete-barriers-are-fragmenting-and-deteriorating-europes-rivers/  

To finish the 4-year AMBER project, EU-funded under the Horizon 2020 initiative, a magazine Let it flow | Reconnecting People with Rivers  was produced. Throughout this magazine, the Amber project shares results, thoughts, and ambitions for the future. Inside, is illustrated the issues of river fragmentation and restoration in Europe and abroad and what can be done to tackle these challenges.


For France, EDF (national electricity compagny)  and CNSS (National Conservatory of Wild Salmon) were partners in the project, notably to study the smolt downstream migration  the reservoir. The reconfiguration of the Poutès dam and its stakes are widely presented in the video presentation of the AMBER program (2min out of the 4.50min video). Video soon available and preview at 3h’42min’40sec of the webinar video.

Plus d’infos https://amber.international/

Dam Removal Europe publishes its 2020-2030 strategy

The goal that unites the Dam Removal Europe Partner (ERN is a co-founding member) since 5 years is the removal of obstacles in rivers, for free and living rivers. The movement, thanks to these partners with a rich diversity of skills from engineering and policy, conservation and field biology, to science, has grown rapidly and is now well established within European nature conservation.

As the Dam Removal Europe coalition expands and looks to the future, the team has created a strategy document outlining past, current and future goals for the upcoming decade. The mission aims to scale up the dam removal movement to all European countries and to help free Europe’s rivers from more than 100,000 obsolete and out-of -use barriers.

We know the benefits of dam removal (significant positive environmental impacts, cost effectiveness, support for job creation, etc.) and we want more people across Europe to know and choose this option for river restoration.

See our strategic report 2020 – 2030 which describes how we will increase our efforts and achieve our new goals.

 

More info see our DAM REMOVAL EUROPE page.

 

Poutès Dam on the Allier river : Deconstruction ongoing !

Remember, at the end of August 2019 the 3 sluice gates of the Poutès dam had been removed. This year the work program becomes even more interesting! The construction site was re-installed at the end of May and since July 1st you can see the machines attacking the civil engineering of the dam !

Weir partial removal on the right bank – July 2020 © EDF

This year, the 3 weirs and the 2 piers will be lowered and the footbridge removed. A notch on the left bank will be created and will allow the circulation of water, fish and sediments without hindrance until the summer of 2021 ! The devices for upstream and downstream migration will start to be modified to correspond to the new coasts and standards of the dam (digging under the elevator in particular).

All the details in the video below

The Allier has already recovered its natural profile, as shown by the photo taken in the old reservoir after the emptying.

Upstream of the Poutès dam (inside old reservoir), 11th of June, the Allier regains its natural character for ever © SOS Loire Vivante – ERN

On the 12 of June, a major flood occurred on the Allier (400m3/s at Poutès against 16m 3/s for the module), it crossed the dam without constraint. The warning systems of the Cristal network were effective. The works were suspended and the platform created to work at the foot of the Poutès dam could be evacuated in time without affecting the equipment or the men!

The June 12 flood passes the Poutes dam without constraint © EDF

More info on Poutes dedicated page

EU water law will NOT be changed, confirms European Commission

In a landmark day for Europe’s rivers, lakes and wetlands, the European Commission has announced, 22nd of June,  that the EU’s strong water legislation — the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) — will not be changed. We welcome this excellent news after more than two years of fitness check.

In a statement to POLITICO, the EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement “without changing the directive”.The message from the Commission is clear: the WFD is an essential piece of EU environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form.

The European Commission must now work with all stakeholders to speed up implementation and ensure that the WFD objectives are achieved by 2027 at the latest. Gaps in implementation, highlighted by the evaluation, will need to be addressed while putting in place the European “Green Deal”.

Below Press release from Living Rivers Europe coaltion 

In a landmark day for Europe’s rivers, lakes and wetlands, the European Commission has announced that the EU’s strong water legislation — the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) — will not be changed.

In a statement to POLITICO, the EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement “without changing the directive”.The message from the Commission is clear: the WFD is an essential piece of EU environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form.

The decision comes six months after the law was concluded to be “fit-for-purpose”, following a thorough two-year evaluation. Over the course of this process, more than 375,000 citizens demanded that the law be kept in its current form and better implemented by their governments.

The Commission’s decision is welcomed by WWF, EEB, the European Anglers Alliance, European Rivers Network and Wetlands International, who together form the Living Rivers Europe coalition and led the #ProtectWater campaign to safeguard the WFD.

The WFD is one of the EU’s most ambitious and holistic pieces of environmental legislation, setting the target of having 100% of the EU’s freshwater ecosystems in good health by 2027 at the very latest [1], up from just 40% currently [2]. The EU must meet this target in order to preserve its water resources and ensure Europe can adapt to climate change. But implementation from Member States has been weak and political will to make the law work in practice low. There has also been much pressure to weaken the legislation, including from industry lobby groups.

Ester Asin, Director of WWF’s European Policy Office, said:

“Good legislation is not something to be tampered with. The EU needs the Water Framework Directive to safeguard its water supply, halt and reverse biodiversity loss and tackle climate change. We congratulate the Commission for standing by the strong evidence, taking the views of EU citizens on board, and following up on the ambitions of the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy. But with 2027 right around the corner, better implementation needs to start right now. We look forward to working with the Commission on ensuring the law works not just on paper but in practice to bring life back to our rivers at last.”

With this announcement, it is clear that there can be no further delays from Member States. The European Commission must now work with all relevant stakeholders to fast-track implementation and ensure that the WFD’s objectives are reached by 2027 at the very latest. Member States will need to pull out all the stops in the next cycle of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs).

Since the launch of the fitness check, the WFD has received public support from hundreds of thousands of EU citizens and scientists. The critical role of the WFD in halting the decline in freshwater biodiversity was highlighted in a letter from close to 6,000 scientists, which was sent to the Commission at the end of last year. The WFD also has the public support of a group of businesses, who have urged the Commission and EU Member States to preserve this groundbreaking law in its current form.

Roberto Epple, President of ERN France, said :

“This is a great victory after two years of evaluation of the directive, a success of the #protectwater campaign led by the Living Rivers Europe coalition, of which ERN is a member, and supported by thousands of citizens and hundreds of NGOs. France made no mistake when it asked in March 2020 that the Directive should not be modified. Having taken this step, we must now focus on accelerating efforts to restore and protect our freshwater ecosystems. The current context, the covid19 crisis , repeated droughts, etc., but also the European green deal, the EU biodiversity strategy no longer leaves us with a choice, all the players, including industry, must respond now and be equal to the challenges to be met to make water protection a reality.”

Sergiy Moroz, Policy Manager for Water and Biodiversity at the EEB, said:

“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the importance of healthy ecosystems as an insurance against pandemics, in addition to the countless other benefits that healthy, resilient water environments provide. By giving the EU’s groundbreaking water legislation the final sign-off, the European Commission and Member States can now get on with the job at hand: Bringing our rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers to ecological health by 2027 at the latest. The gaps in the implementation of this law that the two-year evaluation highlighted will need to be addressed while putting in place the European Green Deal.”

Steven Weiss, Associate Professor at the Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens University of Graz and signatory of the letter from scientists, said

“As one of nearly 6,000 scientists who signed a letter of support to the Water Framework Directive, I am delighted to see that the European Commission has taken on board the views of the scientific community. Freshwater species are currently the most vulnerable in Europe. Full implementation of the Water Framework Directive is vital in reversing this trend, and in protecting the diversity of life and processes that freshwater ecosystems support.”

ENDS

Contact:
Sophie Bauer
Communications Officer (Freshwater)
WWF European Policy Office
sbauer@wwf.eu 
+32 471 05 25 11

References:

[1] The original deadline for meeting this final objective was 2015, and was missed by a long shot. With 60% of EU waters still not healthy, the European Commission and Member States need to pull out all the stops to boost implementation and meet the final 2027 deadline.

[2] The latest data from the European Environment Agency shows that 60% of EU fresh waters are currently not healthy and fail to meet the WFD’s standards (EEA, European waters — Assessment of status and pressures 2018)

Notes to the editor:

European Commission stands strong in the face of pressure to weaken the EU’s water legislation:

  • Since the launch of the European Commission’s evaluation, the Water Framework Directive has been under significant pressure from business lobby groups, who have been pushing for a weakening of the legislation. Many of these groups represent sectors which exert huge pressure on freshwater ecosystems, including the hydropower industry and industrial agriculture.
  • In March this year, the lobby organisation BusinessEurope attempted to influence an exchange of views on the follow-up to the directive’s evaluation taking place at the Environment Council, calling for less stringent water protection requirements. A majority of Member States expressed their support for the fitness check conclusions on the Water Framework Directive ahead of/on the day of this meeting. Several – including France, Austria, Denmark and Greece – stated that the WFD needs to be maintained in its current form.

What we need now:

  • The European Commission must now work with Member States and all relevant stakeholders to fast-track implementation and ensure that the WFD’s objectives are reached by 2027 at the very latest. Concretely, we will be looking out for the following implementation gaps to be tackled:

On dam removal:

  • In the past, Member States’ River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) have missed the opportunity to improve river health by tackling hydromorphological pressures (changes to the physical shape and/or flow of a water body), including through dam removal. Dam removal has large economic benefits, in terms of job creation, and is cost-efficient when compared to the costs of maintaining obsolete dams, and increases resilience to extreme weather events.
  • Whilst the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy includes the concrete commitment to restore 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers (including through dam removal), it is neither clear from this nor from the Recovery Package how the Commission will financially support this target. Dedicated funding is needed to turn this commitment into a reality, and the Natural Capital and Circular Economy Initiative proposed under the Recovery Package could be an opportunity for this. Freeing up money for this initiative is a win-win, helping meet the Biodiversity Strategy’s targets and the objectives of the WFD.

On drought:

  • Drought management strategies need to be developed as part of Member States’ River Basin Management Plans and as a preventative response to climate change, rather than solely as an emergency response when droughts have already hit. Water management is not an isolated issue and must be tackled holistically, as required under the WFD.

On financing:

  • The European Commission’s WFD implementation report and fitness check conclusions highlighted lack of funding as a significant obstacle to the law’s implementation. If Member States were to fully implement cost recovery under the WFD, they would not be depriving themselves from a source of revenue. Moreover, they would ensure that the costs of implementing the measures were not solely borne by consumers, while at the same time incentivising good practices.

On hydropower:

  • The pressure of hydropower dams on Europe’s rivers is immense, with more than 20,000 existing plants and more than 8,000 additional ones on the cards. With the costs of solar and wind plummeting, the EU must invest in these renewable options rather than giving the green light to more hydropower plants, and invest in the refurbishment of existing hydropower plants.

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.