🌅 The Great European Dam Removal Project

SOURCE

Dam Removal Europe

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new report from Dam Removal Europe found a record-high 603 river barriers were removed across Europe last year, up 11% from the year prior. Sweden (173 barriers removed) took the top spot among the 21 European countries that removed at least one barrier last year, followed by Finland (143) and Spain (109). The removals reconnected 3,740 kilometers (2,324 miles) of waterways across the E.U., bringing the bloc closer to its overall goal of restoring at least 25,000 km (15,534 miles) of free-flowing rivers by 2030. More than 9,600 barriers—culverts, dams, and weirs—have been removed over the past couple of decades, including 2,300 removed since 2020.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Europe’s 1.3 million km (807,783 miles) of total river length is fragmented by an estimated 1.2 million barriers, including around 150,000 that no longer serve their original purpose and are considered obsolete. Research suggests restoring river connectivity helps strengthen climate resilience, enhance food and water security, and boost biodiversity. Dams and other river barriers are also a major driver in the decline of freshwater migratory fish populations in Europe, which have fallen by 80% since the 1970s. A U.N. report released earlier this year found 42% of Europe’s freshwater fish species are currently threatened with extinction, while another 18% are considered “near threatened.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

• In the U.S., only around 2% of the nation’s 3 million miles of rivers and streams remain free-flowing and undeveloped, with around 1 million barriers that block migratory fish from moving upstream. Like in Europe, major progress has been made in restoring river connectivity in recent years, including 100 dam removals and 4,900 miles of rivers restored in 2025 alone. Since 1912, more than 2,300 dams have been removed in the U.S., most of which were removed in the last 25 years.