Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment of the Dams at the Salmonid Rivers of Lithuania

EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to restore 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers across Europe. The critical issue is which barriers should be prioritised for removal. In this study, a set of socio-economic and environmental criteria was chosen to rank the dams on salmonid rivers in Lithuania and recommend them for removal. As these criteria usually contradict themselves, the multi-criteria decision analysis tool was utilised. The results showed that the Anykščiai dam on the river Šventoji could be recommended to be removed first. The removal can significantly increase the salmonid population in the river Šventoji over a significant stretch of the river. Also, this dam is in a protected area, is not listed as a national heritage, and does not have a hydropower plant. Although, this study showed that dams with hydropower plants could also be recommended for removal.