An interview with Angelika Bondare (Latvian Association of Hydro-reclamation Builders)

In recent months, it has been heard that the drainage system was created and operated during the Soviet era, but since the years of independence, no one has taken any serious care of it. Is that the case, and why?

Exactly! The drainage infrastructure that was created during the Soviet years, into which significant money was invested, operated quite successfully for about 20-25 years (after the collapse of the Soviet state) without any particular supervision. At the same time, it is both a success and a failure. Success: the system functions and 'performs' good deeds that we perhaps do not fully appreciate because we have grown accustomed to them in everyday life. Failure: there is a 'gap' in the training and availability of specialists, as well as in the sector as a whole. The industry's largest orders are tenders—European money. Procurement competitions are mainly based on the lowest price, and various companies 'enter' the industry that previously worked in road repairs or waste management; these companies can compete with dumping prices, and they are financially and 'physically' stronger. In Latvia, a drainage company cannot be a large-scale enterprise if it does not have drainage systems entrusted to its permanent supervision. If a local entrepreneur operates in a very economic mode, they are economically 'squeezed out' in local competitions by the financially stronger ones. Then the entrepreneur decides to change their line of work, often to forest road construction, civil engineering, or the real estate sector (preparing land for construction). There are concerns that experienced drainage companies will not survive this 'mathematics competition'. If we look at drainage specialists, the average age of a certified drainage builder is 67, and for designers, it is 75 and older. As far as hydraulic structures are concerned, these specialists are left only at the state-owned enterprise Meliorprojekts, which we can call a monopoly in a good sense.

Hydraulic structures also include dams, sluices, and small HPPs.

And polders! If we talk about the Babīte Lake polder, it is so leaky that it needs to be restored again. The beaver has been at work, and if it is not restored in time, the problems could be significant!

How did the aforementioned 'gap' arise? Politics, lack of interest, property ownership... Where should we look for the reasons?

Drainage goes hand in hand with politics: if the government thinks the people need bread, money is allocated for drainage! That has always been the case. The second point is the unsuccessful step of the Soviet era—the liquidation of homesteads (though this is not always justifiably 'linked' to drainage measures). At that time, living in villages was popular, and I must say that over the years, we have grown to like villages, only we no longer build houses on the hill as we used to, but in the swamp—for example, the well-known ones near Riga: Mārupe, Plakanciems, Medemciems... For a long time, slogans were heard: 'Drainage is bad, it does a lot of harm!' and the like. At the same time, owners and users of fields, forests, and roads enjoyed the benefits of the drainage system. As I mentioned, for about 25 years we could not interfere; the built system worked. If you build a house, you don't need to repair it immediately (or at least you shouldn't!). It (the creation of the drainage system) was a long-term investment. But how long will an unsupervised process continue on its own? The heavy rainfall from the autumn before last revealed the problems. As a result of climate change, rainstorms have become more intense here, with much more falling in a short period. Back then, calculations were made for the situation of that time (the time of construction). Spring floods, according to which drainage systems were calculated at the time of their construction, occur gradually. Rainstorms do something else: the volume of water that lands on the ground is greater and it has to go somewhere.

Was that the reason why we saw many more washed-out roads, carried-away bridges, and the like?

Exactly! Because the drainage system is located and 'works' under roads as well—if the hydrological regime is not ensured, the road collapses. We can lay excellent quality asphalt or the best available material, but if it all rests on a wet 'sponge', the foundation gradually washes away, shrinks, and collapses. The same can be said about the forest. For example, driving to Tukums, along the road (Riga-Ventspils highway) there was a forest that flooded a few years ago. Now there is a quagmire and tree stumps. It counts as a forest, but it is not one in reality. The forest has perished.

Drainage ditches and their 'best friend and master'—the beaver. How do you coexist?

A very intelligent animal and a good engineer. It builds a house with many rooms, it tends to draw in electricity, and we often find three-story houses too. That would be the positive side. Of course, with a smile!

The story is about the balance in nature. When talking about the beaver, we think about drainage. A drainage system is built, we get used to it, there is a fixed moisture regime to which trees, herbs, and mosses adapt and begin to grow... Animals and insects also breed accordingly. At the moment when the system no longer works (gets clogged), because it is, after all, man-made, everything changes. The habitat changes because living conditions change. It is the same with the beaver—it changes everything around it.

If we do not maintain the drainage system and imagine that the environmental conditions will persist once it ceases to function, we are mistaken! The beaver has its place in nature, but not in drainage systems! An excellent and large beaver colony is in Kalnciems near the former brick factory.

What is the cooperation with hunters like in this regard?

We should start with the fact that the drainage system definitely belongs to someone. I assume that cooperation with hunters happens with the private owner. We, the drainage specialists, come to help if something needs to be cleaned or dug. We don't actually engage in maintenance. The owner must ensure the main function of the drainage system—the flow! If the owner has been lazy, and a beaver lives in the system, there is no flow, then someone who is affected by this drainage system ends up drowning or facing other troubles. The owner must act!

In Latvia, as far as it is understood, drainage systems are more intended for water removal. Are there no dry, desert-like areas where irrigation would be necessary?

Basically, yes—the water is drained away! But if we take into account the summer of 2018, we heard thoughts from one farmer or another about installing a two-way system—that can both drain and provide water. I assume that if the rainfall becomes more intense but less frequent, we will eventually need irrigation here as well.

Is there any information or calculations—if the 'system is completely neglected'—as to how many areas are at risk of flooding, excessive moisture?

This question should be asked to the specialists at the LLU (Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies). Simply put, we would need a 3D model of Latvia's territory (like a physical geography map, but spatial) and 'play with a watering can'. We have four major river basins—Venta, Gauja, Daugava, and Lielupe. I would say it would be good to carry out such a study; it would be extremely useful. By the way, it would also be appropriate when talking about protected areas, because it would be completely absurd if there is a protected habitat in the waterway, but you cannot do anything because of the regulations governing protected areas. The main task of drainage is to ensure the flow! That cannot and must not be forgotten! If we had planning—sequential and clear, weighing the river flow, the bed, agricultural and forest land... From my point of view, many protected areas can be created in the forests on the Estonian and Russian borders; Zemgale and Kurzeme have cultivated fields and forests—they need to be managed!

At the end of the year, I was on an expedition in Morocco and noticed what the locals do in the desert. As soon as 'electricity is brought' to an area, the Moroccans build deep wells, level the mountainous desert areas, create a pumping station, and begin to cultivate the land for crops. For us in Latvia, it is all natural, God-given! We must do it, we must grow! How are we using everything we have!?

If it is forbidden to clean ditches in restricted areas, water accumulates, but the conditions in the protected object itself change, right? What exactly is being protected?

That is a question for the writers and approvers of the technical regulations. If the regulations designate a protected area, we—the builders—do not go there and do not do anything! Maybe there are some specific environmental projects, but I haven't heard of any actions in restricted areas to ensure the flow!

Are drainage specialists skeptical of willow growers?

They certainly are! And towards thistle growers too... If we look at the drains in an overgrown area, we can pull out a root cork several meters long... One must understand what kind of land it is, what kind of willow it is, to what extent it overgrows the system, and how long these willows have been grown. I have not calculated the time period it takes for a drain to become completely blocked. If the drains are full of roots—it doesn't matter whose—there will be no flow. Crops are harvested every year, berry bushes do not send roots down that deep. We are critical of any plants whose root system 'grows into' the drains, causing them to cease functioning!

New drain systems can only be built by private owners; those who want European Union support can only repair existing systems. The systems basically work well; you can find old ones made of wooden boxes and fascines (bundles of branches) in swampy soils, but the overgrown or collapsed ones do not work. If the land is cared for, the drainage system usually works.

How can the aforementioned shortage of specialists be explained?

The 'gap' in the industry is a very, very big pain! Currently, we are very dependent on state and European funds. We have developed a vocational education standard for hydraulic engineering technicians, a modular education program, and we are now working on the content of the exams. The vocational schools in Saldus and Smiltene have already started training technicians; if it is achieved in the construction industry for linear structures that technicians can also be construction managers, they will be able to manage construction work after years of training and practice. It would be best if young people finished vocational school, then went for practice, construction management, and then—already experienced—turned to university studies. The craziest thing happening now—from the university bench, young people jump into design, where European money circulates; designers receive an inexperienced young person, and we observe many mistakes and absurdities in their work. In Saldus (at the technical school), they admitted 7 students the year before last and last year; in Smiltene, 28 young people started their studies after the ninth grade this academic year, and another 13 students are studying there after the 12th grade. I myself am interested in how they are doing; those young people have been out in the field and—I can see—they like what they do. One has to understand what they will do afterwards. Unfortunately, over time, excellent teaching materials have been lost; currently, lecturers translate them from Russian themselves and use them in training.

Regarding your own experience at work...

Near Riga. Restoration of spawning grounds for sea trout. Titurga and Bērzene—two rivers. Bērzene flows through the Baldone municipality and flows into the Daugava (in a 'concrete trough' near the Riga HPP). Sea trout and lamprey come to the river to spawn, and the restoration of spawning grounds was necessary. The discussions in the Environmental Advisory Council were long, and my company won the tender. We realized the project in cooperation with Andris Urtāns, excellently, according to his sketches. In parallel, we worked with the Titurga, strengthening the banks with crushed stone in gabion mattresses. I think about how in years (and not so many) it will have to be re-cleaned because sewage flows into the Titurga from Baloži. In April, we built the reinforcements; by September, the grass in the river was already up to the chest. The amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in the treated water is also not adequate. How will it be possible to perform cleaning with these technical solutions? In the Bērzene, we left stumps on the banks so the banks wouldn't erode; we only cleaned the bed, we left the stones... It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly for the river. In the Bērzene, there was sea trout; we saw it ourselves. We didn't expect help from environmental specialists. Thank you to hydrobiologist and expert Andris Urtāns who helped us, because Riga is close to the Baldone municipality, and fishermen didn't withhold their experience and advice! But—we lack both drainage specialists and 'normally functioning' nature specialists. We could cooperate in creating cheaper and more nature-friendly projects, but—there is no one to cooperate with! They simply don't exist!