The EUSDR PA4 finds it important to share new reports about the different water related issues in Europe:

A new report was published recently by WWF that demonstrates the massive potential of barrier removal to restore free-flowing rivers in Europe.

The report analyses a sample of 30,000 barriers, such as dams and weirs, on large and medium-sized rivers in Europe and assesses their reconnection potential, providing a breakdown for Europe, the EU27, and by country.

Out of the sample studied, which totals less than 3% of Europe’s estimated 1 million barriers [3], 732 barriers were identified in the EU as having a high reconnection potential, which would allow to reconnect about 11,500 km of large and medium-sized rivers. A further 6628 were identified as having a good reconnection potential, making a total of nearly 50,000 km of rivers that have a high and good potential to be made free-flowing again, in the sample studied alone.

Please see the report here.