One of the main factors that endanger the ecological status of European rivers is the existence of in-stream barriers – as it turned out, an astounding number of them. In 2020, European researchers gathered around the project called Adaptive Management of Barriers in European Rivers (AMBER) and issued a much-needed, profoundly important report – the Pan-European Atlas of In-Stream Barriers. The AMBER researchers did a walkover survey of 2,715 kilometers of stream length along 147 European rivers. Their final integrative dataset numbered over 1 million river barriers on European rivers, making Europe the most obstructed river landscape in the world. Their key points are that, despite being already loaded with the existing 21,387 hydropower plants, European rivers can expect:8,785 additional plants – planned or under construction.

Source: The Guardian January 30, 2023 21:22 UTC