A review of hydropower plants in Romania: Distribution, current knowledge, and their effects on fish in headwater streams. Costea, G., Pusch, M. T., Bănăduc, D., Cosmoiu, D., & Curtean-Bănăduc, A. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier Ltd, 2021. Cited by: 28![A review of hydropower plants in Romania: Distribution, current knowledge, and their effects on fish in headwater streams [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex Hydropower is currently experiencing a boom in southeast Europe. For Romania, the number of hydropower plants is estimated to be between 545 and 674, but little has been published about their environmental impact. We provide the first overview of the geographical distribution of hydropower plants in Romania, supplemented by a review of current knowledge about their environmental impact, and present case study evidence on the effects of small hydropower plants on fish in headwater streams of the Carpathian Mountains. We show that 49% of the documented 545 hydropower plants in Romania are located in Natura 2000 or other protected areas, 5% are located in water bodies with ‘very good’ ecological status, and another 12% in water bodies with ‘good’ ecological status and ‘very good’ hydromorphological status according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Second, we demonstrate that hydropower plants significantly impact fish populations in several ways, both in upstream and downstream reaches, e.g. by water abstraction, dam construction and other hydromorphological alterations. Following the construction of hydropower plants in headwater streams, trout (Salmo trutta fario) and bullhead (Cottus gobio) populations often disappeared completely, and only remained in 38% of the stream reaches either upstream or downstream of the respective hydropower plants. In conclusion, the significant environmental impacts of each individual hydropower plant combined with the large number of them as well as the relative lack of effort to mitigate environmental impacts together represent a significant threat to aquatic biodiversity in Romania. The impacts exerted by hydropower plants are often unjustifiable by public interest according to EU directives, as small hydropower plants account for only around 3% of Romania's total electricity production. Better availability and access to environmental monitoring data are needed, as this would greatly support the development of more integrative management approaches to Romanian rivers. © 2021
@ARTICLE{Costea2021,
author = {Costea, Gabriela and Pusch, Martin T. and Bănăduc, Doru and Cosmoiu, Diana and Curtean-Bănăduc, Angela},
title = {A review of hydropower plants in Romania: Distribution, current knowledge, and their effects on fish in headwater streams},
year = {2021},
journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews},
volume = {145},
doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2021.111003},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85104942710&doi=10.1016%2fj.rser.2021.111003&partnerID=40&md5=e79cfd3a019d9eb0627e5213927aee03},
affiliations = {Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany; Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Applied Ecology Research Center, Dr. Ion Raţiu Str. 5-7, Sibiu, 550012, Romania; WWF Programul Dunăre-Carpaţi România, Afi Tech Park 1, Bdul. Tudor Vladimirescu 29, București, 050881, Romania},
abstract = {Hydropower is currently experiencing a boom in southeast Europe. For Romania, the number of hydropower plants is estimated to be between 545 and 674, but little has been published about their environmental impact. We provide the first overview of the geographical distribution of hydropower plants in Romania, supplemented by a review of current knowledge about their environmental impact, and present case study evidence on the effects of small hydropower plants on fish in headwater streams of the Carpathian Mountains. We show that 49% of the documented 545 hydropower plants in Romania are located in Natura 2000 or other protected areas, 5% are located in water bodies with ‘very good’ ecological status, and another 12% in water bodies with ‘good’ ecological status and ‘very good’ hydromorphological status according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Second, we demonstrate that hydropower plants significantly impact fish populations in several ways, both in upstream and downstream reaches, e.g. by water abstraction, dam construction and other hydromorphological alterations. Following the construction of hydropower plants in headwater streams, trout (Salmo trutta fario) and bullhead (Cottus gobio) populations often disappeared completely, and only remained in 38% of the stream reaches either upstream or downstream of the respective hydropower plants. In conclusion, the significant environmental impacts of each individual hydropower plant combined with the large number of them as well as the relative lack of effort to mitigate environmental impacts together represent a significant threat to aquatic biodiversity in Romania. The impacts exerted by hydropower plants are often unjustifiable by public interest according to EU directives, as small hydropower plants account for only around 3% of Romania's total electricity production. Better availability and access to environmental monitoring data are needed, as this would greatly support the development of more integrative management approaches to Romanian rivers. © 2021},
author_keywords = {Carpathian mountains; Environmental impacts; EU Natura 2000 directive; EU WFD Directive; Fish; Renewable energy},
keywords = {Biodiversity; Environmental impact; Environmental regulations; Geographical distribution; Hydroelectric power; Hydroelectric power plants; Rivers; Water conservation; 'current; Carpathian mountain; EU natura 2000 directive; EU WFD directive; Headwater stream; Hydropower plants; Natura 2000; Renewable energies; Romania; Small hydro power plants; Fish},
correspondence_address = {M.T. Pusch; Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587, Germany; email: pusch@igb-berlin.de},
publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},
issn = {13640321},
coden = {RSERF},
language = {English},
abbrev_source_title = {Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev},
type = {Review},
publication_stage = {Final},
source = {Scopus},
note = {Cited by: 28}
}
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