Injury reports are still coming in after the embarrassment at Voss last weekend. There is probably more than NOK 100 million worth of damage. For many municipalities, regulating waterways is not just a trade-off between power income and nature conservation. There is also a question of flume protection. The explanation is that power storage in the rivers means that they can “portion” the water and release it in manageable quantities during the spring thaw or when the autumn storms rage. According to a report from Energi Noreg, this method saves the country more than NOK 100 million in flue damage each year. Yesterday, news reported that “20-year-olds” may become the rule rather than the exception. It speaks for reassessing the balance between nature conservation and flounder conservation, says Olve Grotle in Høgre. – Now Voss has been hit hard twice in just eight years. Should we then just sit back and watch it happen again? he asks. He adds: – We have to think anew, and allow limited development in those waterways where flood protection is necessary. It will remove the risk of slack and, in addition, give us power. Høgre believes that “careful power development”, “minimum reduction of the conservation values” and better flood protection can go hand in hand. Photo: KENNETH KLEPPE / UAS VOSS – Good reasons to look at this weighting again news has been in contact with mayors in municipalities exposed to flooding who reason in the same way: If the question is nature conservation or flood protection, the latter must prevail. Per Atle Kjøllesdal (Sp), mayor of Stryn: – In my view, there are many good reasons to look at this weighting again in the light of the challenges we face. Audun Mo (Ap), mayor of Lærdal: – It may look like we should look at this one more time. In the Storting, protection against flounder through power development has its most ardent supporters in the FRP and Høgre. – It is quite absurd that the governing party turns a blind eye to new and effective measures that can prevent fraud, says Terje Halleland in the FRP. Despite earlier signals of relaxation, the Storting decided in June that the protection of 394 Norwegian watercourses should remain in place. In May, the program committee in Vestland Høgre advocated going through the protection of all Vestland rivers, among other things out of consideration for silt mitigation. NVE has estimated that future flood and avalanche protection on a national basis will cost around NOK 85 billion. In Aurland, the municipal council recently decided that they will look at various ways to secure the Flåmsvassdraget, which is currently protected. Injury reports are still coming in after the embarrassment at Voss last weekend. Photo: Tom Hansen / TOM HANSEN – Sneak introduction of downsizing of waterways The attempt to balance nature conservation, safety and value creation has characterized the political conversation about power development ever since the industrial revolution in the 19th century, and has been central to the building of the identity of the Norwegian environmental movement. – We must not waver on the principle that protection is protection. The most important thing we can do to curb flounder is to take care of and restore destroyed nature. It is particularly important that we take care of bogs, forests and vegetation, says MDG manager Arild Hermstad. Birgit Oline Kjerstad in SV says new flood prevention measures “may become necessary, but that this must happen within the current framework, “not through regulating the protection of waterways”. – The notion that we “regulate power” away from the risk of failure by opening up power development in protected waterways is too simple, she says. She adds that “the need to protect waterways is not diminishing because the climate risk is increasing”. – Here we have to look at each individual watercourse and assess what is technically and environmentally sound. This does not necessarily mean changing the balance between protection and power development. – It is quite absurd that the governing party turns a blind eye to new and effective measures that can prevent landslides and landslides, says Terje Halleland in the FRP. Photo: Tim Tønnessen / news Storting representative for Raudt, Sofie Marhaug, says the right-wing party is using the flume protection as a crowbar to “stealthyly introduce the downsizing of waterways”: – Yes, we must improve flume protection, but that must happen regardless of new development of hydropower. Only then is the measure credible, she says. The Labor Party is also “skeptical about using the scandal at Voss as a pretext for a release of power development in protected waterways”. That is according to Linda Merkesdal (Ap), who is a member of the Storting’s energy and environment committee. – In the protection of watercourses, it is assumed that other flood-mitigating measures are paid for first, that life and health are at stake and that conservation values will not be significantly affected. – Yes, we need to improve flood protection, but this must happen independently of new development of hydropower. Only then is the measure warranted, says Sofie Marhaug in Raudt. Photo: Tim Tønnessen / news
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More extreme weather increases the pressure to dam protected waterways – news Vestland
