Environmental Impact Assessment Brusio

About the project

The existing hydroelectric power station in the south-east of Switzerland in the canton of Grisons at the Bernina-Pass (2307m above sea level) is planned to be replaced by much larger dams. According to the proposal the existing two dams which are about 10m in height will be replaced by dams which are about 35–40m in height.

For the visual quality of the landscape at the Bernina-Pass the key problem is the optimisation in location and design of the proposed new dams. The question is which role visual simulation can play in the process of finding a good solution and how visual simulation can help communicate the contents of the proposal.

Going beyond a purely descriptive approach the visualisations are meant to be used as an aid for the 'experts' to evaluate the visual impact of the proposal. Furthermore the visualisations are prepared to be shown to the public after the report is being finished but before the final decision is made, thereby taking into account the opinion of the public.

A general objective of the EIA is to find out whether the proposal meets the criteria expressed in the various laws of environmental protection, with the EIA report being the basis for the decision of the relevant authorities. Contrasting with many other EIA's in Switzerland, the visualisation of the proposed dams is playing a significant role in the impact assessment process. One reason for this is the opposition at least of parts of the concerned public to such a gigantic project.

In the case of the EIA Brusio the power company proposed a much larger project a few years ago which had to be stopped because of public opposition. A second reason is the importance of tourism in the area. Each year many thousands of visitors are attracted by the scenery. In August, the most frequented month, roughly 220,000 visitors come by car and 71,800 by train. Therefore the scenery is a very important source of income.

Dynamic visual simulation

View from Piz Lagalb: