Published on June 11th, 2015 | by Kayak Session
Kayakers Dam Protest in Tyrol (Austria)
Kayakers protested dam projects endangering some of Europe’s finest white water kayaking
Last weekend hundreds of kayakers from all over Europe came together at the Kayakfestival Tyrol in the Stubai Valley to protest against hydropower plans that endangering rivers nearby.
The Tyrol region in the Austrian Alps offers some of the finest, hardest but also most diverse white waters in Europe, including the Ötz Valley hosting the sickline white water championships. Ranging from big water to perfect beginner’s and rafting sections to uncountable hidden gems, deep cut gorges and waterfall sections the whole region is the epicentre of European kayaking.
But all of this is endangered now by the Tyrolean Hydropower Company ‘TIWAG’ planning several dam projects, and their plans paint a gruesome picture: the minimum residual flow levels the planned hydropower plants will leave behind will not only severely effect wildlife and nature in the but also have devastating effects on kayaking and commercial rafting in the region. If these projects go through as planned, most of the rivers will not be runable anymore and even what is left will not be much fun anymore on minimum levels.
The Kayakfestival and protests were a huge success, but we still need still need your help if we want to change something! So please, help us to protect this gem – get up, inform yourself on stubaiwasser.at, and join the movement!
facebook.com/rettetdiesillschlucht
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