Lithuania Hosts Its First-Ever Dam Removal Workshop

PRINCETON HYDRO’S LAURA WILDMAN INVITED TO PRESENT

History was recently made in Lithuania with the occurrence of the first-ever dam removal workshop held in the country. Experts throughout the world convened at the Ministry of Environment in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to lead discussions on a variety of topics related to dam removal and river rehabilitation.  They covered the current state of affairs regarding Lithuanian dams and showcased the Dam Removal Europe (DRE) initiative, a new effort aimed at restoring rivers in Europe.

The workshop was the brainchild of Lithuanian environmental activist Karolina Gurjazkaitė. She read about the DRE campaign and was so inspired by the initiative, she contacted DRE representatives about organizing the workshop. Her goals in organizing the first-ever dam removal workshop in Lithuania were to build awareness around the importance of river restoration, call attention to the many outdated, unmaintained, and unnecessary dams throughout Lithuania, and ultimately inspire positive changes in the way of dam removals and river rehabilitation.

“I am very excited, not only about the workshop, but also about the ‘side effects’…already created,” said Karolina. “People are gaining hopes and enthusiasm… This workshop may have really powerful outcomes!”

Karolina gathered a diverse group of workshop attendees, comprised of government officials (including the Vice-Minister of Environment of Lithuania), university professors (primarily specializing in dam safety and hydropower development), local environmental advocates and NGO volunteers, researchers, and students.

Presenters during the workshop included scientists, engineers, communication experts, planners, activists, and Princeton Hydro’s New England Regional Office Director and Fisheries Engineer Laura Wildman, P.E.

Presentations covered a wide variety of topics, including:

· Policy and current situation in Europe: Pao Fernández Garrido of World Fish Migration Foundation, Spain presented on DRE findings related to policy and the current dam removal situation in Europe.

· Research: Rachel Bowes from Karlstad University, Sweden spoke about current state of affairs with Swedish dam removal efforts and the research they are currently carrying out.

· Book presentation: Herman Wanningen of World Fish Migration Foundation, Netherlands presented the new book, From Sea to Source 2.0, which is focused on tackling the challenges of restoring fish migration in rivers around the world and is available for free download.

· Technical issues: Laura Wildman, PE, who has over 20 years of experience on dam removal, presented on the most important technical aspects when carrying out a barrier demolition.

On day two of the workshop, participants were invited to take part in field visits to five dam sites. Each of the five dams all presented their own unique challenges in terms of the ability to remove them. The site visits provided a deeper look into the challenges that will need to be addressed when forging ahead with a Lithuanian river restoration initiative.

The workshop proved to be instrumental in identifying key challenges and next steps in building a successful country-wide river rehabilitation initiative. One of the key takeaways from the workshop is the need for a more robust understanding of Lithuanian-specific rules and regulations that classify a dam removal project as either viable or not viable.

“Not only has there never been a dam removal workshop held in Lithuania, to date, a dam removal has never been completed in Lithuania, at least none that have been documented and none for environmental restoration reasons,” said Laura. “It’s clear that we still have a lot to explore and discover, but I am so thrilled to have been a part of this workshop. It was a very positive first step in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to watching and helping this initiative flourish.”