Opinion|Reader’s opinion
Those who want to demolish the Old Town Dam have placed themselves above nature: the artificial natural rapids they built would be better than nature.
Anyone does not deny the plight of migratory fish caused by the construction of the dam over the last hundred years or so. In Helsinki’s Vanhankaupunginkoski, however, the parties pushing for the demolition of the dam are in strange waters, where the required concessions have no limits.
The Vantaanjoki is already the most profitable sea trout river in the Gulf of Finland, the second original branch of which is open for fish to rise. In this respect, Vanhankaupunginkoski is in the ideal state that is rightly sought for all dams. The museum power plant in connection with the dam has also been shut down, as its turbines kill fish returning to the sea.
Vanhankaupunginkoski has long been the scene of human activity, and the shape of the bedrock that dictated the steepness of Suukoski has led to the harnessing of a steeper western branch to generate electricity in the late 19th century. This dam and the surrounding buildings form a nationally significant built cultural environment that is not reproductive, unlike the trout and salmon stocks that flow into the river through the eastern branch. Other fish species would not enter the river even in their natural state due to the steepness determined by the bedrock.
Society operates in a way that seeks to reconcile different values and emphases. Nothing is enough for water defenders here. The steepness of the rapids is due to the natural shape of the bedrock of the bedrock, which streams do not want to recognize. In this way, those who want to demolish the Vanhakaupunginkoski dam have also placed themselves above nature: the artificial nature rapids they built would be even better than nature. The demolition project is basically ethically dubious and culturally hostile.
Teemu Mökkönen
archaeologist, active water, Helsinki
The reader’s opinions are the speeches written by HS’s readers, selected and delivered by HS’s editorial staff. You can leave a comment or read the principles of writing at www.hs.fi/kirjtamielipidekirjoitus/.
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