Work in Progress

Notes of Eco-Pilgrim
by Eugene Simonov

RwB’s Eugene Simonov spent his “Tigris River Solidarity Day” at Selune River in Normandy, where two dams are being decommissioned to restore ecosystem and spawning paths of Atlantic Salmon. These are his notes from this trip.

The hydroelectric dams
of La Roche-qui-boit and Vezins were built on the Sélune in 1914 and 1927
respectively. They constitute an insurmountable obstacle for migratory fish
that frequent this coastal river. Given the severe impacts, the unfulfilled regulatory
obligations made previously to bring them up to standard, water quality
problems generated by reservoirs, …

Lake Baikal – the Largest Hydropower Reservoir on Earth

The RwB and World Heritage Watch presents the final complete version of the “Heritage Dammed” Report, dedicated to protection of natural freshwater ecosystems. This colorful report contains contributions from 30 civil society organizations (CSOs), experts and dam-affected communities around the world.

The Report documents how water infrastructure plays key role in degrading aquatic ecosystems at more than 50 World Heritage properties, of which 42 sites are threatened by hydropower.  Fourteen in-depth case studies illustrate and analyze the global threat to the rivers, …

The last year ended up with a  massive landslide blocking hydropower reservoir on Bureya River. Since the RwB reported on the issue last year considerable attention of national authorities and international media was drawn to it. Many politicians have participated in crisis-solving making this somewhat reminiscent of parallel  drama of Hidroituango, where emergency operation was remotely supervised by the new president of Colombia two days ago. The only entity which keeps low profile and has minimal information on its web-sites is the Rushydro State Company which owns the Bureya …

Sindi Dam on Parnu River blocked fish migration
Source https://www.ccb.se/documents/2-Estonia.pdf
In October long-awaited dam removal  started on Pärnu River in  Estonia. After almost 150 years in existence the Sindi Dam near mouth of the river is being demolished now. This is the largest national project of its kind. After demolition of  Pärnu River  dams scientists expect restoration of spawning habitat of migratory fish in the area equal to such habitat in all other salmon rivers of the country. Rivers without Boundaries Coalition congratulates Estonian colleagues on passing  this important milestone in …

At the Eighth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention on 12 of October 2018 in Astana, Kazakhstan,  the RwB International Coordinator Eugene Simonov delivered a presentation on freshwater ecosystem preservation in the era of “Belt and Road “.(See presentation  here)

Simonov and Mazmanyanz at the side event © Oxana Nikitina/ WWF
This side event was dedicated to a joint program of the Kazakhstan and WWF on restoration of the Ili River Delta and reintroduction of tigers. However the success of the reintroduction program is dependent on …