'Europe is managing its rivers with outdated decisions on dams and barriers' (ClientEarth reports)

“Europe is managing today’s rivers with yesterday’s decisions,” two new ClientEarth reports argue. Published on 1 October 2026, they examine how ageing large dams are assessed and how obsolete river barriers are identified and removed in selected EU Member States.

They follow a summer in which exceptionally low water on the Danube and Rhine disrupted energy production, freight transport and industry across several countries. The reports cover two angles:
• Past the Expiration Date explores how ageing large dams are regulated in Poland, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania, focusing on permit renewals and extensions that let dams keep operating without a new environmental impact assessment.
• Freeing Europe's Rivers reviews the legal and administrative frameworks for removing obsolete river…