However, the material referred to by propagandists explains completely different reasons for such a decision. In fact, within the framework of the program “Demolition of River Dams of the Tisza Basin and Restoration of Floodplains for Particularly Valuable Areas” it is planned to demolish three dams that currently do not perform any economic function. Two of them are located on the Kvasny and Bohdan streams, and were built back in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the removal of Carpathian forest. Now they not only cause economic damage by diverting riverbeds towards the road, which destroys the transport infrastructure, but also pose a threat of man-made disasters. As Nataliya Gorban, an employee of the NGO “Danube-Carpathian Program”, writes, they are rotted and overgrown planks, which at any moment due to a flood can break off and float downstream with unpredictable consequences. The third dam is located on the White Stream and is a stone embankment that is more than 25 years old. The demolition of the structures will allow the upper reaches of the Tisza to be completely freed from artificial obstacles.
“The Free River is a model that provides an opportunity to preserve biodiversity, tourism and, in case of emergencies, transport infrastructure, improve water quality, support the economic activity of shepherds in the steppes, tourist access to the natural values of the biosphere reserve, and reduce erosion and flash floods on the rivers” – explains the head of the NGO “Danube-Carpathian Program”, candidate of biological sciences Bohdan Prots. Therefore, the propagandists’ explanation that the demolition of the dams is intended to prevent illegal border crossing is unsubstantiated speculation.
Similar projects have been implemented in the USA and Europe for a long time – in the last year alone, half a thousand artificial obstacles were demolished on European drains. River connectivity is a central theme of the European Commission’s Nature Restoration Act: in November 2023, European states agreed to remove man-made barriers to achieve a target of 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030. First of all, those dams that are currently not used to generate electricity, or are outdated, silted or dangerous, are subject to demolition.
