France’s Minister of the Environment Nicolas Hulot has approved the removal of two large hydropower plants. The river Sélune in Normandy will be freed of the 35m high Vezin dam as well as the 15 m high Roche-Qui-Boit dam. Demolition works will start in Spring 2018. This reconnects 90 kilometer of watercourse, facilitating free passage for salmons, eels and many other species.
“This decision marks the beginning of a new era. The time of hydropower in Europe is coming to an end. However, while in France and elsewhere dams are being removed and rivers restored, the ecologically most valuable rivers in the Balkans are to be destroyed. We need to stop this madness,” says Ulrich Eichelmann from Riverwatch.
