The record floods in Northern Moravia were part of several floods in Central and Eastern Europe that were caused by the record heavy rainfall generated by Storm Boris. In Czechia, five people were killed by the floods, with eight people missing. Extreme weather events like these are reinforced by climate change and will probably become more common in the future.
Soon, insufficient flood protection measures started to be discussed, including the construction of the Nové Heřminovy dam. At this point, the Agriculture Minister, Marek Výborný, leader of the government Christian-Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL), directed his criticism towards environmental organisations and civil society. According to him, environmental organisations such as Hnutí Duha are responsible for decades of delay in the construction of the dam.
Not only are these statements far from reality, they also represent an attack on civil society.
Construction of the dam has been debated since 1911 and again for 27 years since the 1997 floods in the region. The government approved the plan to build the dam eleven years later, in 2008. It took years for the state authorities (especially the Odra River Basin Authority and Ministry of Agriculture) to carry out all the necessary procedures and purchase of land preceding construction (see the timeline of the project). Hnutí Duha and other organisations were first able to influence the proceedings only in 2021. The civic organisations and the municipality of Nové Heřminovy could have delayed the process for months at most with their comments on the construction proposal.
The state’s representatives opted from the beginning for the more ambitious and time-consuming variant of building a dam, rather than dry polders, which were preferred by locals, civic organisations, and some water engineers. Dry polders represent a more nature-friendly option and could be more effective and less expensive than a dam.
Environmental organisations were not able to influence the whole process for most of the time, and when they did, they did so as an expression of their legal and constitutional rights, advocating the consideration of less intrusive and possibly even less time-consuming measures in the analysis. Most of the responsibility for the delay lies with the government and state agencies. Furthermore, other anti-flood measures in the river basin not connected to the dam were not realised either.
Instead of an expert analysis of the situation, the Minister decided to label civil society as the culprit, unfortunately, with consequences amplified in the context of dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster.
According to Jaromír Bláha, Hnutí Duha has received hundreds of hateful messages, including threats of violence and accusations that the senders lost their houses as a result of the organisation’s activities.
The regional coordinator, Ivo Dokoupil, said that attacks from politicians “stir up resentment and hatred against non-profit organisations as the so-called ‘culprits responsible for all that is wrong’. It is an effort by politicians to find someone to blame to take responsibility for their failures, political and managerial.”
“The minister's statements have raised a huge wave of hatred, which is a dangerous precedent. At a time when the state is failing in its flood protection measures, blaming the civil sector, which is contributing expertly to the debate and helping in the response to the floods, is totally unacceptable,” said Anna Kárníková, the executive director of Hnutí Duha.
Hnutí Duha, supported by more than thirty other organisations and hundreds of citizens, demanded a public apology from Minister Výborný for the false accusation and spreading false claims in the media.
Výborný condemned unfair accusations exaggerating the role of civil society and subsequent attacks on it. The minister acknowledged the crucial role of the state, but still insisted on the contribution of environmental organisations to the delay.
He went further with a proposal to ban the practice of “blanket appeal” in the case of projects of “strategic infrastructure”. Blanket appeal is a common and legal practice used in complex cases when additional time to prepare all the materials and arguments is necessary for the appealing party. Although labelled as a “tool of obstruction” by the minister, it is widely used by state entities and investors alike.
In December 2024, Hnutí Duha decided not to file a lawsuit against the zoning decision. It is going to continue its work in proposing more complex and nature-friendly alternatives to the Nové Heřminovy dam.
“We remain convinced that the state project of the dam is not the most effective solution and from the beginning we have pointed out the complexity of the preparation, local opposition, and the associated delays. And time has proved us right,” stated Dokoupil.
In January 2025, unlike Hnutí Duha, the citizens’ association Děti Země (“Children of the Earth”) filed a lawsuit against the zoning decision, which triggered a stark reaction from the opposition senator representing the region, Ladislav Václavec. “Let’s finally put an end to the bad dream of NGOs such as Děti Země,” he wrote on social media.
The case of ministers’ inconsiderate remarks highlights the negative and polarising impact such aggressive rhetoric can have on the work of citizens’ initiatives, especially during natural disasters that require a high level of solidarity across all sectors of society. Even in democratic societies, NGOs face an uphill battle when targeted by members of the political elite.
Sources:
CZ 18/09/2024 Povodně mají pátou oběť, pohřešuje se osm lidí, oznámil Rakušan (idnes.cz)
CZ 20/12/2024 Ministerstvo zamítlo odvolání proti přehradě Nové Heřminovy. Své výhrady považuje Hnutí DUHA Jeseníky stále za platné, ke správní žalobě ani k dalším právním krokům však nepřistoupí (Hnutí Duha)
ENG 25/09/2024 Climate change supercharged Europe floods – scientists (BBC)
CZ 16/09/2024 Protipovodňový efekt připravované vodní nádrže Nové Heřminovy je nezpochybnitelný (PR statement of the Ministry of Agriculture)
CZ 10/12/2024 Tečka za případem „chybějící“ heřminovské přehrady: hlavním viníkem je KDU-ČSL (Deník Referendum)
CZ 15/10/2024 Hnutí DUHA požaduje veřejnou omluvu od ministra zemědělství Marka Výborného za křivé obvinění z katastrofálních povodní na severní Moravě (Hnutí Duha)
CZ 17/09/2024 Hnutí DUHA stavbu přehrady Nové Heřminovy nezdrželo. Navrhovalo naopak levnější, rychlejší a efektivnější řešení protipovodňové ochrany Krnova a Opavy. Lidské životy mají vždy prioritu. (Hnutí Duha)
CZ Stav realizace (Povodí Odry)
CZ 03/10/2024 Stavbu heřminovské přehrady neblokujeme. Vadí nám ale, že nejde o celoplošný projekt, který by ochránil i další obce, říká koordinátor Hnutí Duha (Czech Radio)
CZ 16/09/2024 Výborný vyzval, aby se udělalo vše pro zahájení stavby přehrady v Nových Heřminovech (ekolist.cz)
CZ 19/09/2024 Nové Heřminovy by ochránily Krnov a Opavu, míní Výborný. ‚My jsme stavbu nezdrželi,‘ říká aktivistka (irozhlas.cz)
CZ 20/09/2024 Hnutí DUHA vyvrací nepravdy o desítkách let blokování výstavby vodního díla Nové Heřminovy. Stát nebyl schopen vybudovat přehradu za 27 let, přitom odmítl rychlejší a šetrnější varianty ochrany obcí (Hnutí Duha)
CZ 10/12/2024 Odvolání Hnutí DUHA není hlavním důvodem, proč přehrada nestojí, potvrdil ministr Výborný. Odmítá ale zvážit rychlejší a efektivnější varianty protipovodňových opatření na toku řeky Opavy. (Hnutí Duha)
CZ 22/09/2024 Útoky a výhrůžky násilím. Může za katastrofu stát, nebo ekologové (Deník Vektor)
CZ O přehradě (Povodí Odry)
CZ 29/01/2025 https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1032913835310779&id=100057765171026&rdid=PrQ6bz54svwNc3SQ (Facebook post of the senator Ladislav Václavec)
CZ 28/01/2025 Ekologové z organizace Děti Země podali žalobu k plánované stavbě přehrady v Nových Heřminovech (novinky.cz)
