There is almost no river in Bulgaria that is completely wild, i.e. untouched by human activity. The riverbeds have been straightened, built with hydroelectric power plants, dams, berms, locks and other facilities, which drastically change the hydromorphological conditions. The flow of water changes, the connectivity of river systems is disrupted, threats are created for the migration of species, as well as conditions for flooding, etc. A large part of the existing river barriers in Bulgaria no longer fulfill their functions or have been abandoned. At the same time, they continue to affect the biodiversity and hydromorphology of the rivers.

With the support of the Open Rivers Programme, the organization that releases funds for the restoration of rivers in Europe, the BALKANI Wildlife Association is launching the project “Key steps towards unlocking dams on rivers in Bulgaria. removals in Bulgaria – Yantra river catchment).

Existing barrier database in Bulgaria is scarce, incomplete, outdated or even erroneous. Unclear national regulations and legal gaps prevent dam removals. Although the River Basin Management Plans include related measures, removals have never been applied. Environmental NGOs and responsible state authorities prefer not to deal with barrier removals due to legal ambiguity and lack of experience.

We aim to:

• provide comprehensive dataset on existing barriers in Yantra river catchment;
• explore their removal potential;
• review the relevant national legislation, identify the legal gaps and propose solutions;
• obtain hydrobiological evidences and basic technical demolition designs for the selected barriers;
• introduce the dam removal opportunity and its benefits among key stakeholders;
• demonstrate a case example approach unlocking the dam removal in Bulgaria that can be replicated in other catchments.

We consider Yantra as especially suitable project area in Bulgaria. Most of the river stretches are Natura 2000 sites. Over 60 fish species are found in the catchment. Variety of river types and variety of barrier types are well represented. There still exist long free-flowing river sections that can be reconnected. The infrastructure and the human settlements along the rivers are far less dense than in other areas. Active citizen groups in the catchment area are developed and we expect their support.

We plan the following activities:

1. Barrier inventory – a field study collecting data on location, height, length, width, construction material, risks, usages, ownership, hydromorphological impacts and photos. It will cover all rivers of importance for fish communities.
2. Prioritization of the barriers – selection of 10 barriers that have the highest ecological significance/feasibility. High ecological gain, achievability in short time, low risk and cost-effective eventual removals will be shortlisted. The approaches in the report “Best practices for selecting barriers within European catchments” will be considered as guiding principles.
3. Legal overview – identification of legal gaps, drawing up a dam removal procedure instruction consulted with the responsible authorities and proposal of legal changes if necessary.
4. Hydrobiological studies on 10 selected barriers – including fish and macroinvertebrates;
5. Main stakeholders’ engagement – meetings and negotiations with barrier owners, state authorities as well as with local communities.
6. Elaboration of conceptual technical demolition designs and price quotes for removal of three shortlisted barriers – a construction contractor will be hired and consulted by hydrobiologists.

Together with enabling biological and sediment migration barrier removal improves the hydromorphological conditions allowing the natural flow regime, reduced flood risk and improved ecosystem resilience.

In total 64 fish species have been reported in Yantra river basin (55 native). Until the negative hydromorphological changes in 1970s mass fish migration from the Danube (including asp, vimba bream, barbel, nase, sabrefish, ide, burbot, sturgeons etc.) has happened in the lower and middle courses. Nowadays just 14 km of Yantra is open for such  migration.

Yantra and most of the tributaries are Natura 2000 sites. Many rare species like Kessler’s gudgeon, Danube whitefin gudgeon, Danuban longbarbel gudgeon, Balkan loach, sunbleak, Balkan spined loach, Black Sea trout, Vit sculpin, stone crayfish, thick shelled river mussel etc, have their representative populations in the catchment, often with a limited range and limited ability to colonise other appropriate stretches due to fragmentation.

Removing several key barriers in Yanra would open more than 200 km of river stretches.