How to fight once morest fish mortality at the Nisramont dam? The question has been around for a few years now and came back into the news last week in the newspaper L’Avenir.
The Ourthe Fishermen’s Federation is once once more sounding the alarm. Recently, dead fish have been discovered not near the turbines that produce drinking water but near those used to produce electricity. ” La SWDEthe Walloon water company operates here, at the Nisramont dam, 2 hydroelectric turbines which cause us a lot of damage in terms of suction. Fish come crashing on the grids, and other small fish, batrachians etc. pass through hydroelectric turbines “, explain Alain Georges, vice-president of the Federation of fishermen of the Ourthe. The latter speaks of 400 to 500 kilos of dead fish per year. The SWDE recognizes the problem but mentions three bags of dead fish for the last 12 months.
Several meetings between the different parties have already taken place in recent years, but no solution has yet been found. ” There are solutions that have been, for example, imagined on the side of the Tihange power plant, but these solutions obviously do not work very well. It is also necessary to see what the cost of implementing possible solutions is and therefore to see if the problem or the issue is worth this expense. “, retort Benoît Moulin, SWDE spokesperson. He also recalls that the Nisramont hydroelectric power station is essential to reduce the SWDE’s energy bill and its dependence on fossil fuels.
The SWDE also specifies that to supply a large part of the province of Luxembourg with drinking water, the Nisramont dam is essential: ” The Nisramont drinking water treatment plant is vital, it will be difficult to do without it “.
At any rate, The Ourthe Fishermen’s Federation is determined and does not rule out going to court if no solution is found by next winter. ” If there is no solution, nWe will do everything to stop the hydroelectric plant here at the dam. We don’t want to come to this but now we have to find a solution “, concludes Alain Georges.
