Pilot projects on the Drau

When AI helps count the fish

The last hurdle was overcome at the Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf power plant with a fish migration aid.(Bild: Katrin Fister)

After 80 years, the Drau in Carinthia is once again fully passable for fish. A project that has taken over two decades and is pioneering in several areas. 

The Drau has been used to generate energy for over 80 years. Since then, the weir walls have been an insurmountable obstacle for fish and other river life. It has taken 20 years for the river to finally be "passable" for them again. During this time, ten power plants were equipped with an ascent aid.

Today, the Drau no longer has anything in common with its original form: flood measures and energy generation have transformed the once heavily branched alpine river into a riverbed with numerous reservoirs.