The European Union (EU) has not issued or transmitted to Romania any instructions, orders or obligations regarding the demolition, decommissioning of dams or the emptying of important reservoirs located on the national territory, the National Administration "Romanian Waters" (ANAR) states in a press release published on Wednesday.
"The European Union has not issued or transmitted to Romania any instructions, orders or obligations regarding the demolition, decommissioning of dams or the emptying of important accumulations located on the national territory. Information is circulating in the public space according to which a European directive would impose the dismantling of dams, citing the figure of approximately 1,200,000 "barriers" existing in Europe. We firmly emphasize that this term does not refer to large or strategic dams, such as Portile de Fier, Izvorul Muntelui-Bicaz, Vidraru, Paltinu or other large dams of national importance," the institution mentions.
According to the cited source, data from ICOLD (International Commission on Large Dams) and EuroCOLD (the European branch of ICOLD) show that there are approximately 4,000 - 5,000 large dams in Europe.
"The major difference between this figure and the 1.2 million demonstrates unequivocally that the "barriers" attributed to the "European directives" represent, mainly, old and degraded minor hydrotechnical works of no use to society such as: small transverse thresholds on watercourses, old dams, footbridges and thresholds, fish facilities or other local, degraded, often non-functional or abandoned obstacles. These structures are usually low in height, do not provide any use and are not dams, regardless of the category of importance. In most situations, the promoted solutions aim at constructive adaptation, such as reprofiling with gentle slopes or creating fish passages, and demolition refers only to those small thresholds that are degraded or have reached the end of their useful life, other modern solutions being proposed to improve the conditions of flow, environmental factors and population health", notes "Apele Române".
In this regard, ANAR offers as an example a situation in Galati County, where two small fishing dams broke following floods generated by heavy rainfall.
"These works were intended exclusively for fish farming, were of low importance, were not administered by the National Administration "Romanian Waters", and had maintenance deficiencies. The case in Galati, reported in reports by the Court of Auditors, confirms that vulnerabilities appear mainly in minor hydrotechnical works, not in large dams, which are designed and built according to certain norms and standards, are permanently monitored and operated according to strict safety standards", mention the representatives of the institution in question.
In Romania, ANAR manages 82 major dams and 329 minor dams. Hidroelectrica also manages 99 major dams, while over 1,500 small dams of local importance belong to local authorities, commercial companies or individuals, built mainly for fish farming and recreation.
"Decisions regarding the conservation, modernization or, in exceptional cases, the decommissioning or post-use of dams are taken exclusively by the Romanian authorities, in accordance with national legislation, based on justifications argued by specialists and experts, some of international standing. There is no list imposed by the European Union with dams in Romania that should be decommissioned. The evaluation and any decisions regarding conservation, post-use or abandonment are made strictly based on the NTLH-033/2002 regulation, therefore promoted prior to Romania's accession to the EU, revised in 2025, to allow the application of modern post-use solutions in the case of objectives declared to be of no current use, at the request and with the financial effort of the owners (for example, the installation of photovoltaic panels on the surface of tailings dumps, mining tailings ponds or the decommissioning of industrial warehouses with the possibility of valorizing the materials contents)," the press release reads.
Representatives of "Apel Române" claim that there is no European obligation to demolish any dam in Romania, and "the so-called "European directives" refer, mainly and in a recommendatory manner, to minor, degraded or exhausted barriers that affect the natural flow regime of rivers and may endanger the population, natural ecosystems and other environmental factors".
Comentează