Restoration of the Pärnu River Basin ecosystem and free flow of the river
About this good practice
Problem/Context:
The Sindi Dam on the Pärnu River was obstructing the free flow and water regime of the river as well as the fish migration in the river, limiting access to 99% of the river's habitat. This significantly impacted migratory fish populations, particularly salmon, a species crucial to the river's ecosystem and economy. The Pärnu River has the highest reproduction potential of salmon in Estonia, making the ecological health of the river and its biodiversity essential. The EU Biodiversity Strategy set an ambitious goal to improve at least 25,000 km of fish migration conditions by 2030.
Objectives/Implementation:
To restore fish migration in the Pärnu River by removing the Sindi Dam and creating artificial rapids. Increased accessible habitat for fish species, contributing to the overall health of the river ecosystem and restore natural flow of the river. The project involved the physical removal of the Sindi Dam and the construction of artificial rapids to replace it. This engineering solution aimed to replicate natural river conditions, allowing fish to navigate the river more easily.
Stakeholders and beneficiaries:
Environment Agency of Estonia – the leading beneficiary
Ministry of the Environment – target setting and funding
Environmental Investment Centre – financial accounting of grants
Environmental Board – licences for activities with water risk potential
Local communities, municipality government, recreation centre, union of fishermen.
Resources needed
Total budget 15 mln euros. 12,7 mln euros funded by European Cohesion Fund, 2,3 mln euros funded by the state.
1 project manager full-time, part-time involvement of experts for communication, public procurement, fish ecology etc.
Evidence of success
In total 7 migration obstacles were removed, more than 3000 km rivers open, impact for habitats on 1220 hectares. The abundance of fish in the Pärnu River and its tributaries has increased significantly, several lost species have returned. The natural flow of river has been restored in the main and tributary rivers, ecosystems will restore in time and there will be less concerns about the necessary measures to ensure the ecological flow rate of rivers to support the water ecosystems.
Potential for learning or transfer
This is an example of the local environmental investment with a wide positive impact. The ecological status and the biodiversity will be improved in much wider scale than the intervention activities themselves. The catchment area of the River is about 6,920 km2. The river basin covers a significant part of the southwestern region of the country and discharging into the Gulf of Riga and plays an important role in the local ecosystem and water management of the region. The decision to remove the dam helps to improve the status of water ecosystems in the upstream of the rivers and in many tributary rivers. As the status of water ecosystems all over the catchment area will significantly improve there will be no need to deal with additional measures in the upstream of the dam for instance to ensure the ecologically sufficient amount of water to support the viability of water ecosystems. The removal of the dam makes the water ecosystems all over the catchment area more resilient than ever.
Further information
Removed dam and the free flow of river
Documents
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
