National Power Company builds Dam in Eyjabakkar

The organization Friends of Iceland claim the National Power Company will destroy the area Eyjabakkar by building a dam that will create a large lagoon and that waterfalls in the river Jökulsá in Fljótsdalur will dry up. The Ufsarstífla dam that is being built was supposed to be 32 meters high but according to the protestors is 5 meters higher, therefore the lagoon will be much larger than has been announced. The National Power Company denies this. Bjarki Bragason from Friends of Iceland, who have been protesting in the area, also claims that waterfalls from the river Jökulsá in Fljótsdalur will dry up. The dam will block the river from running naturally. The National Power Company also denies this but says the waterfalls will have limited water during early summer but most years during the later half of summer the flow will be normal. So, the flow of the waterfalls will be limited by the dam.

„Eyjabakkar are in Danger" one protestor's sign read. Protestors say that they are raising public awareness of the fact that the National Power Company are working at the Eyjabakka area in spite of 45 thousand Icelanders signing a petition to the Government to make the area a protected natural site. Protestors say that during the whole Kárahnjúkar debate the discourse around the smaller dams has been silenced but when given a closer look they have a large impact on the land, and protestors are concerned about the iminent flooding of the Eyjabakkar area due to the Ufsarstífla dam.

The National Power Company say they are building the dam in accordance with the environmental evaluation from the year 2000.