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Nabarralde | Nabarra Papers
Thousands
of Fish Die Trapped in Reservoir Channel
Mila Parot
Zubimendi.
Thousands of
fish were found dead on Monday in the channel that transports
the waters from the Alloz dam to the Salado River in Navarre.
The hydroelectric dam is managed by the multinational power
company Iberdrola. Trouts and barbels were trapped in the channel
when the water was cut for gate maintenance, thus, preventing
the fish from moving through, according to Navarre's Environment
Department which said it asked Iberdrola to release water to
keep the surviving fish alive.
The Environment
Department claims that the fish were saved "thanks to the quick
action by the department."
However, the
environmental watch dog Gurelur disagrees with the official
version. Gurelur director Antonio Munilla said there wasn't
such a quick response by the Department given that the problem
in the Alloz dam was known since last week when the ecologist
group rescued 28,000 fish from the channel.
The saturation
of fish in the channel is the product of repair work in the
larger Alloz reservoir, which started last November, Gurelur
said. The larger reservoir was dewatered, and because it is
connected to the smaller reservoir, a great number of fish went
into the smaller reservoir. Repair work in the smaller reservoir
started two weeks ago. The water level in the smaller reservoir
was lowered by opening the gate that connects the Alloz dam
with the channel between the reservoir and the Salado River.
Because the dam does not have a grill, thousands of fish went
into the channel where they were trapped. "It is a concrete
swimming pool, and they lack food and enough oxygen to survive,"
said Antonio Munilla.
Last week Gurelur
rescued 28,000 fish from the channel, of which 20,000 were relocated
to the Arga River and 8,000 were put back in the smaller Alloz
reservoir.
"They waited
a week to take action. Moreover, the fish was sentenced to death
when they opened the gate because the water dragged them to
the channel," said Munilla who also disagrees with the number
of fish killed given by the regional government.
"Nothing like
1,300. The numbers they are giving are ridiculous," Munilla
said. The director of Gurelur stressed that the channel must
have a grill to allow the passage of water, but to avoid the
fish mortality by preventing the passage of fish.
"We are constantly
asking for it, because that is the problem: they release the
water and the fish. The grill costs about 15,000 or 20,000 pesetas.
If they don't want to solve the problem, we will do it," Munilla
explained.
Sources of
the regional government said that placing a grill in the channel
is the responsibility of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation.
February 2000
Mila
Parot Zubimendi is a law student and an environment activist.
She lives in Miarritze.
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