Water is the most important natural resource for mankind’s survival and it’s a resource that must be protected for current and coming generations. Legal instruments have been used to assure preservation of these resources and one of these instruments is the water framework directive 2000/60/EG which is deployed to secure water resources inside the European Union. Sweden is working actively to reach the directives environmental goals and to obtain environ- mental quality standards, but in the same time be able to deliver renewable energy through hydroelectric power sources. To be able to reach said goals, a new law has been enacted in January 1, 2019 which regulates modern environmental conditions to produce hydroelectric power. This entails a big adaptation for producers of hydroelectric power because the new mod- ern environmental conditions demand that environmental measures must be considered to pro- duce electricity. Swedish hydroelectricity is characterized with conflict of interest between the interests of energy and the environment. To adhere to the interests, the Swedish parliament has announced the Energy agreement which should result that renewable energy further can be produced and in the same time follow environmental measures to adhere to the interest of pro- tecting the environment. Through effective collaboration between authorities and concerned actors within the hydroelectric industry, the modern environmental conditions should be ap- plied to follow EU regulations and to make sure that all involved parties’ interests are consid- ered. This will result that Sweden can secure the preservation of water as a resource and in the same time be able to produce hydroelectricity and adhere to modern environmental require- ments. / <p>Presentation via zoom.</p>

The Swedish hydropower needs to be adapted to new legislation requiring modern environmental conditions according to the EU Water Framework Directive. A national strategy suggests how to balance the need for improved ecological status to the need of hydropower and was submitted to the Government in October 2019. To make the adaption towards sustainable hydropower in Sweden, the Älvkarleby power plant needs environmental measures as fish passages to improve connectivity as well as an environmental flow in Kungsådran. The Water Authorities suggests environmental measures in Älvkarleby consisting of a nature-like fishway for the fish to move upstream, a net for guiding the fish downstream and an increased flow in Kungsådran to 20 and 30 m3/s for winter and summer, respectively. In addition, suggestions of measures have been formed by Vattenfall based on the results of a pilot study in the Dal river creating eight scenarios. The scenarios consist of combinations of two different techniques for fish passages (nature-like fishway and a technical fishway), two techniques for guiding the fish downstream (angled bar racks and a net) and two suggestions of flows in Kungsådran; keep the flow in today’s level of an average of 3 and 12 m3/s (for winter and summer, respectively) or 7.5 m3/s all year. In this study, the suggested measures are valued in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), that includes all expected consequences for the suggestions given in the chosen time periods, to evaluate their socio-economic profitability. A CBA tool based on a research project called FRAM-KLIV is used to receive the net present value of the suggested measures. The results show that the measure suggested by the Water Authorities is not found to be socio-economic profitable, when compared to today. This analysis has not been able to monetarize two of the identified consequences. In the CBA eight scenarios are compared to the suggested measure by the Water Authorities, Scenario 1 is valued to be the most socio-economic profitable. Moreover, there are only two Scenarios (number 4 and 8) that is evaluated to not be socio-economic profitable. In this part there is one identified consequence that has not been monetarized. There are uncertainties in the methods of estimating the consequences, which are used as input in the CBA tool, thus affecting the result. In conclusion, to have a trustworthy result there is a need of more thorough investigation for the evaluation to be used in decision making of which measure is valuated to be socio-economic profitable.

The importance of reducing people's environmental impact has become increasingly apparent since the beginning of the 21st century. According to the European Parliament, new legislation has been required to stop the deterioration of Europe's waters and to achieve "good status" for Europe's rivers, lakes and groundwater. This legislation was introduced in year 2000 under the name of The EU Water Framework Directive. The EU Water Framework Directive was first implemented in Sweden in 2004 and has since continued to be implemented through several laws. In January 2019, in Swedish law, there were requirements for modern environmental conditions on water activity, as for the production of hydroelectric power or when the business was started was intended for such production. Sweden's government has in 2018 produced a proposal for a national plan that aims to facilitate the trials of water activities in order to reach the requirements for modern environmental conditions. The problematisation of this is how the implementation of the new requirement for modern environmental conditions should take place and to see what applies if conflicts of interest arise. The essence of the essay is to lead a deeper understanding and discussion of how the requirements for modern environmental conditions can affect interested parties around Sweden. The essay is based on a knowledge base that consists of the legislation in the subject, significant legal cases and a qualitative method through various semi-structured interviews. Limitations for the essay are that it only depicts the implementation of the European Parliament's directive in the Swedish Law and interested parties who are only active in Sweden. Finally, the study shows that many problems are assumed to occur when the trials in connection with the modern environmental conditions begin. Most prominent is the application of the EU Water Directive, costs and environmental impact. / Vikten av att minska människors miljöpåverkan har sedan början av 2000-talet blivit allt mer påtaglig. Enligt Europaparlamentet har det krävts en ny lagstiftning för att stoppa försämringen av Europas vatten och att nå "god status" för Europas floder, sjöar och grundvatten. Denna lagstiftningen infördes år 2000 vid namnet EU:s ramdirektiv för vatten. Direktivet implementerades först i Sverige år 2004 och har sedan dess fortsatt att implementeras via ett flertal lagar. I januari 2019 tillkom i svensk lagstiftning krav om moderna miljövillkor på vattenverksamheter för produktion av vattenkraftsel eller när verksamheten påbörjades var avsedd för sådan produktion. Sveriges regering har under 2018 tagit fram ett förslag till en nationell plan som har till syfte att underlätta prövningarna av vattenverksamheter för att nå kraven om moderna miljövillkor. Problematiseringen av detta är hur implementeringen av det nya kravet om moderna miljövillkor ska ske och att ta reda på vad som gäller om intressekonflikter uppstår. Uppsatsen huvudsakliga syfte är att leda en djupare förståelse och diskussion om hur kraven om moderna miljövillkor kan påverka berörda parter runt om i Sverige. Uppsatsen bygger på en kunskapsgrund som består av lagstiftningen inom ämnet, väsentliga rättsfall och en kvalitativ metod genom olika semistrukturerade intervjuer. Avgränsningar för uppsatsen är att det endast skildrar implementering av Europaparlamentets direktiv i svensk lag samt berörda parter som endast är verksamma i Sverige. Slutligen visar studien att många problem antas uppstå när prövningarna i samband med de moderna miljövillkoren påbörjas. Mest framträdande problem är tillämpningen av EU:s ramdirektiv för vatten, kostnader och miljöpåverkan.

Svenska vattendrag har sedan länge utnyttjats och exploaterats för mänskliga behov och vattenkraftsförsörjningen utvecklades snabbt under 1900 talet. Med tiden upptäcktes dock de negativa ekologiska konsekvenser som vattenkraften hade för livet i och kring vattendragen. Trots detta anses vattenkraften idag vara en betydelsefull energikälla då den är förnybar och enkelt kan lagras. På grund av nya riktlinjer från Vattendirektivet samt målsättningar inom miljökvalitetsmålen ”Levande sjöar och vattendrag” samt ”Ett rikt växt- och djurliv”, ska svensk vattenkraft förses med nya miljövillkor som bland annat syftar till att förbättra ekologisk status i svenska vattendrag. Undersökningen ämnar jämföra vilka särskilt betydande faktorer (för ett vattendrags ekologiska status och biodiversitet) som används i tillståndsprövningen av små vattenkraftverk i samband med förändrade miljövillkor. Genom att utföra en litteraturstudie i ämnesområdet, undersöka pågående vattenvårdsprojekt, samt jämföra två olika domstolsbeslut gällande förändrade miljövillkor i små vattenkraftverk, har undersökningen kommit fram till att de mest betydande faktorer som används i tillståndsprövningen är konnektivitet och heterogenitet i vattendragets strömbild. / Swedish streams have long been utilized and exploited for human needs and the hydropower supply developed rapidly during the 20th century. Over time, however, the negative ecological consequences that hydropower had for life in and around streams were discovered. Despite this, hydropower is today considered a significant energy source as it is renewable and can be easily stored. Due to new guidelines from the Water Framework Directive and objectives within the Swedish environmental quality objectives "Flourishing Lakes and Streams" and "A Rich Diversity of Plant and Animal Life", Swedish hydropower will be provided with new environmental conditions, which among other things aim to improve ecological status in Swedish streams. The study intends to compare which particularly significant factors (for the ecological status and biodiversity of a watercourse) are used in the permit testing of small hydropower plants in connection with changed environmental conditions. By conducting a literature study in the subject area, examining ongoing water management projects, and comparing two different court decisions regarding changed environmental conditions in small hydropower plants, the study has concluded that the factors used primarily in permit testing are connectivity and heterogeneity in the draft current.