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BULGARIA

Danube navigation project, Iron Gate–Silistra–Braila section

This project would remove 13 bottlenecks and intensify navigation on this section of the Trans-European transport corridor VII by ensuring a depth of two and half meters at all times. Deepening the river, regulating water flows, cutting side-arms and reinforcing riverbanks would irreversibly damage the Danube’s rich biodiversity and its ability to self-purify. The bottlenecks set for elimination are the last free-flowing and most precious stretches. The project will impact valuable island ecosystems – several of which are EU LIFE projects – and NATURA 2000 natural river banks in both Bulgaria and Romania.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Elbe dam

The dam to facilitate water transportation near Děčín would irreparably harm the Danube’s last free flowing section in the Czech Republic and the unique Elbe Canyon, which is planned as a NATURA 2000 site. The dam would lead to a loss of rich river ecosystems, including beaver, otter and many fish species

HUNGARY

Navigation on the Hungarian section of the Danube

This project would deepen to two and a half metres the entire Hungarian stretch of the Danube and transform the river-basin by deepening, regulating, damming and cutting river-arms. The works can have unpredictable consequences on the flora, fauna and drinking water base and damage many of Hungary’s last great river landscapes, wetlands and floodplain forests, all of which are NATURA 2000 sites. The works also endanger the river’s functions as a source of drinking water, flood management, risk prevention and fishing, tourism and recreation. Alternative measures to serve water transport have been proposed, including signposting waterways, water level forecast and navigation systems, and fleet modernisation.

Csongrád barrage

These proposed dams on the Tisza river upstream from Csongrád and the power plant of a maximum 400 MWh/day would damage the habitats of hundreds of protected and several thousand non-protected species. Water upstream from the dam would stagnate, leading to algae proliferation and a dramatic recomposition of fish species. The level of ground water downstream would decrease, and it is uncertain whether this section could be secured continuously especially during droughts and low water levels when the power plant will likely have priority over ecological needs.

Danube – Tisza canal and related dam systems

The 46-metre canal to channel water from the Danube to the Tisza is designed to prevent further desertification and also serve as a transport route. Yet the project clashes with conservation efforts and may in fact exacerbate desertification due in part to the potential cutting of water-retaining ground layers. Damming the two rivers would have disastrous impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, threatening the habitats of hundreds of protected and several thousand non-protected species on the Tisza. Project alternatives include water retention and adapting farming patterns to changing ecological conditions.