As the dams on the Hiitolanjoki in Finland came down, it began to change — the water quickened and cooled, sounding less like a reservoir and more like a river again. Then came the fish.
For the first time in more than a century, salmon pushed upstream past where three hydropower dams once stood, reclaiming a stretch of water that had been cut off for more than a century.
Similar transformations are unfolding across Europe, where countries are dismantling aging dams and weirs — barriers that once powered mills and factories but now often serve little purpose.
“Once you take a barrier out, the river takes over,” Angela Ortigara, senior adviser and freshwater strategist at WWF Netherlands, told CNN. “It’s one action that has an immediate effect and a long-term benefit.”
A record 603 barriers were removed across 21 countries in 2025 — the highest number ever recorded — according to the latest annual report by Dam Removal Europe, a coalition of six organizations working to restore river connectivity.
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As the dams on the Hiitolanjoki in Finland came down, it began to change — the water quickened and cooled, sounding less like a reservoir and more like a river again. Then came the fish.
For the first time in more than a century, salmon pushed upstream past where three hydropower dams once stood, reclaiming a stretch of water that had been cut off for more than a century.
Similar transformations are unfolding across Europe, where countries are dismantling aging dams and weirs — barriers that once powered mills and factories but now often serve little purpose.
“Once you take a barrier out, the river takes over,” Angela Ortigara, senior adviser and freshwater strategist at WWF Netherlands, told CNN. “It’s one action that has an immediate effect and a long-term benefit.”
A record 603 barriers were removed across 21 countries in 2025 — the highest number ever recorded — according to the latest annual report by Dam Removal Europe, a coalition of six organizations working to restore river connectivity.