– I think it looks like a desert landscape and huge amounts of mud holes, says mayor Bengt Halvard Odden in Hjartdal municipality to Dagbladet about the pictures showing the dried up water reservoirs in the municipality.
The mayor says that it has been more than 20 years since the last time the situation was this bad in the magazines.
– One of the most important things in a tourism municipality like Hjartdal is our nature, and this hurts to look at. Both residents and visitors have come to me and been angry that nature can be harmed in this way, he says.
KRYMPET: The small municipality basically contains beautiful scenic areas and sparkling water. In the last year, however, residents have seen the water level shrink to a minimum. Photo: Private
sea view
– Small change
The photos were taken at the beginning of July this summer.
– They show that the water reservoir in my municipality is significantly lower than what you want it to be, says Odden, who adds that the situation is not much better now, a month later.
– There is very little change. There has been a slight influx of rainfall, which has washed into the rivers as a result of the law’s requirement for minimum water flow, says the mayor.
He further emphasizes that he does not believe that the power producers are doing anything wrong.
– The license conditions, which were adopted in the 1950s, actually indicate that they can drain the magazines further than what we see now, says Odden.
– This is madness
– Fears consequences
Just the thinks he is wrong.
– I am very critical that in an enlightened society in 2022 we still accept that we can drain the magazines so low. I am concerned about the consequences for fish and other life in this, he says.
According to the mayor, good fisheries management work has been done in the area over many years. He says he fears the consequences of the reduction.
– I fear that this could have dramatic consequences for the fish in the short term, and I am unsure what it will mean in the long term, he says, adding that a reversal process has been started on the concession in the watercourse.
DESPAIRS: Mayor Bengt Halvard Odden is worried about what the almost empty water reservoirs will mean for fish and other wildlife in the municipality. Here on a bike ride earlier this summer, well within the ordinary water’s edge. Photo: Private
sea view
Minimum water flow
There are several reasons why the water reservoirs now almost resemble desert landscapes, according to Odden.
– I understand the situation. There has been little snow in the mountains and little rainfall. In the last couple of months, the power producers have done what they are obliged to do, with only minimal water flow in the river. The manufacturer has stopped what they have to, but I probably wish it had been done at an earlier time, says Odden.
– Any reduction of water presents challenges for the producer, but my job is to make the consequences visible, he adds.
Locally, electricity prices in Hjartdal have not been affected by what the pictures show, according to the mayor.
FISH WATER: According to the mayor, good fisheries management work has been done in the area for many years. He says he fears what the consequences of the reduction will have for the fish. Photo: private
sea view
– Comes with a cost
Skagerak Kraft is the power plant owner and regulator in Hjartdal municipality, and the company’s communications advisor, Kjell Løyland, tells Dagbladet that they have to make the decision about production in advance of how they know what the weather will be like, and that this is a challenge.
– In October it is difficult to know what the situation will be like in February, Løyland points out.
– In practice, this means that in the aftermath of dry years we would prefer to see that we had retained more water, but it also happens that there are wet years, like two years ago, when we would have liked to produce more to contribute to flood mitigation , he elaborates.
He says that they, too, are concerned about the environment, and that they are professionally involved in the ongoing revision of terms and conditions.
– There we are looking at measures that can provide environmental improvements in the watercourse, says Løyland, who adds:
– There is no hiding the fact that hydropower production comes with a cost where the environmental consequences must be weighed against the need for energy. This is a dilemma. Society at large needs energy, but it is difficult to expand hydropower production without having consequences.
Despair: – Mud hole!
– Utmost seriousness
At 2.15pm on Wednesday, in connection with the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE) coming up with magazine statistics, Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland will also meet the press.
Hjartdal mayor Odden wants to convey a message to the minister:
– I hope that solutions for support schemes for small and medium-sized businesses are now approaching, so that they will feel extremely confident that electricity prices will not topple the whole load, he says and adds:
– I also understand that the signal from the minister is that we must secure the magazines for the winter, that this must be taken very seriously.
*Do you have pictures or video in the matter? Tip Dagbladet on e-mail [email protected].
– Increase
On Wednesday, NTB reports that the level of filling in the water reservoirs was 67.9 per cent at the end of last week. This is an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to last week.
For comparison, the median value for the filling at the corresponding time is 77.7 per cent for the years 2002–2021, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy ( NVE ) weekly status update.
Central Norway had the highest magazine filling with 88.9 per cent, while South-West Norway had the lowest filling with 50.4 per cent
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