The court in Ostrava dismissed the lawsuit by Dětí Země against the dam in Nové Heřminovy

Ostrava/Praha - The Regional Court in Ostrava today rejected the lawsuit of the environmental organization Children of the Earth against the construction of a dam in Nové Heřminovy in the Bruntál region. Preparations for the construction can now continue. This was stated by Judge Jiří Gottwald to ČTK. Further details will be published by the court on its official notice board. The dam on the Opava River is intended to protect places like Zátor, Opava, and Krnov from flooding. The idea of building it has been considered for a long time. The first project for the dam was created in 1923. Floods there caused billions in damages most recently last September. Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL) said that after the rejection of the lawsuit, nothing stands in the way of the waterworks being built according to the previously presented schedule. The minister expects that an application for a building permit will be submitted by the beginning of this September at the latest and will be issued next year.

Children of the Earth filed the lawsuit against the zoning decision of the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) at the end of January. The head of the association Miroslav Patrik previously told ČTK that the ministry did not adequately address his comments when issuing the zoning decision.

Court spokesman Igor Krajdl stated that the court will comment on the decision in more detail only after it has been delivered to both parties. "Until then, we will not be making any statements on the matter," he said. He only noted that a cassation complaint can be filed against the verdict at the Supreme Administrative Court within two weeks of delivery of this decision.

The judge decided today in a closed hearing without the participation of both interested parties. "Administrative judiciary allows this procedure if both parties agree. It is based on a written form. It is actually a review of previously issued administrative decisions," Krajdl told ČTK. He added that the court does not even have to announce the decision. "It is announced by being published on the court's official notice board," he stated.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, the court's decision is great news for more than 15,000 residents of the Opava River basin. According to him, construction can proceed according to the schedule. Next year, the project should receive a building permit, followed by a standard tender process. "And by the second half of 2027, we would like to hand over the construction site so that in 2032, at the latest, the construction will be put into trial operation," the minister told reporters.

To commence construction, property settlement must also be resolved. According to Výborný, the settlement is completed for three owners, and today the minister initiated the expropriation process for the remaining three owners. Výborný stated that it is still possible to file a cassation complaint against the court's decision, which, according to him, does not have a suspensive effect, so even in the case of filing, the process could continue according to the schedule.

The General Director of Povodí Odry, Petr Birklen, welcomed the court's decision. "The state enterprise Povodí Odry can continue to implement all parts of the flood protection measures complex on the upper Opava, including the waterworks in Nové Heřminovy," he said. Currently, according to him, work is underway on the project documentation for the building permit. He anticipates that the application will be submitted in September. The project should then receive a building permit in 2026. "At the same time, documentation for the construction execution is being prepared," he added.

The rejection of the verdict is also welcomed by representatives of the MMR and the municipalities in Krnov and Opava. "The court's ruling shows that we acted correctly in the appellate process and adequately addressed all the objections of the Children of the Earth association," said an MMR spokeswoman to ČTK. "Thus, nothing should threaten the construction anymore. I am very happy about that," added the mayor of Opava, Tomáš Navrátil (ANO). The mayor of Krnov, Tomáš Hradil (Krnov Patriots), stated that this is a significant milestone in flood protection for Krnov, but not the end of the road. "There are still many steps to complete full protection, and one cannot rely solely on the dam itself," he said.

The environmental group Duha, which previously opposed the construction, stated in response to ČTK that it is not considering any further legal actions against the construction. Duha, according to its statement, is currently negotiating with the management of the Povodí Odry enterprise and is trying to find effective solutions for flood protection.

Although the first projects are over 100 years old, discussions about the dam intensified following the devastating floods in 1997. The state decided on the construction in 2008, but it has not yet begun. According to the latest estimates, construction is expected to start in 2027. The construction work is expected to last five years and cost around nine billion crowns. Minister Výborný previously called the delays a mistake of the state. He stated that the authorities could have made decisions more quickly. According to him, the state also failed in that it created an environment in which activists and possibly even previous representatives of the municipality of Nové Heřminovy were able to appeal and delay the construction. The dam is intended to significantly protect Krnov, Opava, and other municipalities along the Opava River, which experienced floods most recently last September.

Residents of Nové Heřminov expressed their support for the construction of the flood protection dam in an April referendum. The dam will inundate part of the municipality. Seventeen years ago, in a plebiscite, they opposed the project, and the municipality then had to undertake only steps that prevented construction.