SHEMA (a subsidiary of EDF) plans to install and operate a hydroelectric power station on the Allier on the left bank of the Vichy dam-bridge. The project, still little known to the citizens, is sensitive because it will impact the Loire and Allier, a major axis of migration of the Salmon whose protection is at stake at the European level!

Our collective of associations, including the Association Saumon Sauvage, the Association Protection du Saumon, Allier Sauvage, the FRANE, FNE Allier, SOS Loire Vivante – ERN, the Association des Pêcheurs Professionnels en Eau Douce de Loire-Atlantique, the Association Agréée des Pêcheurs Professionnels en eau douce du Bassin Loire-Bretagne, the Fédération de Pêche de Haute-Loire is opposed to this project and deplores the lack of consultation prior to the launching of the public inquiry which was open from 15/03/2021 to 14/04/2021.

> A WEBINAR DEBATE on March 22
For this reason, we proposed a public debate on March 22, in the form of a webinar, combined with a presentation of the project by SHEMA. More than 70 people were present! Find the press release of the associations and all the presentations in the column opposite (french only).

> A PRESS CONFERENCE on April 02
During the press conference of April 02, 13h30, in Vichy, a delegation of the collective of associations officially presented the position of the collective. Find this position in the press release of 02.04.2021 (french only)

> CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC INVESTIGATION (15/03/2021 to 14/04/2021)
The different associations of our collective have deposited their opinion within the framework of the public inquiry. They had also in parallel made available to the interested citizens elements of argument, against the proposed project. You can find them in the column opposite, as well as the various deposited opinions.

> CONCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC INVESTIGATION (May 14, 2021) :
Following the public inquiry concerning the project of hydroelectric power station, carried by SHEMA, on the dam of Vichy, Mrs. the Investigating Commissioner returned her conclusions and emitted an opinion certainly favorable but accompanied by very constraining reserves. Some of the arguments formulated by our collective of associations have been taken up. >> Read the report of the investigating commissioner (french only)

> GRACIOUS RECOURSE OF ASSOCIATIONS (September 2021)
In July 2021, the prefect of the Allier department nevertheless authorized the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Vichy dam, definitively condemning the possibilities of the Allier river being reclaimed by salmon and directly threatening its survival. In order to stop this irresponsible and disastrous project, a group of 10 national and local associations, including SOS Loire Vivante, has signed an appeal addressed to the prefect of the Allier (> see the appeal (in french only). The associations 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 collective of 20.09.2021 (in french only)

> JUSTICE ATTACK: (January 2022) The associations go to court, the Minister of Ecology asks the Prefect to reduce the impact of the dam on the environment!
The Prefect of the Allier having rejected their appeal, 7 environmental associations1 supported by a large group of associations are taking legal action against the hydroelectric power plant project on the Allier at Vichy. They are asking for a thorough revision of the operating conditions in order to integrate environmental issues, in particular the protection of migratory fish, notably the Loire-Allier salmon. In particular, they demand that the dam be opened 90 days a year during the salmon migration period in Vichy, from mid-February to mid-May. At the end of December 2021, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, wrote to the associations. In her letter, she enjoins the Prefect to open a reflection on the impacts of the dam.
>> Read the press release of 13.01.22