After serious deficiencies in the dam body were discovered at Nygårdsdammen in Hedströmmen north of Kolsva in October, the dam has been emptied of water.
What remains is the original riverbed of the Hedström.
The dam is in such bad condition that the question is whether it is economically and ecologically justifiable to rebuild it, with new environmental requirements and in a safe way.
- It is a dam that is risky, should it burst there is a risk of loss of human life, so it has a high safety classification, says Johan Lind.
Stuck in quicksand
As the water level in the dam was lowered a little bit to remedy a minor landslide, it was discovered that the dam was in very poor condition.
They had to quickly lower the rest of the dam's water and several landslides occurred.
An inspector temporarily got stuck in the quicksand-like mud and an excavator also got stuck and had to be pulled free.
- We are now working on measures to winterize the dam, because we must be able to drain water through the Nygårdsforsen during the winter.
We won't be able to take up any power production here during the winter, but the entire dam body must be inspected and stabilized, but right now it's mostly about making sure that no further damage occurs, that it doesn't collapse anymore at the edges, says Johan Lind.
Rushing water
The County Administrative Board in Västmanland and Mälarenergi themselves now also see that great natural values have come to light with the lowering of the dam.
Cascading water environments are in short supply in the county and here long stretches of rapids have seen the light of day again.
Should Mälarenergi take the decision to dismantle the dam and the power plant, according to the county board's water conservation officer, it would mean that species such as trout, river pearl mussel and kingfisher could once again establish themselves in the newly formed part of the Hedström.
- It is one of the scenarios that we are considering now, there is a lot of pressure to restore hiking trails in general, but perhaps above all in Hedströmmen and Nygårdsforsen because we have an extensive nature reserve directly upstream, says Johan Lind.
Graphics: See the difference before and after lowering
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See the difference before and after lowering.
"If you let this be the permanent image of the Hedström, this will be the largest nature conservation project in flowing water in Europe," says Viktor Kärvinge.
Photo: Robert Gustavsson/SVT