Decin, North Bohemia, July 9 (CTK) – The planned construction of a weir on the Labe (Elbe) River may be against law and the weir will not make the river navigable during the whole year, Czech environmentalists said Thursday.
They said the volume of cargo transported on the Elbe has been decreasing in the long term and the number of days when cargo ships cannot travel along the Elbe due to low water levels has been growing.
The environmentalists recalled a verdict of the European Court of Justice which says a construction must not worsen the environment. They say the construction of the weir may worsen the environment in both the Czech Republic and Germany.
The Czech Republic would like big ships to be able to travel downstream to the North Sea and back and open the Labe waterway for more cargo ships and tourist vessels.
Environmentalists and politicians Thursday floated from Decin to Bad Schandau, Germany, to discuss the weirs on the Elbe. Due to the low water level, they had to use rafts.
“We wanted to discuss other uses of the Elbe waterway because the Decin weir does not solve the transport of goods along the river. Low water levels are a problem in more places on the river, also in Germany,” said Jana Vitnerova, from the Arnika environmental group.
Jiri Aster, from the Czech Transport Association, recalled that Germany and the Czech Republic agreed in 2006 that the Germans would make the Labe navigable by the regulation of the river and guarantee the minimum water level of 1.6 metres.
As a similar solution is not possible in the Czech Republic due to a steeper river bed, weirs need to be built on the Labe, Aster said.
He said cargoes that are too big to be transported by railroad can be transported by ships.
Czech Transport Minister Dan Tok recently said the planned construction of a weir in Decin may be permitted in 2019 at the earliest.
Aster said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) may be completed in late 2016.
He said the plan to build weirs on the Labe River to make it navigable appeared already in the 1930s.
According to Arnika, the preparation of the construction of weirs in Decin and Prelouc, east Bohemia, cost 800 million crowns. The total costs are estimated at three billion crowns.
