By Călin Dejeu (CCSG Member)
A historic ruling by Romania’s Cluj Appeals Court, issued last month, is a victory for the nation’s rivers. In the 1970s and 80s, a wide-ranging effort to achieve energy independence under former president Ceaușescu encouraged a dam-building craze on once pristine Carpathian rivers. Its continental climate and geography make Romania unsuitable for extensive hydropower development. Regardless, hundreds of hydropower plants were built, many of them with tens of intake dams connected by tunnels (needed to compensate for low river flows), resulting in extensive fragmentation of the Carpathian rivers and valleys.
The Bâsca Mare is one of the only rivers that crosses the Carpathian Mountains from Transylvania to Wallachia and is critically important for ecological connectivity
One hydropower development, approved through Decree No. 294 in 1981, permitted the Nehoiașu II hydropower plant, whose main dam would be built on the Bâsca Mare River, at Surduc. Ceaușescu’s government did not finish the development, and after the Romanian Revolution the pace of works decreased abruptly, with years of stoppages. In time, the project became obsolete and even illegal, but state-own company Hidroelectrica continued to pursue construction. In 2015 a new building permit was issued by the Covasna County Council, with no consultation of the local communities to be directly affected. The Aarhus Convention was breached, impacting villagers from 6 villages: Bâsca Rozilei, Păltiniș, Furtunești, Nemertea, Gura Teghii and Varlaam. If completed, the locals would lose their river, a story presented in the Deutsche Welle reportage “Stolen Rivers.”
Bâsca Mare is a critically important river for the ecology of the Carpathian Mountains. It is one of the very few rivers which cross the mountain range from Transylvania to Wallachia. Thus, its valley is very important for ecological connectivity. In fact, a photo of the dam’s construction site was featured in the 2020 IUCN Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors, with a note that “just one third of the world’s rivers remain free-flowing.” Furthermore, the Guidelines point out, “Dams are the primary barrier to freshwater connectivity.”
The river is also important for recreation. Credit: Balkan River Defence
This is also why I started a campaign to save this river, receiving more help than I dreamt of, and just in time. The dam, if completed, wouldn’t have just blocked the longitudinal connectivity of this lotic ecosystem at the dam’s location. Since the river would have been diverted, as well as its downstream main tributaries, the discontinuity in the natural lotic habitat would have been 38 kilometers long, all the way downstream to the Buzău River.
While the court’s decision ensures that ecological connectivity of the river system will not be broken, some riparian habitats have already been damaged by the construction site and ecological restoration is needed. It’s possible that the pending EU Nature Restoration Law will help mandate restoration of the banks and slopes of Bâsca Mare Valley.
This ruling is great news for nature, but it does not mean that the conservationists can rest on their laurels. Based on experience in other Romanian judicial interventions, such as the case of Jiu Gorge National Park and the case of Taia River (in Grădiștea Muncelului – Cioclovina Natura 2000 site), we know that court rulings regarding nature protection are not always impervious, and it is necessary to remain vigilant to ensure durable nature protections.
Learn more:
To see more of the Bâsca Mare, check out these videos and photos from Balkan River Defence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8UN1hT88vE
https://balkanriverdefence.org/news/portfolio-item/balkan-rivers-tour-4-2/
About the Author: Călin Dejeu
I have been intensely involved in nature conservation since 2013, mostly in river conservation, initiating informal, yet successful campaigns to save rivers like Râul Alb, Nera, Bistra, Jiu, and Bâsca Mare against hydropower projects. Since rivers depend on the forests, I have also been involved in opposing illegal logging in the Carpathians. Throughout, I try to promote the importance of ecological connectivity in Romania. https://www.romaniacurata.ro/bio/calin-dejeu/
Questions about this story?
Contact the author: ncldejeu@yahoo.co.uk
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