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Dam removal in Europe is reviving rivers and increasing biodiversity. Here's how

2023-08-19 14:30:30Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Dam removal in Europe is reviving rivers and increasing biodiversity.
Removing dams in Europe is reviving rivers

A record number of dams and barriers were removed from Europe's rivers in 2022, helping to restore the health of the continent's freshwater arteries.

The annual report from Dam Removal Europe (DRE), an alliance of seven wildlife and environmental organisations, shows that 325 dams were removed across rivers in 16 countries, improving river flows and enabling fish to reach areas of their breeding.

Spain led the way in removing most barriers to river flows, followed by Sweden and France. Latvia and Luxembourg reported the removal of barriers for the first time and 73% of all barriers removed were dams, the DRE stated.

Restoring free-flowing rivers is an important way to increase biodiversity, the report adds. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2023 listed biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as one of the top five threats to the world over the next decade.

Restoration of biodiversity

One of the most unexpected dam removals took place in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) removed the 120-year-old Bayurivka Dam on the Perkalaba River in the Carpathian Mountains – despite the country being at war.

Originally built to help transport timber, the dam sat unused for 40 years and was in danger of collapsing. Its removal reopened 27 kilometers of river, allowing fish, including the endangered Danube salmon, to reach their traditional spawning grounds.

It is hoped that the return of fish populations will increase the number of fish-eating animals in the area, such as the brown bear, creating what DRE says could become a "biodiversity hotspot" in the Carpathian Mountains.

The cost of removing the dams

Almost one-sixth of free-flowing river barriers were demolished because they were outdated and at risk of collapse. These included ten hydroelectric dams, up to a century old, which had been destroyed.

A Norwegian sportfishing club campaigned to remove a 106-year-old hydroelectric dam on the Tromsa River, which was destroyed by dynamite in January 2022. It has been replaced by a stepped waterfall to allow fish to swim back up. .

In June 2022, the hydroelectric dam at La Rochequi-boit on the Sélune River in Normandy was removed, adding 60 km of river. Meanwhile in Finland, the removal of the Lahnasenkoski Dam brought the country's largest river restoration project one step closer to completion.

Overall, the DRE says at least 832 km of rivers were reconnected in the year, which also saw progress towards new legal protections for rivers, both at the European Union level and at the level of state governments.

Although hydropower is the world's largest single source of low-carbon energy, supplying a sixth of global electricity production, the DRE says more research is needed to quantify the cost of removing them, when they reach the end of their operational life.

Europe has 150,000 aging dams, and a recent study of dam removal in the US suggests that the average cost of removing a 10-meter-high dam is $6.2 million. The DRE has welcomed a new application that calculates the exact cost of demolishing individual dams. / World Economic Forum


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