The removal of obstacles on rivers, dams and barriersis one of the mandatory indications that emanate from the European Union strategy on biodiversity in order to comply with the Water Framework Directive.
A measure that raises discussions about the appropriateness of its compliance, transcending public opinion with different messages for and against, which areand have increased recently with the greater frequency of droughts.
Order of Brussels
The European strategy states that By 2030, at least 25,000 kilometers of rivers must be “liberated” for them to become free again and requires that the countries of the union make efforts to recover freshwater ecosystems and the natural functions of rivers.
The way to do this can be found “eliminate or adapt river barriers “which prevent the passage of migratory fish and improve the flow of water and sediment,” according to the European Commission.
The National River Rehabilitation Strategy (ENRR), developed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, establishes that it is necessary to address “the structural and functional restoration and reconnection of 3,000 km of rivers between 2022 and 2030throughout Spain.
The ENRR, in its project, stressed that Nearly half of Spain’s rivers are in poor conditionwith its rivers fragmented by thousands of buildings, filled with invasive species and deprived of its riparian forest and 45% of these bodies of water are deteriorated.
Nature Restoration Act
And, going deeper into the issue of dams and river barriers, the recently approved Nature Restoration Law, already in force for a few weeks, indicates that policies must be undertaken in European states to recover freshwater ecosystems.
The law states that efforts must be made to restore the natural connectivity of rivers, e.g. remove artificial barriers (such as dams and dikes) which hinder the natural flow of rivers and which are no longer necessary, by first analyzing their socio-economic functions.
Opposition to its elimination
In this context, attention is drawn to the request for the environmental organization Arco Iris urging municipalities to oppose the demolition of river dams and “not to grant planning permission for demolitions.”
Furthermore, Augas de Galicia, the autonomous body attached to the Department of Environment and Infrastructure of the Xunta de Galicia, is also already requesting “take a stand for or against» of these plans.
Modern and fashion
The entity proclaims that “Shooting prey is modern and fashionable“, specifying that “the debate is not between left and right, the management of water and drought cannot be in the hands of unscrupulous politicians.”
In a video one of its members appears showing a barrier saying that “part of the left considers that all this (showing the water from the dam) is not ecologicalor”, and that its elimination is based “on a few ideas pseudoecologists “They wonder if it changes the habitat and the image of the environment.” The protagonist of the video claims that “everything that has grown around the dam is Green“.
Additionally, in the same video you can see statements such as the current “The government demolishes more than 200 dams every year in Spain “despite a terrible drought and the unique ecosystems generated by the reservoirs.”
Privatization of water
According to the environmental organization, this type of works of “restoration» may be part of the “globalist strategy of water privatization.”
Furthermore, he says, “he systematically attacks the right to public use of an increasingly rare good“The demolition of dams in Spain, believes Arco Iris, could be due to “one more measure to obtain European aid.”
Ecosystems in danger
This strategy, the organization denounces, “will significantly worsen the supply and minimum flows in dry seasonsin addition to desperately destroying the habitats that persist thanks to the reservoir during the summer. At the same time, he indicates that “many species of amphibians will disappear without remedy and that Drought will seriously affect riparian forests“.
The environmental organization also recalls that “57 river obstacles have been eliminated in the Miño-Sil basin since the implementation of the demolition plan in 2009″ to warn that “The process of water privatization is now unstoppable and will soon be listed on the stock exchange, like other natural resources.
