The dam in Nové Heřminovy has been under discussion for 90 years

Prague - Selection of the most important events surrounding the construction of the dam in Nové Heřminovy:

1923 - The first project for the dam in Nové Heřminovy.

1960 - A construction moratorium was declared in the municipality due to the construction of the reservoir, which was supposed to start soon and serve as a water supply for the developing Ostrava agglomeration.

Early 90s - Industrial development in the Ostrava region halts, demand for water decreases. Officials in the municipality allow the construction of several family houses and renovations of existing ones.

1994 - The territorial plan for the large territorial unit of Jeseníky, which includes the dam, was approved.

1997 - After the flood, the then Minister of Agriculture Josef Lux visited the municipality and according to Mladá fronta Dnes stated that the dam would start to be built within a year and a day.

1998 - A study assessing the flood protection characteristics of the reservoir was developed, and the Odra River Basin authority issued a promotional leaflet.

1999 - The Krnov Conference on flood protection measures took place, with only one project on the table - the dam; municipalities from the region voted: 13 municipalities in favor of the dam, four did not exclude it, and four were against.

1999 - The district office in Bruntál requested the development of alternative studies for flood protection measures.

2001 - The Ministry of Agriculture under Prime Minister Miloš Zeman (ČSSD) completed a study comparing the effects of various protections against 100-year floods, including land use changes in the landscape, construction of ten retention basins, or the construction of the dam in Nové Heřminovy. "In the case of flood protection for Krnov, the Nové Heřminovy reservoir is irreplaceable," the study stated.

September 19, 2002 - Representatives of the Moravian-Silesian Region resolved that the final verdict on the dam should be made by the state.

June 19, 2003 - Representatives of the Moravian-Silesian Region recommended the flooding of the village of Nové Heřminovy. They were deciding between a large and a small variant of the dam. The large variant would flood the entire village, the small variant only a few houses.

March 12, 2004 - Activists from the Arnika association submitted a petition against the flooding of the municipality with more than 4000 signatures to the Ministry of Environment. In addition to the affected municipality, other villages and towns in the region that were not directly affected by the project protested against the construction of the dam. Environmentalists argued that the dam would change the climate in the area and that there are more sustainable solutions to retain water higher up in the mountains.

July 30, 2005 - The Union for the Morava River presented a study addressing the protection of Krnov by increasing the channel's capacity and revitalizing the river. The authors claimed that the costs would be around one billion crowns.

May 10, 2006 - The government of Jiří Paroubek (ČSSD) did not make a decision on the reservoir. The Ministry of Agriculture wanted to continue with preparatory work, while the Ministry of Environment proposed other solutions (a combination of technical and nature-friendly flood protection measures).

March 12, 2007 - The cabinet of Mirek Topolánek (ODS) approved that the final proposal for flood protection measures in the upper Opava basin should be submitted to the government by the end of March 2008. Three variants were recommended - construction of the Nové Heřminovy dam, construction of this dam in a smaller version that would not flood the municipality, and the so-called zero variant.

April 11, 2008 - The Ministry of Agriculture presented a smaller dam variant, according to which the dam would flood about 60 buildings in the municipality. The ministry dropped the original large dam project that would have flooded the entire municipality in the valley - including 156 buildings, of which 87 were residential. The solution for nearly eight billion crowns was also approved by the Ministry of Environment.

April 21, 2008 - The Topolánek government approved the smaller variant of the flood protection dam. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the dam is to cost eight billion crowns, including a new road and other river channel adjustments.

August 30, 2008 - Residents of Nové Heřminovy expressed disagreement with the construction of the dam in a local referendum.

February 16, 2011 - The government of Petr Nečas (ODS) approved a material on the financial security for the preparation of the construction of the dam in Nové Heřminovy.

February 22, 2012 - The Ministry of Environment approved the EIA study assessing the environmental impacts of the dam in Nové Heřminovy.

September 18, 2013 - The leadership of the municipality refuses the dam project, which is supposed to start construction in 2016. Representatives of Nové Heřminovy claim that the village's master plan does not account for the reservoir, thus potentially blocking the construction for several more years.

October 16, 2013 - Demolition of the first building began in Nové Heřminovy. The Odra River Basin authority has already bought most of the properties, but about one-tenth of the owners still refuse to sell their property.