For decades, more and more dams have been built in Europe’s rivers and streams, and this has had major consequences for life in watercourses. For the past 50 years, these barriers have been one of the causes of a 93 percent drop in migrating freshwater fish in Europe. However, several organizations have opened their eyes to the problem, and in the last couple of years, several European countries have begun to remove the dams. In 2020, the European Commission decided that by 2030, 25,000 kilometers of river would be released in Europe. And last year, a record number of dams were removed – 239 dams in 17 European countries, according to a report from the Dam Removal Europe, a project launched by the World Fish Migration Foundation. An organization that aims to free up rivers for the benefit of, among other things, the fish. This is an increase of 137 percent from the previous year. And that’s good news for Pisces. The lives of many species of freshwater fish depend on them being able to migrate along rivers to lay their eggs. But when rivers and streams are blocked by a dam, parts of the watercourses become completely silent, and this means that the fish cannot reach their spawning grounds. They are thus left in slower, warmer and more polluted water, where oxygen levels are poorer and the amount of algae toxins is higher. This means that the fish cannot complete their life cycle, and they therefore end up dying before they have laid their eggs. – We can in a way compare the rivers with the human lungs. The rivers’ job is to move oxygen and nutrients around the landscape, if one of the roads is blocked with a barrier, it has major consequences for life in the rivers, says Gwen Macdonald, who is head of the European Open Rivers Program (OPR). Since October 2021, OPR has aimed to recreate a natural river flow and biodiversity in Europe’s rivers, by removing many small dams that block them. They do this by providing grants for initiatives such as the Dam Europe Removal. Over the next six years, the organization (through donations from a charity) has, among other things, invested more than NOK 300 million in closure projects in Europe. With the money, the organization expects that they can remove far more dams in Europe’s rivers. – 239 closures may seem like a small number, but each dam that has been removed is of great importance to the individual river. And you can always start small, but dream big, says Roxanne Diaz, communications manager at OPR. Over 1.2 million barriers In many cases, large dams protect against floods, just as they are also built to build hydropower plants used for electricity production – the largest renewable energy source in the EU. But. It is usually the largest dams that stand for the necessary and good purposes. And out of the approx. The 1.2 million dams and barriers we have in Europe, the vast majority are two meters or less. Although some of the small dams have been built to benefit the environment, there are still thousands of useless barriers in the rivers. – Of course, we are not interested in closing down the dams that have a good impact on our planet, but in Europe we have over 100,000 dams that are left behind and that serve no purpose. And it is precisely those we want to remove, Gwen Macdonald emphasizes. In addition to being a vital obstacle for freshwater fish, the many dams also have major consequences for the landscape. The barriers block nutrients and sediments from reaching the coast. This means that beach areas become smaller and drier over time. In addition, the fall in the number of fish in the rivers also has an impact on other wildlife such as bears, birds and otters that depend on the fish. The domino effect of consequences can also be felt for fishing in the countries. With fewer fish, it is less to catch, and it has an impact on both local fishermen, but also for tourists who drop the trip to fish in the areas. According to Pao Frenández Garrido, project manager at Dam Removal Europe, many of the dams built are a result of not being aware of the many consequences that the dams would have. – When a river is blocked by a dam, the impact is not immediate. This happens in return over a number of years and people are therefore not aware of what the individual small barrier can entail in terms of major consequences, she says. But with the European Commission’s plan and with more organizations financing the closures, we can expect in the near future that fish face fewer obstacles along the way. – My hope is that all countries in Europe will be aware of the benefits of removing the dams in the rivers, and that they realize that in the future there is no need to build more small dams, says Pao Frenández Garrido.
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Europe removes life-threatening obstacles for fish
