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| Map of Vjosa River on both sides of the Albanian-Greece border |
Several Greek environmental organizations at the national and local level are supporting a campaign to extend the boundaries of the Northern Pindos National Park towards the border with Albania to ensure cross-border protection for the Vjosa River.
The Vjosa River originates from the Pindos mountain range in Greece and, after flowing 70 km in Greece, enters Albania and then empties into the Adriatic Sea after flowing for 192 km. Except for a dam in the upper reaches of the river's sources, called 'Piges', the Vjosa River flows freely for over 270 km, winding through stunning canyons on both sides of the border and snaking its way towards the sea in Albanian territory, media say.
The Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos in Greece, the "Pindos Environment" organization, and other Greek local organizations have focused on the border area of Grammoz - Konica - Pogon, with the ultimate goal of merging the Northern Pindos national area with the newly established Vjosa National Park by the Albanian government.
According to these organizations, the Vjosa River is also threatened by the construction of dozens of small hydropower plants in its 70-kilometer Greek stretch. If implemented, these plants would undermine more than a decade's efforts to create Europe's first cross-border national park for a wild river.
The Greek environmental organizations emphasize that Greece's new National Energy and Climate Plan, signed in 2019, predicts a 15% increase in installed hydropower capacity by 2030, and one of the areas where there is great interest in installing hydropower plants is the Vjosa River valley. This valley consists of a complex of rivers, streams, and wetlands that have remained virtually untouched until now.
The organizations have submitted proposals in the public consultation, which is expected to end in late April, calling for a ban on all hydroelectric works in the entire Vjosa River valley (including main rivers, streams, and wetlands).
"If these works materialize," the organizations assess, "they will transform the area into an artificial lake chain, disrupting all natural flow of the river and its branches, and thus hindering vital ecological processes, negatively affecting both biodiversity and the life of communities."
The largest intervention in the sources of the Vjosa River in Greece occurred in the late 1980s with a large hydroelectric dam where the water from the artificial lake is diverted to the Arachthos reservoir, affecting the river's flow, hydro-morphology, and ecosystems.
In 1989, the plans for the "exploitation" of the area's water potential included the construction of a dam and a water reservoir in the heart of the Northern Pindos National Park. The Society for the Protection of Continental Nature appealed to the Council of Europe, and in 1990 to the European Court of Justice. After strong reactions from environmental organizations and the European Commission on the Environment, which referred to the infringement procedure against Greece, the construction of the dam and the reservoir was ultimately stopped.
However, the issue of dams on the Vjosa River on the Greek side returns to the foreground from 2000 onwards.
In 2009, a plan was submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change and Public Works to divert additional amounts of water from the river to neighboring watersheds, and in particular the lake, in the city of Ioannina. The plan also provided for the construction of hydroelectric stations along the diversion channel.
The announcement of the plan caused a backlash from local communities and environmental organizations and in 2010 the then-environment minister rejected the plan. The initiators of the project were withdrawn, taking into account the decision of the European Court of Justice on a similar issue.
However, the fight of Greek environmental organizations did not stop from the moment that the project to divert a quantity of Vjosa waters to Lake Ioannina was included in the first River Basin Management Plan of the Epirus water department, in 2013.
Even the Plan of the Greek Energy Regulatory Entity includes three large hydroelectric projects with the creation of reservoirs in the Vjoses watershed, as well as 293 small hydroelectric projects.