The lack of adequate control over HPP violates three EU Directives - on strategic environmental assessment, on the habitats, as well as the Water Framework Directive, Lyubomir Kostadinov from WWF Bulgaria pointed out. A month ago the EU Commission opened infringement proceedings against Romania following an appeal from the local office of WWF. In Kostadinov’s words, the proceedings in Romania concern the hydro power plants in a single region of the country, whereas the problems in Bulgaria are pervasive. He was categorical that the goal was not to block any single economic activity, nor to be imposed fines on Bulgaria, but the State to be urged to assume its role and solve the problems. If that does not happen, the fine is possible to be as up as tens of thousands of euro per day, but according to Kostadinov the greater danger is EC to block EU funds for our country based on discovered violations.
Andrey Kovachev from Balkani Wildlife Society declared that the number of small HPPs in protected areas within Natura 2000 is 220. In the sections in which they are built there is no life, said Kovachev. The purpose of Natura 2000 is to protect valuable species, but in the rivers there are no fish, no otter, no crayfish. In his opinion, three very simple measures are needed:
New construction should not be allowed until the problems are solved;
Every plant has to be equipped with an automatic measuring device for the quantity of water that passes through, and that should be at the expense of the owner and not the taxpayer;
Facilities for passing through of fish, so-called fish passes, should be installed everywhere.
It was established at field inspections in Southwest Bulgaria in 2013-2014, that none of the visited small hydro power plants live up to the legal requirements and even those of their licenses. However, when environmentalists signaled the Basin Directorate, and it in its turn after starting inspections discovered violations only in two of the inspected plants, all other having been duly forewarned. The two plants in question paid their fines and continued to function in the old way, Balkani Wildlife Society Chairman said.
According to Lyubomir Kostadinov that a power plant which has destroyed life within 30 km down the river should pay a fine of only 2000 lev, a trifling amount compared with owners’ profits, is unacceptable.
Ivan Hristov, head of the Water program at WWF, declared that contrary to the public assumption that “HPP does not drink water”, these types of plants have a significant negative impact on nature, as usually the section between the water intake and the point at which the water returns to the river is dry and life there disappears. Moreover – HPPs are barriers which hamper migration, and all water organisms migrate up and down the current. Even the best fish pass has hardly 50% efficiency, which means that at best half the fish can pass through, Hristov pointed out. Engineer Kumanov demonstrated examples of extremely impassable passes, which could not be passed by even alpinists, let alone fish. These examples have been collected through the platform dams.reki.bg, which aims at shooting and describing the real impact on the environment from existing hydro power plants.
Dimitar Manev from Bulgarian kayak society said that water sports lovers are those who happen to notice the outrage taking place in the rivers. The trespassers often rely on the fact that they conduct their illegal activity high in the mountain and there is none to take notice. According to Manev, most HPPs in Bulgaria are not useful to the public facilities, but are done with the purpose of money theft. He added, that the interruption of the river flow with a HPP, in addition to nature, influences negatively tourism too, since many foreign kayakers are interested in Bulgarian rivers, but unfortunately at many places the rivers have been turned into ugly concrete canals.
The participants pointed in conclusion that regardless of the appeals to the EC, they will continue to work at national level for the protection of the rivers – through bringing the case to responsible institutions and to the court. In addition to the existing nearly 220 HPPs, very soon twice that many new plants may be constructed, since the licenses have already been issued, Kumanov says. At the same time Ivan Hristov pointed out that 80% of the energy potential of Bulgarian rivers is believed to have already been realized and new projects are usually down the rivers, where the accompanying risk of floods is much higher.
photo: HPP Slivka, River Davidkovska, Dimitary Kumanov
Bulgaria to undertake urgent measures for control over HPP in order to avoid sanctions from the EU
